the Nordic Ice Skating Thread

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mca80
Posts: 1010
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:24 pm
Location: Da UP eh
Ski style: Over the river and through the woods
Favorite Skis: Nansen, Finnmark, Kongsvold, Combat NATO, Fischer Superlite, RCS
Favorite boots: Crispi Bre, Hook, Alpina 1600, Alico Ski March, Crispi Mountain

Re: the Nordic Ice Skating Thread

Post by mca80 » Sun Feb 18, 2024 8:37 am

satanas wrote:
Sat Feb 17, 2024 10:05 pm
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.

mca80
Posts: 1010
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:24 pm
Location: Da UP eh
Ski style: Over the river and through the woods
Favorite Skis: Nansen, Finnmark, Kongsvold, Combat NATO, Fischer Superlite, RCS
Favorite boots: Crispi Bre, Hook, Alpina 1600, Alico Ski March, Crispi Mountain

Re: the Nordic Ice Skating Thread

Post by mca80 » Thu Feb 22, 2024 1:54 am




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