"Golden Horse" "inexpensive custom figure skates"

[Query]

On the back cover of an ISI skating magazine (don't remember the date), I saw an ad for "Golden Horse" custom figure skates. They say they are "Made in Taiwan" and are said to be inexpensive, compared to other brand custom figure skates.

Sounds like a skater's dream come true.

Walt at http://goldenhorseskates.com, the U.S. contact for a "Golden Horse" skate company, didn't know anything about figure skates that their Golden Horse might offer.

However, I also emailed Luther at that company:

On the back cover of an ISI skating magazine (don't remember the date), I saw an ad for "Golden Horse" custom figure skates. They are "Made in Taiwan" and are said to be inexpensive, compared to other brand custom figure skates.

I called Walt at your listed #. He said he didn't know about them.

I looked at http://ghskates.com, which remaps to http://en.jmskates.com. The pictures of roller skates there look similar to what you offer. They also show "Personal" figure skates, like Maestro, and show them being used on the ice too.

Are you their U.S. dealer or distributor?

If so:

Do you have any further descriptions (all they show is a picture), prices, and available customizations?

Thanks!

The company might be https://goldenhorseskate.en.ec21.com/company_info.html

I called a phone # (213-375-2852), that I found somewhere on the web, and was given the website http://ghskates.com, which remaps to http://en.jmskates.com, by someone with a (Chinese?) accent.

That (English language) website needs work: They show skates, with no descriptions, and no prices. Most of their pictures are for roller skates, and most are rental skates. But they have "Personal" figure skates, some of which are for ice.

I emailed the contact email (helenou8@gmail.com):

I saw an ad on the back of ISI Skating magazine for "custom figure skates". I looked at http://ghskates.com

It shows boots, with no descriptions, and no prices, and no description of the available customizations.

Do you have more info available?

Thanks.

If I receive any more info, I will keep you posted.

Does anyone know anything about Golden Horse skates?

If any of you know Chinese, perhaps you could find and look their Chinese language page.

[Clarice]

One of my friends bought a pair of these. She had me trace her feet, which didn't inspire my confidence in the sizing procedure at all, since I have zero training in fitting anybody. They look like knock-off Edeas to me. She hasn't complained about them, but she hasn't raved about them, either. I know she liked the price. We'll see how well they wear. Personally, I wouldn't do it.

[FigureSpins]

Saw them at the PSA Trade Show last year:

One intriguing table from Golden Horse Skate Co., Ltd. out of Taiwan.  They had some figure and hockey boots with metal blades.  Seemed like they were made of PVC (sole and upper) but the brochure says the upper was made of leather.  Could have fooled me.  Well, actually, they did if the models on display were leather - they looked like vinyl.  They looked a lot like Edeas.  Lots of padding and the ones touted for doubles/triples/quads were very stiff.  I wasn't crazy about the backstrap - it reminded me of ski boots, where the athlete is forced into a forward-pitched stance.  Blades were nothing to write home about - the toe rakes aren't for freestyle skating and the rocker seemed very flat.  Additionally, the metal wasn't high-quality, despite being chromed.   They do custom colors and such, but I didn't get any prices.  Their website doesn't appear to be working - it listed the one item I put into my cart as costing ￥0.00.

They would really benefit from having a native-english speaker review their webpages.  There are a lot of things being lost in translation, like using "hardness" in place of "stiffness." 

I really loved the bright blue color of their sample skates, though.  It's what drew me to their table - not many people stopped to talk to them.

[Query]

The U.S. dealer replied that I would have to contact the Taiwan factory for custom figure skates.

One of my friends bought a pair of these. She had me trace her feet, which didn't inspire my confidence in the sizing procedure at all, since I have zero training in fitting anybody.

If the boot maker actually used the foot tracing to make a custom boot, that could be used to create a lot better fit than can be made from a small number of measurements.

A really good fit would be fully 3D, but few fitters try to do that - they rely on the heat mold to take care of that, or don't care.

As far as I can tell, the keys to making a foot tracing that reflects the actual size and shape of the foot is to use a very narrow pen or pencil, and keep it vertical. Also to do it on the bare foot - adding socks adds a little extra size, and the half-thickness of the pen or pencil already adds a little extra.

The best fitters may also add indications for the position and size of the heel bones, high or low arches, the position of the balls of the feet, blisters, bunions, and any other 3D issues that a simple 2D foot tracing can't handle.

A few also use impressible foam to profile the shape of the bottom of the feet - e.g., arch heights, left/right foot bottom tilt, and send the foam into the boot makers too - but most pro shop fitters don't do that - or mis-use it, having the person stand on it with both feet, which can be very bad if your legs aren't the same exact length. Also, people with arches that collapse painfully deep should reduce the pressure, and not put all their weight on it - e.g., make the impression while sitting. Mike Cunningham (a well respected fitter I watched work) has many people do that anyway - though he is experienced enough at judging foot shapes not to need impressions with everyone.

But, AFAICT, all most pro shop custom fitters do is measure the foot length, using the longest toe, and sometimes the foot width. If they are a little fancy they measure width at heel, mid-foot and toe. A foot tracing, if you were at all careful, is way better than that.

I'm not a professional fitter, so I may be missing something.

...I wasn't crazy about the backstrap - it reminded me of ski boots, where the athlete is forced into a forward-pitched stance...

