Does anyone have shorter plates on artistic boots?

[Tuesday Girl]

I'm waiting for my new Roll Line Variant M's to come in and be mounted on my artistic boots. They plates are a bit shorter than recommended, 150mm on women's sz. 8 Riedell silver stars. Most people here mount the shorter plates on speed skates. Does anyone have heeled artistic boots with shorter plates? How do you like them?

[rwsz]

Originally Posted by Tuesday Girl

I'm waiting for my new Roll Line Variant M's to come in and be mounted on my artistic boots. They plates are a bit shorter than recommended, 150mm on women's sz. 8 Riedell silver stars. Most people here mount the shorter plates on speed skates. Does anyone have heeled artistic boots with shorter plates? How do you like them?

are you using these for artistic skating or jam or shuffle skating. usually the only time an art skater mounts them a bit smaller is for loops. not good for the rest of the skating, most of the time they are mounted as recommended for optimal skating. some skaters use to mount them a bit larger to land jumps but hurts spinning a bit for most skaters.

[rolaboi]

Originally Posted by rwsz

are you using these for artistic skating or jam or shuffle skating. usually the only time an art skater mounts them a bit smaller is for loops. not good for the rest of the skating, most of the time they are mounted as recommended for optimal skating. some skaters use to mount them a bit larger to land jumps but hurts spinning a bit for most skaters.

yeh, Ricks right.. and i wouldnt compromise either.. smaller frames do cause other problems, like toe stopping b/c the weight is out.. if that front wheel isnt under the ball of your foot or more fwd.. you're in trouble.. the heel alignment is also important.. i'd be careful..

[Tuesday Girl]

Uh oh. No, I'm just a shuffle skater, rink sessions, recreation. I love to skate to the music and do different dance steps, etc, and a little stationary dancing in the middle. Everyone has been encouraging me to go a little shorter. They all knew I had art boots too. But the more I've read, I couldn't find anyone who had gone shorter with art boots. No, I don't do any jumps, I used to sort of do one 25 years ago, but I could care less if I do that again.

Well, the plate is already ordered. Do you think it's going to be a problem?

[ncsk8rgirl]

I have sk8d a shorter plate on an artistic boot (it was not my setup) and I did jus fine for shuffle and the like. I think most of these guys are speaking of competing and not just session skating.

[Tuesday Girl]

Ok, good, I know I am driving everyone crazy about it and worrying, but I don't know anything about anything!! I think the plates should come in this week so it's do or die and I don't want to screw up my skates. I am really looking forward to having fun with the new shorter plates, but when I couldn't find much info about art boots/short plates I became worried again.

Yes, I suppose if it was competition, you would stick with the norm.
Thanks!

[Ancient1]

Hi Tuesday,
When I recently started back skating my feet had grown (and so did the rest of my body) so I ordered a boot that fit my foot, but the plates were the original that I used when I was a teen. The plates were 2 sizes smaller than my new boots. I was able to skate, but it affected my balance considerably.
That all being said, I had skated for a long time with one size smaller on the plate and did very well. I don't think you will have any problems with only one size smaller. 2 sizes you can skate but you will possibly either have a forward or backward balance issue, depending on how you mount the plates.
I have to say that now that I have the right size boot and right size plates, my balance is much better. I would highly recommend using recommended sizes on boots and plates. But this is still a subjective matter. Best of luck.

Jim (The Ancient One)

[Live2sk888]

One thing to keep in mind here is the "standard" for mounting that is normally used for artistic skates is often different from the standard that a lot of the speed and jamskaters have been used to.

Artistic skates tend to be sized correctly to begin with - front axle under the ball of the foot and rear axled centered under the heel - this would be the common "standard" for those skates.

On the other hand, a lot of the speed/jam/session skaters you talk to started out with plates much longer than that standard, so when they talk about/suggest going to a shorter plate, a lot of times "shorter" to them just gets your plate length in line with what an artistic skater would have considered correct to begin with.

