If you/your kid has worn Jackson and/or Riedell

I would like to do a survey to see if there’s a consensus on foot types. Specifically:

Jackson or Riedell, stock boots or custom? Bonus points if you’ve worn both)

What type of foot arch do you have (high, average, low, flat) and did you add an aftermarket or otherwise modify the insole that came with?

Which brand was more comfortable?

I've worn stock Jacksons and recreational Riedells. I also tried on some higher level Riedells at a not-very-experienced fitter's.

I have quite high arches and somewhat narrow heels, but the balls of my feet are almost as big around as my feet are length-wise. My wide-width stock Jackson Freestyles fit like a dream right out of the box, which is very, very good luck on my part and should not be expected by anyone else.

The recreational Riedells were so narrow that I'd lose feeling in my pinkie toes. The weird thing was though, they didn't feel too narrow, and I didn't even realize that they were until I got my Freestyles. For the higher level Riedells, the fitter was going to put me in a pair a size and a half too big. They fit perfectly in the width but had WAY too much height in the toe box, and my heel slipped.

MCsAngel2 said:

I would like to do a survey to see if there’s a consensus on foot types. Specifically:

Jackson or Riedell, stock boots or custom? Bonus points if you’ve worn both)

What type of foot arch do you have (high, average, low, flat) and did you add an aftermarket or otherwise modify the insole that came with?

Which brand was more comfortable?

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I've worn basically every brand out there, stock boots coming up the ranks, and then tried several custom or semi-custom until I could find the right brand that had everything I wanted.

I have a high arch, wide toebox, more narrow heel. 2nd toe is longer than big toe. My freestyle boots are custom Jackson, I used to wear Custom Risport for freestyle and could go back to those if I wished. My dance boot is a Risport though I have worn Jackson and Graf in the past (custom dance).

Each brand and each boot within even the same brand will fit different or feel different. If one can't find something that works, then custom is going to be the way to go. That way they measure, trace, etc your foot and that boot is made to specifically fit your foot pretty much perfectly. If your foot was measured or traced wrong or a specific need was not discussed then they can get a custom pair of boots wrong, it's not 100% foolproof all of the time.

Anything else? I'd love to help.

MCsAngel2 said:

I would like to do a survey to see if there’s a consensus on foot types. Specifically:

Jackson or Riedell, stock boots or custom? Bonus points if you’ve worn both)

What type of foot arch do you have (high, average, low, flat) and did you add an aftermarket or otherwise modify the insole that came with?

Which brand was more comfortable?

Click to expand...

My daughters both have a wide ball of their foot and a narrow heel, with really high arches. They both pronate a bit but my younger skater pronates more and has a bit wider forefoot. As a result we've has some bumps in the road to properly fitted skates. If you look up my posts you'll see where we changed both my girls into smaller skates recently because of issues of where exactly their arches are within the boot. It just so happens that they have oddly placed arches or long toes or something. So they do much better with their toes closer to the front of the boot thane some others can get away with. We recently replaced boots/blades that were literally a few months old!

They both now skate in the Jackson Fusion series, Debut. Kinda hard to explain but they ended up with going a half size down from their previous Jacksons and it made a huge difference in their skating and edge work. My younger skater was right on the edge of needing a wider skate, so her first pair were wider as well as larger. We downsized on width as well after she struggled with nearly everything she had been solid with. It was such a relief for her to not have to struggle with everything and make some progress!

I will say a huge benefit is their insoles as well. I have the same foot as my skaters so I was able to recognize the issues they'd have. We use a SOLE insole in both their skates as well as a Edea shock absorbing insole. Neither one uses the Jackson insole if I remember correctly but it can be combined according to our skate tech/fitter. We purchased the insoles online because they offer a few varieties and sizes and it was hard to figure out which one fit the skates vs street shoes but since they are unconditionally guaranteed and returnable in 90 days, I gave them a go. My skaters love them and they fit like a glove since they were heat molded at the same time as their new skates. Yes they are heat moldable!

I have to say, we were lucky to run into Kevin the tech rep for Jackson who made the recommendation. He was so sweet about suggesting ways to "take up volume" in my younger skaters skates and I started to realize her skates were too big! LOL. He was so willing to help me make the current skates work, I trusted him to make a recommendation for both skaters and I don't regret it a bit. Sometimes it takes a bit to realize how a particular foot will fit within a skate. So many different feet shapes! I do know Jackson fusion series is designed for wide forefoot and narrower heels. The heat moldable aspect it great and my two skaters felt comfortable in their new skates within a few days. When my daughter first got her fusion elle's she ended up with terrible blisters and with her new smaller skates she used gel sleeves the first few skates then went to nothing but her socks with no trouble.

