I hate deciding things!
I ordered new blades. I finally decided on the Ultima Lite. They were $170 from the rink (most online stores list them at 210).
Then I asked Sue to set the order aside because now I'm not sure.
I asked Andy about the cross cut vs straight cut toepick, and he didn't really think it made much of a difference at all. However, he told me he really doesn't like the Ultima blades and thinks they sound really bad on the ice. He used (freeskate, not synchro) Karen as an example- saying she wasn't scratching her toe pick, but he blades just don't sound good. He then showed how his blades sound (not sure what they are- probably pattern 99 or something like that) and essentially they don't sound like anything. But Karen has a Mark IV, so I'm not sure that's a good comparision of all Ultimas. He told me that all of his skaters are in Paramounts now and he really recommends them.
So I'm thinking about Paramounts. They are $230-250ish- which is a lot more than I'm already spending, and more than the $200 cap I set. And I'm not sure "sounds funny on the ice" is really a valid reason not to get the blade. But the paramounts actually really are a lot lighter, and the weight difference there would probably be signifigant enough that I'd notice, unlike the Lite's which probably don't have much of an impact. (I got them because the girl at Rainbo sports said they were a better intermediate blade than the Protege).
I just don't know what to do. I think I need to stop second guessing. Realize that Ultimas are a perfectly respectable brand and stick with the blades I can afford and like. I don't need to spend so much money when I could spend it on lessons instead. Even if I could get purple ones :) (And Brianna said that she doesn't care if the blades don't match for synchro)
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