"Vintage" Ice Speed Skates?

[Skating_Bob]

Greetings All,

I see "vintage" Viking speed skates every now and then on ebay and other classifieds. I was thinking of getting a pair for my kid to try out (found a size 29, that might fit him now/soon). Beyond lacking the Carbon fiber structure of modern speed skates - any other things to consider? Safe to try out during a non crowded public session?

[bjvircks]

I suppose it all comes down to what your expectations are for your children's experience on ice and how it affects their inline performance.

While in their time "vintage" Viking skates were top-notch equipment... today I would pass on them. For one thing... they are 'Long Track' skates for 400m tracks with long straights and big radius turns... not suitable for 110m Short Track (hockey rink) skating. Long track skates just don't turn. You could pay to have the long track blades rockered and bent so they could turn. For a second thing... as your photos show... the blades are fixed in place and cannot be easily be moved to compensate for pronation or supination. Coaches in ages past have been known to grind off the rivets and reposition blades... but you've got to know what you are striving for. Thirdly... modern boots provide a completely superior level of ankle support.

In my opinion...if you've got the $$ to throw at skates like this and don't care about results your kids get... go ahead.

[topcarbon]

i see Viking boots and i have flashbacks and nightmares

and not nice ones

In the moment, when I used them for inline, I was younger and more flexible(and not as bright). Now with better technology and comfort, boots offer better support which these lack.

If you want your child to have a better experience and do this for longer than a couple of sessions, go with something more recent.

Best of luck

[shesk8]

The one critical pic I'd request from the seller is the blade runners (th part you skate on) themselves. If they are chuck full of rust pocs, walk away. If they look in decent shape, as the uppers do, then these are great starter skates for kids. We've sold many "fixies" speedskates to rinks and skaters alike to get started.

The other consideration is that some times used gear can come with poorly sharpened runners, or a wavy radius (the rockering from tip to tail). These are not the kind of skate to take to a hockey shop for sharpening - they'd get destroyed first pass on a grinder. They need to be tuned (radiused & sharpened) by speedskating shop, I may know of one.

Overall these type fixed blade speed skates are great to get started, kids of adult beginners. Viking, btw, still makes a few fixed models, and by the look of the foot bed these look fairly new still, possibly... I may even know their origin.

Edit, Yep, I knew these looked a bit familiar. Kids have outgrown them.
https://www.facebook.com/theSKATENOW...type=3&theater
Hope that helps.