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I have new skates! Finally! After nearly five years on the same pair of Jackson Freestyles, it was getting to be that time, and partly as a pick-me-up (and partly because I just wanted to), I splurged on the fancy, popular (and expensive!) Edea Ice Flys, which I’d been thinking about for ages but wasn’t sure I was ready for.

My old pair have served me well, but I knew for the past several months that they would need to be replaced soon. The sensible part of my brain forced me to be patient and stick with my skates until they were truly done, because they still had life in them and I didn’t want to be wasteful. But the day finally came when, in a lesson, I landed a nice jump with a secure landing… and then just fell, apropos of nothing. My coach was surprised, because she said it was a nice jump and it looked like I was fine, and then suddenly I was down. I laughed that it must mean it was finally time to upgrade, because my skates just weren’t supporting me enough. I’ve been feeling wobbly at times, mostly when landing jumps, like I had to work extra hard after landing to stay in control, and I didn’t feel as secure as I wanted to. One of my goals is to increase power and get more jump speed and height, but I didn’t feel I could on my weak-ankled skates.

My Freestyles are my second pair of skates; I started on entry-level starter skates, the kind with plastic soles where you can’t change the blades. More than the boot, I hated those stock blades and was eager to get onto better ones, which is when I got into the Freestyles with the Coronation Ace blades. I liked that setup and felt it has been a good fit for the past five years (minus about six months of non-use), and I didn’t have any issues with fit, so it was definitely a consideration to stick with Jacksons. It would certainly be a cheaper option than the Edeas! But I’d had my eye on the Ice Fly, and given how long skates have lasted me, I didn’t want to wait another five years to try them out. I mentioned them as a possibility to my coach, who approved of them as a good choice.

I felt hesitant to make such a leap, because I know that they work for skaters with much more advanced skills than I have, and because they’re so trendy right now, I didn’t want to fall into the trap of choosing something that wasn’t the best choice for me just because it was popular. I knew it was more boot than I need, but it seemed that the consensus is that it’s fine for lower-level skaters, too. I’d heard so many things about how comfortable they are, and how light and easy to break in, and I’ve been seeing them on a lot of low-level adult skaters (Pre-Bronze or lower) who said they all loved the skate. So I felt more comfortable going with the choice, took myself off to the pro shop, and got myself fitted.

Will report back on how they do!