the Nordic Ice Skating Thread

[tkarhu]

Second day on nordic skates, did 20km in just under an hour. By the end my binding on one skate had slipped forward, else I would have kept going. Has anyone used titeloc or anything on these? I suppose I just need to crank them down better. Some fine citizens plowed the snow yesterday morning for a 10k path on this lake as part of a fundraiser. I only found out about too late, but managed to swing down and skate it today. Will have to donate eventually when I get over to the organization later this winter. Longer skates good for stability and smoothing out rough areas. Need to be very focused in crossovers, it isn't like the muscle memory on hockey skates.

Wow, that is fast! On club tours, nobody usually has faster than that average speeds. Tours take place on ungroomed ice, though, and last several hours.

I would use blue loctite for such metal screws. Or nyloc screws or bolts. Looks like the Zandstra screw set does not have nylocs, so I guess I have the blue loctite on the screws of my skates.

[mca80]

@tkarhu, if you want to remove the bindings at some point is the blue loctite an issue?

I am contemplating getting a shorter turnier skate to complement this one at some point. Am thinking Skyllermarks red, or orange if I want to bite the bullet and spend $$$ for a carbon skate boot, or an Ermine 40cm. Anyone have any knowledge of the Ermine skates in 40?

[tkarhu]

Blue loctite is the version you use, when you want to dismount screws later. I bought it for bicycle screws initially.

Blade length does not correlate 100 % with agility. Agility may be more about the arc to which a blade has been sharpened. Zandstra NIS blades have been sharpened to 35 m arcs in all lengths, and for example MenM Zwart 30 m. 40 m is also common. I heard hockey skates have like 10 m arc blades. But different lengths of a certain blade seem to have same arc, so finding most appropriate model may give even better what you want.

[mca80]

Skyllermarks say 25m on theirs. Understood that length isn't the defining factor but curve of the blade. But a shorter length also allows for easier crossovers etc. With the Ermine skates, they say their 40cm blade has a shortened nose and different angle, so that the contact area is still close to that of their 45cm blades. The shorter nose and quicker rise--I imagine that wouldn't be good for rough ice, but okay for smooth.

[tkarhu]

Skyllermarks say 25m on theirs. Understood that length isn't the defining factor but curve of the blade. But a shorter length also allows for easier crossovers etc.

Yes, and 100 g weight difference per skate made a difference, too, when I got new skates. The NIS’s are quite light.

[mca80]

Skyllermarks say 25m on theirs. Understood that length isn't the defining factor but curve of the blade. But a shorter length also allows for easier crossovers etc.

Yes, and 100 g weight difference per skate made a difference, too, when I got new skates. The NIS’s are quite light.

The hollow center of the triangle can fill with snow and ice though.

[ochotona_ak]

Here's a few different photos for you all - attempting to wing-skate using Ermine skates and an inflatible foil. It was a blast although I'd strongly recommend a full face helmet because when you do go down it happens fast

[Nagano_Gold]

Skyllermarks say 25m on theirs. Understood that length isn't the defining factor but curve of the blade. But a shorter length also allows for easier crossovers etc. With the Ermine skates, they say their 40cm blade has a shortened nose and different angle, so that the contact area is still close to that of their 45cm blades. The shorter nose and quicker rise--I imagine that wouldn't be good for rough ice, but okay for smooth.

Yes it is indeed the curve of the blade that determines the agility, for short track speedskates the typical arc is 9m and for marathon skates this increases to 23. A flatter arc alows a more powerfull push at the cost of an increased effort to turn. Nordic skates in the past all had arcs of around 35 or even higher. These days most brands have reduced the arc on thier skates to around 25/27. The Duth Free skate brand now recommends an arc of 23 similar to the marathon speedskates. So a lower arc offers a more playfull ride vs a flatter arc allowing a more powerfull ride.

[satanas]

Here's a few different photos for you all - attempting to wing-skate using Ermine skates and an inflatible foil. It was a blast although I'd strongly recommend a full face helmet because when you do go down it happens fast

Wow!!! Have you thought about a trans-Antarctic trip? Maybe nobody has done that yet.

Re skating generally: Other than a few small lakes that freeze in winter and are accessed by skiing, the only ice here is at rinks. I have skating boots and am wondering how the Nordic skates might do indoors, and what length might be appropriate. FWIW, I weigh ~65kg and have EU size 46 2/3 Salomon boots.

[mca80]

I have skating boots and am wondering how the Nordic skates might do indoors, and what length might be appropriate. FWIW, I weigh ~65kg and have EU size 46 2/3 Salomon boots.

I would stick with hockey skates personally for indoors and the typical sized rink / groomed ice. If you really want nordic skates for that I would look into Dutch manufacturers who are lesser known (at least in the USA) than Zandstra, as well as Zandstra themselves. The Dutch skates will typically be a much narrower blade than skates meant for wild ice made in Sweden or Alaska (1.0 to 1.2 compared to 1.4 to 1.57). And find one with a shorter radius--no more than 25. Here is Skyllermarks' explanation of their rail width:

"Some other brands have thinner rails, eg 1.0 – 1.25 mm. It might sound like it would go faster, but our tests do not show that this is the case with natural ice. Instead, the rail sinks a little further into the ice, which provides increased resistance.
Natural ice on a lake always has zero-degree water below it, i.e. the underside of the ice is always zero degrees.
Artificially frozen ice, such as rinks and ice hockey rinks, has loops of refrigerant at the bottom of the ice, which makes the ice much colder and also harder. Therefore, speed skates, which are only made for circular tracks, can advantageously be fitted with thinner rails.
Cross-country skates are intended for natural ice on lakes and oceans and that ice is not as hard. Therefore, it slides better with a slightly thicker rail."

I have skated two pairs of nordic blades on softer lake ice recently, 1.1 and 1.57. I definitely felt sinking or increased ice penetration with the narrower blade.