I have worn both, a few years ago I switch from Risport to Jackson freestyle due to heel slippage in the risport (they were two years old and padding had worn). I have average arch narrow heels and standard ball. I got standard stock and fitting with them and I never got along with them, my foot moved around massively, I started skating with two insoles in just to try and pad them out. It didn't last long and I switched to semi custom riedell bronze star (5 years ago, not sure what they were called) with a split width of b/aaa now after 5 years I'm on my third pair (been in silver star for last two years) and I don't see me changing out of them

MCsAngel2 said:

I would like to do a survey to see if there’s a consensus on foot types. Specifically:

Jackson or Riedell, stock boots or custom? Bonus points if you’ve worn both)

What type of foot arch do you have (high, average, low, flat) and did you add an aftermarket or otherwise modify the insole that came with?

Which brand was more comfortable?

Click to expand...

My daughter wears semi-custom Silver Star Riedells with yellow Superfeet insoles. She has a wide E foot, average heels and arch but a slightly thick foot. She has worn Riedells since her first pair of 'real' figure skates so we stuck with them. She had yellow Superfeet in a previous pair of used skates that we had bought and they seemed to work well and were recommended by our fitter.

Can anyone compare the height of the toe box in the boot of Riedell and Jackson?

I skated as a teen in Riedells (Silver Star, Royals, and Comps, c. 1990's) and wear Jacksons as an adult. In retrospect the first few pairs of Riedells were poorly fitted to me. I have a wide ball of foot and average heels. The Riedells were originally a 7A when they should have been a 6B. It was visible on the insole that my toes left maybe 3/4" of empty space up to the top of the insole/boot. They never hurt nor did my heel slip though. When I eventually changed to Riedell 6B the fit was much better. I was able to go a blade size down and my spins improved. I used the factory insoles.

Fast forward to my coming back nearly 15 years later as an adult. I think I tried on Riedells at the fitters and they were too narrow in the toe box for me. I now wear a Jackson Premiere (tried Edea Chorus but didn't like them) and am very happy with them. They are a size 7C (my foot has gotten bigger over the years as my street shoe size is now an 8). They are the Premiere but not the Premiere Fusion so I actually am not sure if they have the factory split width or not. They are a generation or two older than the Premiere Fusion. There is a little wiggle room in the toes (high toe box but not too much and it doesn't bother me). I changed out the insoles to Aetrex L400 for an average arch. This has a more significant arch than the Jackson factory insole. The real reason I picked Aetrex is there is a copper mesh lining which is naturally antibacterial and my skates tend to stink (this is not nonsense about the copper - there are quite a few peer-reviewed articles about this).

Overall for a wide ball of foot, average arch with slight tendency to pronate, and average heel I've been happy with stock Jacksons (with replaced insoles) and plan for my next pair of skates to be the same, depending on model evolution of course.

So what I'm looking for in this thread, is if Jackson boots have a slightly more arched footbed (hard bottom of the boot), and Riedell a slightly flatter footbed. I suspect that (in stock boots), those with high/average arches are more comfortable in Jackson, and those with low/flat arches are more comfortable in Riedell. Those with higher arches may be able to wear Riedells comfortably with an aftermarket or modified (removable) insole.

I have low/flat arches, and my Jackson boots are very uncomfortable after a couple of minutes on the ice. I'm looking for anecdotes to support or refute my theory, as I look into changing brands.

Hmm. I have lowish arches myself, and they’re fine in my Jacksons (Debut, with the LCL sole and the Matrix Poron insole). My problem is mostly with bunions - I wear a men’s 7.5W and I’ve had the left boot punched out twice and I still get some pain there. I’ve never so much as tried on Riedells - my fitter said with a wide forefoot like mine, a stock Riedell more than likely wouldn’t feel right.

MCsAngel2 said:

So what I'm looking for in this thread, is if Jackson boots have a slightly more arched footbed (hard bottom of the boot), and Riedell a slightly flatter footbed. I suspect that (in stock boots), those with high/average arches are more comfortable in Jackson, and those with low/flat arches are more comfortable in Riedell. Those with higher arches may be able to wear Riedells comfortably with an aftermarket or modified (removable) insole.

I have low/flat arches, and my Jackson boots are very uncomfortable after a couple of minutes on the ice. I'm looking for anecdotes to support or refute my theory, as I look into changing brands.

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I'd say change your insole if the rest of the boot fits you. I didn't think the insole of the Jacksons was anything special. It did seem a bit higher in the debut fusion than the lower model skates but not nearly sufficient for my two skaters. It's super easy to change out once you find a good insole. The SOLE brand seemed too high an arch for my husband but he heat molded them and likes them for his hiking boots now. He has very little arch as well. The bottom of the actual skate is literally flat. I think as long as its not a cushy gel insole there are lots of options to try first. Good luck I know how tricky it is!!

My skater wore stock Jackson Freestyles with and without an added arch insert. It didn't seem to make a huge difference to him but the arches (little gel arches that you can buy at a convenience store) seem to help stretch the life of the skate and let him keep those boots a little longer than he would have without an arch. Coach explained that adding an arch can give a little extra toe room. (This is mainly just for a kid who is growing and likes their skates and doesn't want to spend time breaking in new skates while still learning so much).