Hi I'm a pretty new skater and I'm looking at getting my first pair of skates. About me: I'm eighteen, so I'm starting a bit late but I'd still like to give my all and try as hard as I can! I'm female, 173cm and ~60kg. I started attending lessons at my local rink around three weeks ago, lessons are 30 minutes once a week and then I spend another 30-60 minutes practicing. I started in Basic 1 because I've skated before casually with friends, but never done lessons before and now I'm in Novice 1. Also I really like the black boots as opposed to the white boots, so I think I'll end up ordering "mens" boots. (In doing that I'm aware the boot will be wider, sizing will be different, and I'll have to spend more money because they're slightly more expensive but I'm fine with that)
I'm fairly sure I'm not growing anymore, so I'm not worried about growing out of my boots, so ideally I'd like to get a pair that will last me a decent amount of time. I live in Australia and the brand I seem to see popping up the most is Jackson. I've looked through their range and I'm sort of tossing up between the Artiste (~$380) or the Freestyle Fusion (~$540). How long would I be looking at using each of these boots? Is there a big difference between them? I think they have different heels and blades, and maybe cushioning? But I don't really know what all of that information means. Jackson seems to have a little chart of which skate they recommend for different skills and the Artiste is recommended for "bunny hops / edges / all turns" and the Freestyle Fusion is for "single jumps / all spins", I know that eventually I'll have to buy new skates if I want to keep progressing, but I'd rather not buy the Artistes now and the Freestyle Fusions in two months (if that makes sense?). But also I've seen names like Edea and Risport tossed around so I don't know if I should look into them or if they're at a higher level and I don't need to worry about them? I've looked at youtube videos and forums posts and under/overbooting seems to be something to keep in mind, so would the Freestyle Fusions be overbooting too much? Also I can't find many videos on them, unlike Mystiques and Artistes which have tons of comparison videos, so I don't know if I'm overlooking something obvious.
I'd really appreciate any input on which skates you think would be better/if another brand has better value boots or if I'm overlooking something.
I'm fairly sure I'm not growing anymore, so I'm not worried about growing out of my boots, so ideally I'd like to get a pair that will last me a decent amount of time. I live in Australia and the brand I seem to see popping up the most is Jackson. I've looked through their range and I'm sort of tossing up between the Artiste (~$380) or the Freestyle Fusion (~$540). How long would I be looking at using each of these boots? Is there a big difference between them? I think they have different heels and blades, and maybe cushioning? But I don't really know what all of that information means. Jackson seems to have a little chart of which skate they recommend for different skills and the Artiste is recommended for "bunny hops / edges / all turns" and the Freestyle Fusion is for "single jumps / all spins", I know that eventually I'll have to buy new skates if I want to keep progressing, but I'd rather not buy the Artistes now and the Freestyle Fusions in two months (if that makes sense?). But also I've seen names like Edea and Risport tossed around so I don't know if I should look into them or if they're at a higher level and I don't need to worry about them? I've looked at youtube videos and forums posts and under/overbooting seems to be something to keep in mind, so would the Freestyle Fusions be overbooting too much? Also I can't find many videos on them, unlike Mystiques and Artistes which have tons of comparison videos, so I don't know if I'm overlooking something obvious.
I'd really appreciate any input on which skates you think would be better/if another brand has better value boots or if I'm overlooking something.