My "short" plate setup on my speed boots, for example, is the same plate that came off of my artistic boots and was just considered the normal size on those.

Now, there are those like Doc and others on the forum that will go even shorter than either standard.... but in general just keep in mind that not everyone's definition of a shorter frame is the same.

[ncsk8rgirl]

good point Rebecca!

[rwsz]

Originally Posted by Tuesday Girl

Uh oh. No, I'm just a shuffle skater, rink sessions, recreation. I love to skate to the music and do different dance steps, etc, and a little stationary dancing in the middle. Everyone has been encouraging me to go a little shorter. They all knew I had art boots too. But the more I've read, I couldn't find anyone who had gone shorter with art boots. No, I don't do any jumps, I used to sort of do one 25 years ago, but I could care less if I do that again.

Well, the plate is already ordered. Do you think it's going to be a problem?

i think you will be ok for what you want to do, i use a regular size plate with my art boot and been disco, shuffling or whatever they call it since the 70s. just depends on what you get use too and how much you skate. of course i cant do much of anything anymore lol.

[Tuesday Girl]

Thank you everyone. I've been pm-ing jammn'beck today and she put my mind at ease. After all, I think we are only talking a 5/8" difference in plate sizes when I get the new Roll Line. I was just worried about the artistic boot heel and where to mount them. Jammn'beck told me to make sure they line up the rear axle with the ankle bone and the rest should come out ok.

Like I told her, my old Sure Grips extend right to the very back of the heel on the boot and the front metal on the plate is about 5/8" from the toe of the boot. It's probably a skateboard by all of your standards, right?...mounted back in '83.

I know I'm pyscho and worrying too much, but I only have one pair of skates (so far) and don't want to screw them up or be miserable with my Variant M 150mm decision.

Rebecca, thanks for your input. It would help if I had skated on other types of skates to know the difference, but I haven't.

I am looking forward to these!

[Chris_at_SkatesUS.com]

I'll throw in my two cents here...

What matters is the the type of skating being done by you...
For dance, session, figures, shuffle, derby, and most jam skating; you're going to want the front axle to fall directly under the ball of the foot. This gives the best combination of agility/stability.
For loops, you'll want the axle a touch behind the ball of the foot.
Freestyle skaters will want the axle to fall a touch in front of the ball to provide a more stable landing platform.

For what you're doing, you'll want it to fall under the ball of your foot.

As Jayson mentioned earlier, heel placement is also important. You want the center of the heel of the plate to be centered with the longest part (center) of the heel. Not the stitching line. Also, you need to have it flush with the back of the heel, because todays boots almost always have a tapered heel. If for some reason you need to bring the plate forward, don't bring it forward more then 3/16ths of an inch. (9 and a half times out of 10, I end up mounting the plate flush with the heel. That should give an idea of how often it's necessary to bring the plate forward.)

When you get your plate, and before you mount it; line it up as I described to see how things align. If it looks like you have the wrong size; call the dealer you purchased it from, get a Return Authorization, and I'll exchange it for the right size. As long as it's new-in-box, and unmounted I'm happy to fix the problem.

[snydertoestops]

Originally Posted by Tuesday Girl

I'm waiting for my new Roll Line Variant M's to come in and be mounted on my artistic boots. They plates are a bit shorter than recommended, 150mm on women's sz. 8 Riedell silver stars. Most people here mount the shorter plates on speed skates. Does anyone have heeled artistic boots with shorter plates? How do you like them?

Doesn't matter what your skating! They just need to be lined up right. the ball of your foot (is that what it's called?) has to be lined with your front truck.

