Equipment: Adjusting your skate frames
Whatever your skating discipline, adjusting your frames requires a bit of attention and precision. Their placing conditions your comfort of skating. Badly placed, they can cause pain and injury. Here are a few adjustment tips...
Par alfathor
Choose carefully and take the time to adjust your frames
Are my frames adjustable?
That is the first question. By the way, it is better to think about it before buying your skates, especially if you are into fitness or speed skating.
Most entry level skates have their frames and shells cast in the same piece. The skate frames may also be riveted, especially on roller hockey models. In those cases, they cannot be adjusted.
If your feet tend to lean towards the inside or the outside the first time you put your skates on, they probably need some readjustment according to your morphology. In order to make sure, place your feet shoulder-width apart. Check if the skates you are trying on are adjustable. If your feet are leaning towards the inside or the outside and they are not adjustable, go on your way!
Along the same lines, in aggressive skating, skates rarely offer the possibility of adjusting the frame sideways, especially with UFS models where the frame is placed in a fixing rail.
The method to adjust your frames sideways
The technique is as following:
- Loosen your skates to the max
- Stand up, loose skates with your feet shoulder-width apart
- If your feet lean towards the inside, place your frames more on the inside
- If your feet lean towards the outside, place your frames more on the outside
- You are looking for a ‘neuter’ edge position. No inside or outside edging… And that’s all there is!
Speed skating special features
In speed skating, when you skate with low cut carbon boots, you need very precise adjustments since the height of the wheels increases the strain on the ankles. A badly placed frame may lead to pain and injuries around the ankle: pressure points, cuts or burns, tendon pain…
Front-back adjustment
When a frame has several oblong holes or long holes lengthwise, it can be adjusted more or less to the front or the back of the skate.
Generally speaking we would advise you to center the frame under the boot not to push too much with your toes or heel. You’ll have a better balance.
How to adjust your skate frames – by Pascal Briand
Useful links
- The making of composite skate frames
- Anatomy of a skate frame
- Maintaining your skate frames
- Choosing your skate frames (by Yann Guyader, world champion)
- Which frame for which use?
- Choosing your aggressive skating frames
- Speed frames: 2 or 3 points? Advantages and drawbacks
- Frames: flat and rockered set-ups
- Frames: Magnesium or aluminum?
Photos : Alfathor
