What kind of skates should I get?

[Anita18]

I'm really really sick of putting up with the rental skates at my rink (the edges are basically nonexistent! >: ) so I'm wondering which brand/model of skates are good as a first pair. I'm only in the Alpha/Beta class right now but I'm sure if I could find my edges I could improve somewhat. :)

Thanks in advance!

[susan ba]

i'm a beginner so i can't give real advice... only to say that i bought bottom of the line cheapy skates and they were still better than the rentals. i bought my CMC's for like $50 and they still look and feel brand new. they still give me plenty of support because i haven't started jumping. even the cheaper skates at least allows you to sharpen your skates whenever you want to.

i know alot of skaters but reidels or harlicks when they get more serious.... these are king of spendy but there's a lot in between too. the point is, get yourself out of the rentals even if you can't afford great skates. go to sandra loosemoor's skating page and i'm sure you can find out more in here proshop section. i think it's called "skateweb the figure skating page"... you could do a search

[scheherazade]

Hey Anita,

I'd suggest looking for a used pair of Reidell's or Harlicks. I think that's what I did when I started out. A good pro or skating shop would be able to help you out. If you're not into the used deal (the skates are perfectly fine, though), then I think Reidell's are the cheapest good ones. I don't know how old you are, but if your feet are still growing and you think you might want to stick around with the sport for awhile, then go with the used. I hope this helps! :)

[kwantastic]

I recently purchashed used Harlicks. I really like them and they are much better than rental skates.

[TaraLipinski87]

If your beggining I would get cheaper skates, you should ask your blade guy b/c they really help you, it all depends on you, and your abilities.

[edgescutie]

I use Reidell Royals. but like TL87 said, it all depends on you and abilities

[tara637]

Get Reidell skates!!:)

Hope this helps you decide what skates you are going to get.

[axelkid]

Well I started out with a pair of Riedells, they are so much better than rentals and will allow you to hold edges, spin, and jump with much more facility and consistency. Of course you'll need to break them in first. Once I got to higher level skating and wore down my Riedells, I got a pair of Harlicks, which were much more expensive than the Riedells. I have to say thay are "first rate" as Dick Button puts it. My skatings gotten so much better.

[Anita18]

My mom's taking me to our rink's pro shop later and see what those guys say. I'll take everything you have said into consideration! :)

[Anita18]

I got new Riedells today! Turns out that our pro shop didn't carry wide sizes (I have feet that are a tad wide, just enough to make it uncomfortable) so they said to check out Play It Again (a sporting goods store) or the San Jose Ice Centre, which was bound to have something. So my mom and I went to Play It Again, since it was closer, to see if they had any skates my size. Turns out that they didn't have any wide sizes either, but the guys there were more helpful, saying that I could go to a shoe repair shop to get it stretched. Well, we went there (Mom did a lot of driving today! ;) ) and they gave us a spray that could soften the leather so I could wear it and widen it in the process. They didn't want to manually stretch it out since they didn't want to guess how much and where to stretch the boot. Well, back home I went and I've already started the process of breaking them in (I'm wearing them around the house with skate guards on and using the spray at the same time!) Next week I'll go ask my skating instructor if there are any good sharpeners in the area, cause I will NOT trust the guys at the rink to do it, LOL!

[muttz]

I love My Reidells! (Is that how you spell it?!) But it all depeends on what suits you and your ability. But I'll tell you, just about anything beats rentals!

[susan ba]

hi guys... so funny to see my old post...

i just bought my first pair of real skates today. everyone said, buy the best boots you can afford...but the truth is, you should really buy the best boots you can afford FOR THE LEVEL YOU'RE AT or will be very soon...not for the level you hope to be at. before i got fitted, i thought i wanted to get sp teri super..for doing double jumps because that is what i hopeto be doing in the future (i'm just learning my 1/2 waltz now, LOL) well, the woman who fitted me knew right away that it was wrong for me. i was in pain the moment i slipped them on! i ended up deciding on something two levels down and in a lower price range. also, each type of skates are made differently while each person's feet are made differently so recommending one absolutely type doesn't work for everyone... the other girl that bought boots had the option of buying a more expensive boot...but ended up buying the less expensive reidells because that really fit her the best. i ended up not being a "reidell feet" as the fitter had put it, and ended up finally with jacksons... a brand that is used more often in canada... and relatively comfortable.

be sure to go for fit instead of reputation

[laalaa1704]

I think Jacksons freestyle are good for beginners. I'm getting them soon. My blade is MK IV, they're not the best kind of blade, but actually pretty good for beginners, but you can only use it up to freestyle 1, now i'm in beta/gamma level, so I still have time to enjoy my new MK blade! I realised I should have gotten better blades, but they cost so much for a beginner like me (my mom will kill me :/ )
oh yeah, jacksons are sold at reasonable prices too.
If you want a good standard and quality of boots, you can alos have harlick or Sp-teri, but they're usually for advanced skaters, and more expensive, unless you can get a second hand ones, it'd be better for you.
New boots are so stiff, you've got to wait for a while until you get used to it.
Probably second hand boots in a good condition are much better.