Riedell Crystal Adult Ice Skates - Competitive Figure Ice Skates with Stainless Steel Vesta Blade

This is the first pair of skates I ever purchased, and I am so pleased. I did a good deal of research before purchasing, because I did not want a cheap recreational set, but I also didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on top of the line skates. This is the perfect middle ground. You will need to sharpen them, as they come unsharpened. I adore the crystals, and although slightly narrow for my wide feet, they were surprisingly comfortable for unbroken skates. I am typically a 6.5 women’s shoe, which translates to a 5 in Reidell. They fit perfectly.

Beautiful skates.Great quality and fit perfect. Mt wife loved them.

DO NOT BUY! Skates have Ecplise Vesta blades, which CRACKED CLEAN THROUGH after 3 months of weekly skating lessons at local FMC rink. Riedell WILL NOT replace under warranty because they were not sharpened by Riedell. This is a material defect, and a safety issue! Don't risk your children's safety with Riedell Crystal Ice Skates.

Riedell has always ran big. For example, I wear a size 9 shoe, but 7.5 in Riedell. I wear a size 9 in Jackson, which runs true to size, and 260 in Edea or Risport. My feet are 258mm or 10.15”. These newer Riedell models run slightly smaller than the older charts, so I would probably only go one size down. You want them to be snug so your heal stays locked in place, and the rockered parts of the blade are under the correct part of your foot for good control. Speaking of locking the heal in, one review mentioned how it was easy to lace up the boot until the ankle, but there seemed a lot of space between the upper and lower parts of the boot. I can see in her pictures what’s wrong; after lacing up the boots to the bottom of the ankle, you need to cross the laces again, pulling tight, and then looping them over the opposite hooks, lacing the rest of the way up.This Riedell Crystal boot and blade set is perfect for children or adults taking lessons and will take them into their single jumps. Please only get the D width if you tried the regular width first. Most children actually need a narrow width. If your child is very little, and only just starting lessons, you can start them in the Riedell Topaz or Ruby. Adults weighing over 130lbs are better off in Jackson Freestyle with Aspire blades if they plan on ever jumping. If not, these are fine or Jackson Artiste (not Lite.)

My daughter (12yr) takes figure skating lessons. After 8 months her class and coach said it was time to upgrade her skates. Mostly due to ankle support as spinning and jumping come into the skill level. She wears a size 5 and I would say foot leans towards the wider side. These skates had a width D available in her size. I did indeed overshoot the width, but the lacing arrangement didn't do me any favors.Understandably all skates have a break in period, sometimes up to a couple months before they really feel like an extension of your foot. Unfortunately breaking in usually means to expand and not contract. So the size D wound up being too much. The padding on them are amazing and all I can say about the blade is it's top notch quality highly polished stainless steel. Just gorgeous. You'll need to have them sharpened, not a go out of the box. Most rinks offer that service for under $20 bucks. Our figure skating coach said hte boot and blade are tier 2 quality meaning adequate for the precision needed. A big second step upward from novice. The subtle crystal gems on the front and back is a nice touch. Support is great.Aside from this sizing being too wide for us, I was baffled on the lacing situation. Once the bottom is nice and tight there's large section between lower and higher lace ladder. A very important spot to pull tight. That will soften over time I'm sure, but before re-ordering, I want her foot measured by a rink to verify. Too much guess work even with the measurement guides. Buying skates on online can be tricky. I feel confident saying they do run a bit large.

I have been looking for skates to use at the local skating rink as a beginner. These have worked just fine. They have a nice look to them and just look like your standard attractive white skate. They felt solid on and they felt comfortable. I felt like I was able to do what I wanted to do on the ice. I felt stable in them. The fit was fine and it was easy to put them on and off. For me as a beginner they worked just fine.

We got these skates for my child. That child has increasingly gotten into skating for recreational purposes with my wife. The only issue, though is a lot of that skating is done outdoors in the wintertime and inevitably we'd have to borrow ill-fitting skates from someone else, since there are no rentals near our local lake that freezes over.We had another pair of Riedell skates and had a good experience, so figured we'd try these. They are really nice -- they look and feel well made. There is nice cushioning around the ankle, so you don't get all beat up by hard leather. The blade is clearly of a high quality and I suspect will last a long time before it needs to be sharpened. Since my child is (we believe) done growing, we don't expect to need to replace these anytime soon -- if at all. So that's great.Otherwise, they are a really nice option. Yes, for $199, they are not cheap. But again, we are hoping this is a (near) once in a lifetime purchase and that we'll save money in the long run, while my child has a very comfortable, well made pair of skates to enjoy 5-10x per year. To be clear, we did get them out on one skating outing to a local rink, and they were great. Now my family is looking forward to winter just a bit more...