I spent some time this afternoon alternately pushing very hot wet towels into the toe boxes, then wedging various objects that were roughly the same size as my foot into them as they dried - repeated that about 3 times. Then tried them on again, and to my amazement, they fitted! No more elephant standing on my toes. The left boot fitted like a glove! The right boot was mostly OK, with just a couple of tight spots. So, one more application of Hot Wet Towel, threw them in the car and went to the rink, and skated for 1/2 hour. No problem at all with my toes, I can hardly believe the difference from the instruments of torture I first tried on 2 days ago. Let's hear it for Hot Wet Towels - ra ra ra ra!
I've also been playing around with the lacing - on the left I lace loosely over the foot, and more tightly up the ankle. On the more problematic right, I now leave the first 3 holes empty, and that seems to do the trick.
I stopped after 1/2 hour as my ankle bones were beginning to ache - but when I took the boots off, the top edges of the boots had cut a gash in my calf; just a red mark on one leg, but bleeding on the other (odd, I hadn't felt this while skating). I guess I'll have to wear an elastoplast over this area in future.
So I feel hopeful that I might be able to break these boots in. I only worry that they might be too stiff for my level of skating. If that's the case, I can look into getting the 220 Riedels, and put these ones away for later.
Liz (I don't like Spam....) wrote:> Well, I actually went skating in them tonight!
Hooray!
You mentioned the leg gash at the top -- one of my skates (Reidell Silver Star) did that for quite a while on one leg. I found that moleskin protected that spot adequately (I put it on my leg, though come to think of it, I wonder if it would work on the skate instead?). Eventually it stopped happening; I don't know if the boot got softened marginally there or if the lining smoothed out or what. I also had a one of the eyelet backs that seemed to dig into my leg, again moleskin protected that spot until eventually for whatever reason it stopped happening.
You may be already doing this: Be sure you're loosening the laces all the way to the toes everytime you take off the skates, to aid in getting them back on next time.
S.P. wrote:> You mentioned the leg gash at the top -- one of my skates (Reidell> Silver Star) did that for quite a while on one leg. I found that> moleskin protected that spot adequately (I put it on my leg, though> come to think of it, I wonder if it would work on the skate instead?).> Eventually it stopped happening; I don't know if the boot got softened> marginally there or if the lining smoothed out or what. I also had a> one of the eyelet backs that seemed to dig into my leg, again moleskin> protected that spot until eventually for whatever reason it stopped> happening.
Not to be too repetitive, but this is another problem that those magic Bunga Pad gel sleeves work great for. I have turned a lot of people at my rink on to these things and they have all come back to thank me profusely for the advice. Even the people who had previously tried strategically placed mole skin.
If you look closely at some of the elite TV skaters you can see that they are wearing the sleeves. I don't have stock in the company or a franchise or anything, I promise.
You may be already doing this: Be sure you're loosening the laces all> the way to the toes everytime you take off the skates, to aid in> getting them back on next time.>
__Sharon>
Sharon, yes, I'm loosening all the way - I can't get the skates on or off without that - the fit is so neat, and the leather so stiff!
"Gonna Skate" <gonnaskate@aol.com> wrote in message
Not to be too repetitive, but this is another problem that those magic> Bunga Pad gel sleeves work great for.
I ordered the skater's pack from Bunga last night, after reading your comments on the other 'sore boots' threads. The gash on my left calf is still red and throbbing this morning - hope it'll heal up and not get infected - I'd like to be able to skate at the weekend to see how the new boots feel during an hour's coaching session.
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 23:12:17 -0000, "Liz \(I don't like Spam....\)" <I-dont-want-spam@virgin.net> wrote:
I stopped after 1/2 hour as my ankle bones were beginning to>ache - but when I took the boots off, the top edges of the>boots had cut a gash in my calf; just a red mark on one leg,>but bleeding on the other (odd, I hadn't felt this while skating).>I guess I'll have to wear an elastoplast over this area in future.
When I bought Riedells many years ago, my fitter took a knife and shaved down the rough edge of leather around the ankle. In other words, where the inner leather lining comes up to a square edge above the stitching, he carved it down to a 45 degree angle. You might see if this is something you could do with your boots. (Great job with the stretching, by the way!)
Luckily I have Klingbeils now, and they never put a blister or mark on me during the break-in process. I know lots of people with Sp-Teris and Harlicks with the scars to show for breaking theirs in.
"Marizel" <marizel@wvnet.edu> wrote in message news:423b15b5.835748578@news.wvnet.edu...
When I bought Riedells many years ago, my fitter took a knife and> shaved down the rough edge of leather around the ankle. In other> words, where the inner leather lining comes up to a square edge above> the stitching, he carved it down to a 45 degree angle. You might see> if this is something you could do with your boots.
Thanks for that suggestion, Mary. The stitching is pretty close to the top of the boot, but I think I could very carefully shave away the inner edge. Definately worth a try.
(Great job with> the stretching, by the way!)
Thanks! I'm still astonished what a big difference the wet towels made.
