Why is the leather ripping on my RF4 skates?

Question

The Leather on the toes of my boots are ripping. It start when doing a certain move which required me to bend down on one knee and skate along the ice. Surely this shouldn't cause the rip in the boots? Risport are suppoed to be good quality boots which cost me £100 new. I've only had the for 3 months and I look after them very very well. Can you tell me if this is normal or how i can fix it? There is a link to the pictures of the rips below.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/x_freespirit_x/DSCF3602.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/x_freespirit_x/DSCF3601.jpg

Answer 1

Yes, that can happen if you don't protect your skates. I recommend either using Sk8Tape, over the boot tights, or boot covers. All of these will protect your skates and prevent further rips as well as other damage to your skates.

Answer 2

My skates look like that too. The leather has also worn off on the inside of the right skate from dragging it on the ice. Skate tape it your best bet. You could also probably cover those up with some white polish and then put the skate tape over the repair so it doesn't continue to rip.

Answer 3

When I have a mark on my Skates..

I Have a white dabber thing In the make of 'Kiwi'

It is supposed to be for Trainers but it does the Job!

You can get them from Sainsburys or a sport shop..

Good Luck x =]

Answer 4

It's not that the leather is ripping . . . it's more that it's being "shaved" from the ice when you're dragging the boot in that spot on the ice.  

I had that on the inside edge of my boots because I did TONS of lunges.  So if you do those sort of moves, yes, that will happen to your boots and will continue to get worse if you don't take care of it now.  Mine got to the point where the leather was thinning out so much that it was nearly becoming a hole!!    

A l**k of polish can help, but it won't last if you keep doing that move.  Boot covers and over the boot tights eventually get damaged from the drag too.  I ended up putting Sk8tape on my lunge marks . . . not only did it save my boot from further damage (the tape really holds up!), but it also kept it waterproof so water wouldn't hit the leather (which messes up the boot even more).  Funny thing is I felt I did lunges better with the tape - in a weird way it felt more slippery - without the drag from the leather!    

Here are instructions on how to use sk8tape if you wanted to protect your entire boot - but that's extreme.  http://www.rainbosports.com/policies/ska...  You can just apply it on the areas where you get these marks.  If you use the tape in competion, no one will see the tape from far away.  

Best of luck!