New Boots and Wait Time Woes

[BeefDumpling]

Hi everyone!

I'm a lifelong skater coming back from a break and I'm looking to get into a new pair of custom (or semi-custom) boots that won't take 9+ months to deliver. I am currently in Edea Pianos with an MK Phantom blade, but I don't think Edea is working out for me. The toe box is a bit too narrow and the ankle opening is way too loose (puts a lot of strain on a previous MPFL injury when bending too deep) despite me loving the heel lock, which made me want to go back to Harlick.

I met with my fitter, but heard that the business got passed down and that wait times are excruciatingly long post-COVID I heard similar stories about Avanta's wait times also, so I'm probably going to avoid them unless anyone can verify that their queue isn't so long anymore. I've never tried Jacksons, Risports, or Grafs, and was considering one of these for my next pair since it seems like I can go the semi-custom route. Also never tried SP Teri, but at this point it seems like they're having similar struggles to Harlick and Avanta in terms of custom wait times.

Does anyone have advice or experience with these brands, or have any custom recommendations? Thanks for reading and taking the time to respond!! Hope all of you have a great day )

ETA: I have worn Riedell before, but only their beginner/intermediate boots from when I was a preteen over a decade ago. I've never tried the Vega or any of their higher level freestyle boots beyond the Bronze. If anyone has any experience in these boots or ordering customs from Riedell I'd love to hear your experience!

 

[fan]

Where are you located? It might make sense to go with a different fitter

 

[bladesofgorey]

I wear this same combination! But I have a pretty narrow foot. If the toe box in Edeas is too narrow for you, Reidells may not be a great choice either, depending on your foot shape. My first boots back were Reidells, but I didn't like how low the heel was compared to the semi-custom SP-Teri bricks I'd skated in back in the day. I've kind of heard SP-Teri's quality may not be as good as it once was, but I'd double-check that rumor before writing them off completely. This guide might be a good starting point for considering your foot shape and models: https://www.homeiceboston.com/boots

 

[BeefDumpling]

I wear this same combination! But I have a pretty narrow foot. If the toe box in Edeas is too narrow for you, Reidells may not be a great choice either, depending on your foot shape. My first boots back were Reidells, but I didn't like how low the heel was compared to the semi-custom SP-Teri bricks I'd skated in back in the day. I've kind of heard SP-Teri's quality may not be as good as it once was, but I'd double-check that rumor before writing them off completely. This guide might be a good starting point for considering your foot shape and models: https://www.homeiceboston.com/boots

Thank you so much!! This guide is super helpful and clears up a lot for me. I'll definitely keep the SP-Teri boots in mind. Fortunately, I don't think I'm really considering the Vegas after looking into them a little more, but I'm open to trying anything that makes me feel more secure lol.

 

[Casey]

Harlick's wait time is roughly 2 years currently, which is insane. The ownership changed (within the same family though) in recent years from what I've heard. As Avanta is in San Francisco also, a lot of former Harlick customers have come to them, and they have a longer wait time now of around 5-6 months. My spouse and I just recently ordered from them and expect to receive them by May, which for us was acceptable. If you want true fully custom boots, these two companies are really the only options in America. SP-Teri's lead time is much shorter, at around 2 months, but they use a stock last and then make custom adjustments for your feet. They are in the Nashville, TN area now, and their boots are less costly than Harlick or Avanta. I would hazard to guess that most, including myself, don't really need a custom last. I believe this is the case for custom Reidells as well. But I was a former Klingbeil customer (see my profile picture), and Avanta is largely former Klingbeil employees, so after talking with both companies, we ultimately decided to go with Avanta and will see how it works out. The first pair of real figure skates I ever skated in was a borrowed pair of SP-Teri's, but that was 20+ years ago, and they were built for somebody else's feet... Avanta, like Harlick, is able to do all kinds of customizations with different leathers and design options if you don't want to stick with a traditional aesthetic, while SP-Teri & Reidell don't seem to offer so much variety in this regard. As to whether or not that matters to you is up to you. My children are all currently using Risport or Reidell stock size boots, which are both good quality. Risport and Graf offer custom as well but I haven't looked much into them at all since I wasn't sure about how that would work out with them being overseas, and I had past suboptimal experience with Graf (though, that was a long time ago and a poorly-fitted stock size boot so not entirely their fault). Reidell has a reputation for a narrower toe box, but they do make wider stock sizes for some models and this is irrelevant for custom boots.