Any figure skates sort of do that to me, because I'm not very flexible - I would prefer a boot that had a much lower heel. It's one of the reasons I've considered using roller boots.

(BTW, last I knew, only alpine ski boots force you into that stance - the XC and most telemark ski boots I've had don't do that.)

Did you make that quote on another discussion board? Which one? If they have a lot of technical equipment discussions, it would interest me, since I've had bad luck with custom boots, and keep playing with the idea of making my own boots.

[Clarice]

If the boot maker actually used the foot tracing to make a custom boot, that could be used to create a lot better fit than can be made from a small number of measurements.

As far as I can tell, she just faxed it to them with some measurements marked in order to help determine the correct size. These were not custom boots at all. She might have heat molded them, but that would have been the extent of the customizing.

[FigureSpins]

The rep said they did RENTAL skates, not customs or special-order.

[AgnesNitt]

Maybe they're aiming for the all important North Korea skating market.

[Christy]

I'm not sure if I got the correct website but when I tried to find pricing it said that orders required a minimum order of 100 pairs, which definitely implies they are selling rental skates.

[Query]

As stated, http://goldenhorseskates.com seems to be the u.s. rep, for rental skates.

The "custom" figure skates - I have not yet determine to what extent they are truly custom - is at the Taiwan site, http://ghskates.com

[Query]

Golden Skates responded

From: "Susan" <susan888@goldenhorseskate.com>
Nice to receipt your e-mail.  We are Golden Horse Skate Co., Ltd. which was built in Taiwan since 1969. In the USA, Golden Horse is a brand of high-class specialized rental roller skates with a good reputation and well-known for their durability, competitive prices and almost zero-malfunction.

Unlike roller skates, our ice skates just begin to show up on the American market stage. However, our ice skates will surprise you with the quality in parallel with our roller skates. They range from rental skates, personal skates to professional competitor boots of world-class quality, especially our top model Maestro, which is believed to be even more durable and comfortable than the competitor boots of many other famous brands in the world.

Want a pair of custom-made boots which are inexpensive, comfortable to wear and fit your feet perfectly well? We are offering this kind of service. Stop torturing your feet by hurting them or changing their shape with some expensive boots which don't fit your feet at all, even though they are famous brands. In our website, please click "service center" and you will see those damaged feet which got relieved by our custom-made boots. 

Also, we can customize your names on the boots, Please click "about us" in our website  www.ghskates.com  and you will see the various examples from part of our customers.  All the 50 years of experience in manufacturing high quality and specialized skating boots has been gathered and employed to the ice skates, therefore you will definitely be impressed with our products once you receive our products.

Attached please find our catalogue for your reference.  Before we provide the price and more detail, could you please Introduction yourself ?  So, we could select the style that might fit your needs.  Thank you so much for your help.

With best wishes,
Susan Chou
Xiamen Golden Horse Skate Co., Ltd.

There were two attached images, of catalogs.
The first one lists several models of "personal ice skates":
Maestro: For high level triple/quad jumps. Optional colors for upper leather white/pink/blue/black
Leader: FOr middle/high level double/triple jumps. Optional colors for upper leather: white/pink/blue/black.
Classic: For middle level double jumps. Optional colors for upper leather white/pink/blue/black.
Loop LT: for basic level single/double jumps; Optional colors for upper leather white/pink/blue/black.
Glide LT: For beginner single jump. Optinal colors for upper leather white/pink/blue/black.
IS-903 Rental Ice Hockey Skates.
IS-603 Rental ice skates for rinks.

I wonder why she won't just list the prices. Perhaps they are negotiable?
I should really just call her again, and see what's what.

But, others' comments, along with the messed up web site, make me question whether they are worth investigating. Besides, when you want custom work, you prefer to have a close interaction with the people doing the work, so everything will be just right.

[Leif]

This is the scan of my feet taken when purchasing custom skates:

https://my.volumental.com/en/bauer/2f029e24-c1e1-4885-bd8a-706f9cc01baf/

Now I know these are hockey skates, but the interesting part is to see how my feet fit the three stock models ie Vapor, Supreme and Nexus which are for shallow feet with narrow heels, inbetween feet, and deep feet with wide heels. I don't see how a simple trace would account for that range, or for feet with ankle bumps and goodness knows how many other oddities. My feet are fairly standard, if you're a duck anyway ie flipper shaped. Some people have Yeti feet, some have weird ankles ...

The key feature lacking from these so called custom skates is depth.

[Query]

Now I know these are hockey skates, but the interesting part is to see how my feet fit the three stock models ie Vapor, Supreme and Nexus

I think you posted to the wrong thread. Bauer, not Golden Horse, makes those skates. If you want a useful reply, I suggest you create another thread.

[tstop4me]

I think you posted to the wrong thread. Bauer, not Golden Horse, makes those skates. If you want a useful reply, I suggest you create another thread.

Leif is contrasting the sophisticated fitting methodology (3D scan) used by Bauer to the rudimentary fitting methodology (presumably tracings) used by Golden Horse.

[Leif]

Leif is contrasting the sophisticated fitting methodology (3D scan) used by Bauer to the rudimentary fitting methodology (presumably tracings) used by Golden Horse.

That is exactly right, thank you. The same is true for competition speed skates too.