Pattern 99 users - a favor

[Bill_S]

BTW, the OSU Ice Rink, despite its wretched parking situation, is THE place for fantastic blade prices. They just plain KILL Kinzie's Closet on price for high-end MK and Wilson blades.

There's that pesky state sales tax to consider, but even with that you can still save $$$$$ money if you can drive to OSU in Columbus. I ordered the Pattern 99 blades over the phone on Wednesday, then picked them up from the rink today.

Too bad they don't ship.

[aussieskater]

Really hanging out for your comparison between MK Pros and Pattern99s.  Have you got up close to Phantoms yet?  I'm in the process of ordering new boots and currently skating on completely used up MK Pros.  Wondering if Phantoms or Pattern99s might be worth springing for this time.

(And we are totally not enablers  )

[rachilsk8]

Today I placed an order for some Pattern 99 blades to test. I'll start a new thread once they arrive.

Hi Bill,

Any chance you posted a thread regarding your impressions of pattern 99s? I've been all over the map as a child skater but as an adult skater, I mostly did pattern 99s. Most recently I had a silly moment and purchased coronation ace profile blades and could not get used to them. The pro shop wouldn't take them back so I ended up finding an inexpensive pair of used blades from Canada, Gam G14 (cross cut pick, 8.5' Primary and 10' Complex rockers), which I like very much. Unfortunately my new pro shop said I need new blades due to a past sharpening mistake. Now I'm stuck trying to figure out if there's something in between a pattern 99 and a gam g14 while at the same time trying to stay as far away from a coronation ace profile as possible. TMI, but I would love to see what you thought of pattern 99s. And, any wisdom
you could send my way would be very appreciated!

Thank you so much in advance!


Rachael

[Bill_S]

Before I blew out my knee and had to quit skating, I was using the Pattern 99 blades as my go-to blades. I liked them more than other blades that I tested for a number of reasons. They felt good on the ice, and performed well for me. They were my pick.

BTW, I had skated on a pair of Aces for about 20 years before I started experimenting with other blades. I had hand-sharpened which greatly extended their life, but measurements showed that the profile was flattening out a bit. A new pair of Aces had an odd profile compared to the older ones, and I couldn't spin on the new ones. MK Pros were fine, Gold Seals were fine, and Pattern 99 blades were fine. I could skate and spin on all of those, but the Gold Seals had longer tails which got in the way. I removed a portion of the tail in an experiment, and I liked that modification.

I ended up using the Pattern 99 blades in the end because they had nice parallel sides that could be hand sharpened. I'd have to use my power sharpener on Gold Seals because of their tapered blade and side-honing.

In short, I loved the Pattern 99 blades.

I posted reviews of all of these when I was switching out blades every couple of weeks to try out different makes and models. I believe that you'll find a Pattern 99 review in this thread...
http://skatingforums.com/index.php?topic=8464.0

[AlbaNY]

I'm not Bill, but I use Pattern 99s.  Unlike you I loved parabolic Coronation Aces that I tried for just an hour or so, but it is possible the copycat sort aren't quite the same.  I did not enjoy Phantoms, but I tried them earlier in my skating.  My NY coach likes Phantoms for herself but 99 for me.  Originally I was on the Aspire XPs that many people dislike, but I could spin just fine on those.. 

I found them all to work pretty well. 
My input is to give my perspective even if it isn't so useful.  If I didn't prefer Phantoms, then you might like them better and so on.  Oh, and Gold Seal do have really long tails!

[Query]

With your skills, I bet you could make your own blades! 

Imagine all the experiments you could do, on length, width of working surface, profile, height, tilt, and toe pick shapes!

After all, it doesn't make sense that any one blade should work for everyone's anatomy, range of motion, and desired skills.

Your initial experiments could be done on relatively soft skill, that cuts easily. Then you use a propane torch to temper harder steel, cut it, then re-harden it. (I'm assuming it is hard to find cutting tools that will cut roughly 60+ hardness steel, but maybe it isn't?)

Or - maybe you can buy a laser cutter?

[AlbaNY]

Query, my grandfather was (among other notable proffessions) a welder and metalworker.  I have a bit of experience with that myself although nothing like his or my father's wealth of experience.  It would be very fun indeed to play around with various designs.  I'm fascinated by blacksmithing and have been for many years, but I expect I could at best learn to make blades for figures like the kind a century+ ago. 

At the skate camp today I asked around about blades and found Phantoms to be the most popular with MK professionals next.  I wish I had my pair of Phantoms and Gold Seals here and easily available to test again now that I skate better than when I got the skates they were mounted on. 

Skate Science blades intrigued me, and the newer brand I can't recall now.  If I was still skating a lot I planned to buy those to try. 
There is a discontinued model that had a much longer rocker I'm intrigued by too. 

[Query]

Oops, Alba, I was just having fun. Bill has tested so many blades, that maybe he can create a "blade of the month club".

[AlbaNY]

Oops, Alba, I was just having fun. Bill has tested so many blades, that maybe he can create a "blade of the month club".

[Nate]

Hi Bill,

Any chance you posted a thread regarding your impressions of pattern 99s? I've been all over the map as a child skater but as an adult skater, I mostly did pattern 99s. Most recently I had a silly moment and purchased coronation ace profile blades and could not get used to them. The pro shop wouldn't take them back so I ended up finding an inexpensive pair of used blades from Canada, Gam G14 (cross cut pick, 8.5' Primary and 10' Complex rockers), which I like very much. Unfortunately my new pro shop said I need new blades due to a past sharpening mistake. Now I'm stuck trying to figure out if there's something in between a pattern 99 and a gam g14 while at the same time trying to stay as far away from a coronation ace profile as possible. TMI, but I would love to see what you thought of pattern 99s. And, any wisdom
you could send my way would be very appreciated!

Thank you so much in advance!


Rachael

Coronation Ace uses the same base rocker profile as Pattern 99, so you should never expect anyone to match that except John Wilson themselves or Paramount Blades.


Almost any other brand only really matches the pick cluster and main rocker radius - not the actual rocker profile.