I had my skates cut to a wider radius to give me more blade contact on the ice. This cost about $30.00 at General Sports on 50th and France. The skates still work fine for hockey and are much more stable with a kite. I must have been going 30mph with a 16M kite and about 9mph of wind yesturday. If you can skate, this is a great way to get out in these conditions.
Pete C
Skates
Moderator: MK
Tom F and I were on lake Harriat, which is pretty good on a NW wind. The ice has some bumpy spots and and some glass. The bumps really aren't a problem, I just ride with one foot infront of the other which is like having one long edge. If I see bad ice coming I either fly the kite high and pick up my feet over a bad spot or turn down wind and go around it. I find that even if you go to far down wind and cause the kite to luff you can turn so fast on skates that you can cut back up wind and power up the kite again.
Having the skates cut flat like goalie skate might be good if you only use your skates for kiting, but I still want to use mine for normal skating. I think the General sports said they were a 9ft radius cut and they changed them to an 11ft radius cut. This doesn't sound like much, but it took out all the shimmy and shake that I had at speed.
Having the skates cut flat like goalie skate might be good if you only use your skates for kiting, but I still want to use mine for normal skating. I think the General sports said they were a 9ft radius cut and they changed them to an 11ft radius cut. This doesn't sound like much, but it took out all the shimmy and shake that I had at speed.
SHARP SKIS
Perhaps you could enlighten one who had the misfortune of growing up in Texas...How the heck do you sharpen skis? Do you shave off the sides to make the corner between the edge and the bottom sharp? What tools are used? Belt sander, grinder, file, or stone? 