[fpinto]

Originally Posted by Tuesday Girl

I'm waiting for my new Roll Line Variant M's to come in and be mounted on my artistic boots. They plates are a bit shorter than recommended, 150mm on women's sz. 8 Riedell silver stars. Most people here mount the shorter plates on speed skates. Does anyone have heeled artistic boots with shorter plates? How do you like them?

it depends what you are doing on them, if it is just figures, you want the front axel directly under the ball of the foot but you can 1/4-3/8 in on the heel depending on the boot and that will give you great control...if it is for signles a shorter plate will make spins harder and landing jumps more unstable

[Tuesday Girl]

Thanks for everyone's input. Because I have an art boot and not a speed boot, I ended up changing the order (well, Chris from SkatesUS saw the order come in from my rink and SAVED me!!) from a 150mm to a 160mm. I maybe could have even gone 170, but I think the 160mm is closer to what I currently have.

I think with the art boot and heel situation I would have been making a mistake to go short. If I ever get a speed boot set-up, I WILL try a shorter plate, I promise .

They should be mounted this week, so I hope to try them on Friday. WHEEEE!

[rwsz]

Originally Posted by Tuesday Girl

Thanks for everyone's input. Because I have an art boot and not a speed boot, I ended up changing the order (well, Chris from SkatesUS saw the order come in from my rink and SAVED me!!) from a 150mm to a 160mm. I maybe could have even gone 170, but I think the 160mm is closer to what I currently have.

I think with the art boot and heel situation I would have been making a mistake to go short. If I ever get a speed boot set-up, I WILL try a shorter plate, I promise .

They should be mounted this week, so I hope to try them on Friday. WHEEEE!

i think that will work for you, good luck and let us know how it goes.

[MWehmeier]

The Catch-22 in front axel placement is exactly where is the ball of the foot measured?

Some of this depends on where the joint flexes-- but most skaters and rinks have no clue exactly where that point is--

Mary Lu

[mills]

My entire skating career, people have been trying to convince me to get bigger plates.
I have small plates for my skates. It hasn't stopped me.
Here's my advice. If it feels funky, do something about it. If not, don't fight it.

[MANY_SkatingDave]

Hi Tuesday, Rick, AU-Rolaboie, , ,

My first impression of your starting note is that you are mixing art skating with speed / jam skating and how the mechanics work and how we migrate between skating forms with different boots and different set ups.

I can find no reason for you mounting the front axle closer to your heel than the ball of your foot.

For jam skaters it makes sense to move the front axle closer to the ball of your foot so you can do more tricks and toe stuff like art skaters. Normally when you buy speed skates they are set far front, yet when you want to do art stuff on speed skates you need to move them back closer to the ball,

I am actually having this problem as I still can't make a good three-turn on a speed set up.

Yours in Skating, MA/NY Skating Dave

P.S. I really like Tuesday Girl and she has a great skating future.

[Tuesday Girl]

Originally Posted by MANY_SkatingDave

P.S. I really like Tuesday Girl and she has a great skating future.

Hi Dave,

You mean my skating future at the local rink in the sessions? Ha Ha!

Well, I am having a lot of fun on those new Variants I got a week ago. I skated 5 hours total at two different sessions on Friday. I loosened up the trucks a lot and am skating better than ever!

If you have caught some of my threads, you will know that Chris at SkatesUS saved me from going too short on my art boots. I ended up getting 160mm for my sz. 8 women's Riedell. I think they are just right for me. I love them!

Now if I could get my girlie hips in motion I will be making progress. One of the guys that critiques my style says my head bobs, I have great footwork, but it's like a pole runs straight from my shoulders to my knees and I don't swivel!

I argue with him because it feels like I am moving my hips, but he finally figured it out that I don't twist. (That's why I am a crappy dancer too!). So, next Tuesday I will be working on smoothing my steps (they say I do too much two-step, which looks choppy, but I think it's fun), and getting more feminine lines in my skating.

Wish I could see a video, other than the famous one my daughter made of me, ha ha, then maybe I would know what they are talking about.

While I know everyone has their own skating style, I welcome criticism so I can "look" better. People say they don't care what others say about how we look, but that's not true...we all do care to some degree. Others tell me it doesn't matter and as long as I am skating safely and having fun, looks an style don't matter, but Vanity is thy (my) name! Oh dear1