Most people don’t understand how well-fitted boots can improve your progress in Skating.
It is a common belief that people accept what a brand can offer by default and switch to another brand if it is not sufficient. To make things worse, the lack of standard in professional fitting services could make someone hate a brand completely; not because of the brand itself but the wrong boot fitment.
For Example, we had a Skater who purchased 2 pairs of Edea Ice Flys and it was still no good! The first pair was too big, so she went back to get another pair. After wearing the 2nd pair for a short period of time she still felt the boots were too loose, she found the heel socket was so big that her heels were barely touching the sides of the boot when Skating. She had to wear multiple layers of socks and gel pads to compensate but it was still no use. Her Skating skill did not improve for 2 years and was almost ready to give up on the Edea brand entirely – believing that she just cannot get anything that fits her.
We assessed her feet and put her into a pair of custom fitted Edea Chorus, she was thrilled to find that Edea could give her “weirdest foot shape” a perfect fit. She also commented that she had seen a few people but none offered such services, and the best part is that there is no extra charge!
Many Skaters are having the same experience as this Skater, they believe a brand doesn’t work for them without knowing they are just simply not on the right fitment. Sometimes it’s a lack of knowledge and sometimes it’s the Retailer not doing what they are supposed to do; not just selling Skates but to fit the Skates!
In our previous article we talked about some Skaters insisting the so-called “correct fit” is not the right fit, some of them have wide feet, some have high arches, some have tall feet, some have square toes and some have very narrow ankles – the truth is, the length is never the only thing to consider when fitting Skates, the width is equally important and that is why most brands offer a variety of “wide” and “narrow” fitments. For Example, Edea comes in B narrow, C standard, D wide and E extra wide. Each of these fitments can be further customized on any part of the boot. The degree of customization makes Edea suitable for 95% of the foot shapes. Although we use Edea as an example, most brands offer various customization to their boots also. So the limitation is on the Skate Retailer and not brand of boot itself.
At SkatersEdge we believe quality service should never come at extra cost. Do it once, do it right.