climbergirl blog

In 1993, I won the US Speedskating National Championship in the Women’s (15-16) Division. I set a record, in the 1000 meter distance, which held for 6 years. I skated at the national level for 4 years, before “retiring” to finish the last & hardest year at University.

Thus, the entirety of my teen years were spent in & out of rinks, skating very fast on my trusty companions…(the black skates on top!). The white skates are an early birthday present (from Dennis), a highly anticipated acquiring, years & years overdue!

With my old skates, there were numerous times where I skated around all day, skated home, then skated into bed-only to wake-up with them still on! I will dearly miss them, but I can no longer use them as they have become a safety hazard…

In searching for new skates, I came across the Bont Jet. It’s description matched the properties of my old Bont Boot, so I figured it would work out perfect. The industry has changed a lot since my old racing days, and there were several technological advancements that I had to research before making the purchase. For instance, the 3 point mounting system, Super Mold Technology, and the use of Gigantic 100 or 110 mm wheels!

Dennis ordered the Jet Boots as a birthday present, even though it’s not until June, as I was pleading with him about the broken down condition of my skates. The last time we had skated, my ankles were drooping perilously, and I was nervous about going faster than a woman pushing a stroller…

Happily, Dennis ordered the skates and they arrived a couple days before his birthday…but before I could skate on them, they had to be heat molded. So, I took them apart.

First, I took the wheels off:

Then, I removed the frames:

So, the dismantled Skate looked like:

Then, I placed the boots in the oven at 185 dF for 20 minutes…

When they were all done, I put them on my feet…

I assumed the skating position, and let them cool. Once they were done cooling, I took them off, and then put them back together. I couldn’t wait to try them out…!

Unfortunately, there was a windstorm in Denver on Saturday, so no skating (I went Bouldering at The Spot instead)!

But, this afternoon, in between storm fronts, Dennis & I went out for a roll. I’m glad we did because it’s snowing now!

The new Jet skates performed beautifully. My feet are secure; the new boot is rigid in all the right places-yeah! I’m sure it will take a few months for me to get used to the new length (they are a good inch longer than my old skates).

The new Bonts have 3 point mounting system, so they are very stable. I could feel more of the energy I used in my stride being transferred to the forward motion. Now, I just have to work on strength in the ankles, so I can harness the Power of the Jets! I am very excited.

Tags: Bont, Inline Skates, Jet, Super Mold Technology

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 7:14 pm and is filed under Inline Skating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.