The width of the blade

The width of the blade

Skyllermarks blades are 1.4 mm wide. This is no coincidence but a carefully tested and chosen for minimal friction on natural ice. A few other brands have thinner blades, 1.0 – 1.25 mm wide. This might seem faster, but our tests show the opposite on natural ice, a thinner blade will sink further into the ice slowing you down.

When natural ice forms on a lake it will always have zero-degree water underneath it, the bottom of the ice will thus always be zero degrees. Artificial ice on ice tracks and hockey rinks have cooling lines underneath making it colder than lake ice and harder as well. This means speed skates made for artificial ice can have a very thin blade. Our skates are made for the softer natural ice, where our wider blade reduces resistance. How wide is optimal? It depends on the ice. On very soft ice an even wider blade might be quicker. Of course, this makes the skate much heavier. Skyllermarks has chosen 1.4 mm as the optimal compromise. Remember to not pick a skate with too thin blades!