Well, I went back to the skate shop on Friday, and they had just received a whole bunch of new 2019 skates! Back to the drawing board.. The owner had me try on the Swell which was my top choice at that point, and then compare it to several new pairs. Turns out my feet utterly loved the Powerslide Imperial Megacruiser 125. Went back and forth a bunch, but I kept coming back to this one. It is a hardshell skate, with a removable liner that's super similar to a light ski boot liner. The whole thing felt like a very light ski boot, which is probably why I gravitated towards it, and it was sooooo comfortable. The longer I kept the Swells on, my feet were going a little tingly, and I was feeling some hot spots on my ankles that weren't there previously. Uh oh.. The Imperial had no discomfort whatsoever. The owner said that is really rare for a new skate because you almost always have hot spots. So we'll see if I develop any, but I didn't in the shop. I still picked up some lightly padded skate socks, so this should help in the instance that I do develop any in the typical spots while breaking them in.
The 125 in the skate's title does indicate that they come with 125mm wheels, which are massive!!! So we changed them out to 100mm wheels in the end. He originally set one skate up with 110mm and one with 100mm so I could compare side by side, and I liked the feel of the 100mm the most, it's amazing how much further away from the ground 10mm in diameter feels. Originally I was going to go with 90mm wheels, but he talked me out of it. He was really pushing for the 110mm size (I guess this is the most common now, takes longer to wear out the wheels, and is easier to get on edge carving), but I stood my ground with the 100mm because I can always size up when I am ready for more speed since my frame will accommodate the jump up easily.
The best part? After deciding that these skates were THE ONES, I was fearful to ask their price, but they were only ~$240.. hahaha I know "only"!?!! But yeah, that was significantly cheaper than pretty much anything else I tried on, so I felt even more pleased that I liked them so much, even though their price may indicate they aren't as high quality as some of the others. I think that's plenty to spend on a first skate for a beginner.. Plus by the time I picked out safety gear, I spent a bit more anyway. I spent a little more on elbow and knee protection because I wanted the lower profile sleeve design that's super flexible when moving around, but hardens with impact, I've been looking at them for awhile for mountain biking, so the dual purposing helped me justify finally getting them. I was always afraid to order them online, but getting to try them on for size/comfort and using a hammer to test out their effectiveness sold me! lol I also grabbed wrist guards and a helmet. I was originally going to use my bike helmet, but after seeing how much further down the back of the head the skate specific one covers, I thought that was a better idea.
So I'm all set with gear, can't wait to really get into learning once ski season is over for me! I'm hoping to start playing around here and there, hopefully my free time will align with some non rainy spring weather soon! I wanted to get outside a little yesterday since I had the day off for Patriot's Day, but of course it was pouring..
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