About Us

ASK MR. EDGE

June/July 2002

Mr. Edge is a qualified skate technician with years and years of experience. He can answer your questions on boots, blades and foot problems related to your equipment. Questions will be answered in SKATING magazine and later posted on the web site.

Having a problem with your skates or boots? Can't find the answers? Well, Mr. Edge is here to answer all your questions. With many years of experience and a never-ending resource list, he can help you solve your boot, blade and foot problems. This month, Mr. Edge discusses issues relating to blade sizes and the best boot to buy for ice dancing. Read on and learn!

Good day to all my skating fans from around the world. This is Mr. Edge with another hopefully informative insight into the problems with skaters and their boots, blades and feet. It's finally starting to look more like summer every day now, and most of the flowers are in bloom instead of gloom.

No matter, time to get down to business as usual, that being to answer your important questions. In this issue, I would like to take some time to answer an entirely overlooked area of the industry that quite Frankly, Julie, or John ... even I had completely overlooked!

This question comes from a skating fan that maybe only skates a couple times a year and self-admittedly hasn't a clue about what she is doing, but enjoys it anyway.

Question 1: I am a skating fan, and I enjoy watching the sport of figure skating but rarely have a chance to go myself. When I finally am able to hit the ice, I find the rental skates to be in less-than-desirable condition. Is there a way to assure my experience in rental skates won't be so horrible that I will never go back on the ice again?

Question 2: Can a layperson like me tell a good rental skate from a bad one?

Question 3: How can I avoid the horrible pain from using rental skates?

Answer 1: NO GUARANTEES

Answer 2: USUALLY NOT

Answer 3: DON'T SKATE or BUY YOUR OWN PAIR
Actually, these are three really great questions that I feel should be addressed. Let's start out by first of all realizing that:

1. Rental skates come in full sizes only.
   
2. Rental skates are sized differently than others. They usually are in
   unisex sizes, meaning men's and ladies are the same size. When renting ladies
   skates, it's not unusual to have a size or two smaller than your street shoe
   size.
   
3. Molded rental skates usually run smaller than leather rentals, which
   require yet another sizing difference between shoe and skate size.
   
4. On average, start by going down one size from your standard shoe size.
   
5. Rental skates are usually slightly wider than standard skates.

Many rinks will either not sharpen or very rarely sharpen their rentals for
many reasons (another day, another story). For the beginner, this is quite
difficult to deal with because of the slippage on the ice. If it's possible, you
may want to ask one of the pro shop attendants to check if the blades are
sharpened, and if not, offer to pay for them to be sharpened. However, usually
this is not an option because most pro shops are not allowed to work on the rink
skates. If this is the case, you may ask the rink manager if there is anything
he/she can do for you.

As an adult, it should be rather easy to tell if the boot has enough support
for you. Just by standing up in them one would know. For those who don't, just
take a look at your feet. If it appears that you are walking on the insides of
your ankles, there is not enough support. If you are standing fairly straight up
in them with very little or no problem, then go for it!

Now as for the pain usually associated with wearing rentals ... Wear a plain,
white, medium-weight sweat sock when using rental skates. NEVER wear two pairs
of socks. If you are experiencing pain around the ankle area, pad the area with
some sort of soft cushioning (Bunga or make-up pads work well). If you are
having a pain in the arch of your foot, check to see that your heel is seated
properly into the back of the skate before lacing them up. If you have removable
orthotics in your street shoes, try using them in the rental skates. If this
doesn't work, well, there's always next time!

Well there you have it skating fans. Now you hopefully know what to expect
and how to cope with it. Once again it has been my pleasure to bring you another
column of Ask Mr. Edge! Although you won't see my column until the
August/September issue, I'll still answer those e-mails personally so your boots
will stay in tip-top shape!
Take care and good luck!

Well there you have it skating fans. Now you hopefully know what to expect and how to cope with it. Once again it has been my pleasure to bring you another column of Ask Mr. Edge! Although you won't see my column until the August/September issue, I'll still answer those e-mails personally so your boots will stay in tip-top shape!

Take care and good luck!

Mr. Edge and all related elements are property of Arena Sports & Consulting Services, Inc. ©2013. Send your questions to Mr. Edge via mail (Ask Mr. Edge, SKATING magazine, 20 First Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80906); FAX (719) 635-9548 or e-mail them online.

The opinions of Mr. Edge are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Figure Skating or SKATING magazine. Remember, if you have problems with your feet, check with a doctor – the problem may very well be with your boot, but it could be more serious. Check with your local pro shop for more information about boots and blades.