Synthetic ice for skating is not a new concept to many people. It is famed for making year-round
skating possible and has been around for several years. Compared to real ice, synthetic ice for
skating has never been so popular due to a few challenges that are often associated with it. For a
long time, therefore, ice skating remained a luxury sport that only countries with icy conditions
could enjoy. Today, however, synthetic ice is increasingly being used as an alternative to real or
natural ice, thanks to advances in technology. Like any other sporting medium, synthetic ice has a few pros and cons, so before you go to this website to find the best hockey skates to hit the ice with, let’s look at some of these pros and cons.
Pros
Here are the top benefits of synthetic ice:
1. Looks And Feels Like Natural Ice
One of the immediate benefits of synthetic ice for skating is the fact that it is so close to real ice
in terms of appearance and feel. Some synthetic ice options even come with a dirty area where
skaters enter and exit the rink.
2. Easy To Install
Depending on the size of the rink, installation can take as little as 1 hour. Bigger rinks can take
up to 3 days or less to install. Besides, the installation process is straight-forward and doesn’t
require assistance from specialized personnel.
3. Works Under Any Weather Condition
With synthetic ice, skating is possible in any weather—snow, rain or sunshine! What’s more,
there are exclusive treatments that allow ice rinks to be used at temperature ranging from -112 0 F
to 212 0 F and still maintain the same quality. This implies that you can skate both indoors and
outdoors—any season.
4. No Frequent Re-Surfacing Needed
Synthetic ice can be used continuously the whole day or night without the need to re-surface it
every a few hours. The gliding factor is more consistent than natural ice, which often starts at
100 percent but reduces to 80 percent after a few hours of usage.
5. Rinks Can Be Customized
Synthetic ice rinks allow for a wide range of shapes, colors, and sizes. It is possible to customize
it the way you deem fit. For instance, there is a chocolate synthetic ice rink in Brazil. The
thickness of the rink can also be customized based on the users’ preferences.
6. More Utility Benefits
Synthetic ice for staking can be used in places where it is not possible to put natural ice due to
technical and aesthetic factors. Besides skating, it can also be used for other sports such as ice
hockey.
7. Easy To Maintain
Synthetic ice rinks are very easy to maintain—and for a number of good reasons. To begin with,
they made of self-lubricating plastic, which translates to low water consumption. Secondly, no
cold machines are needed, which also translates to low energy consumption.
Cons
Here are some cons that are often associated with synthetic ice for skating:
1. Breathing Problems
Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB ) has been found to be more rampant in synthetic ice
rink athletes due to inhaling air pollutants released from materials that are used to maintain the
ice rinks.
2. Safety concerns for Kids
The blades of the skating boots are still razor sharp. So, when the kids pick up their skating
boots, they still need to be briefed on the importance of ‘falling with their fists closed.’
3. Requires more efforts to skate
When the synthetic ice is not of premium quality, a lot of issues may arise. For instance, low
quality ice has been shown to cause a lot of friction, resulting to undesirable skating experience.
In ice skating, even the slightest friction will interfere with the skaters’ flow. It is not only
difficult to glide in such rinks but also require more efforts to skate. Skaters may, therefore,
waste a lot of energy. For recreational skaters, the experience simply becomes less enjoyable.
Using quality synthetic ice rinks is the only sure-fire way to guarantee effortless skating.
4. Need to re-sharpen boot blades frequently
To eliminate friction and issues of dull blades, Ultra Glide Technology is often used. Due to the
extra costs that this technology comes with, many low quality synthetic ice rinks don’t
incorporate it, making skating difficult and frustrating. The good news is that there are synthetic
ice rinks that not only come with the technology but also allow better grip like what you get with
natural ice, giving you a chance to fully exploit your skating potential.
Bottom-line
There you have it; some of the top pros and cons of synthetic ice for skating. Despite the
demerits listed above, synthetic ice is becoming more and more popular the world over and has
some critical advantages over traditional or natural ice skating rinks. For instance, skating in
your backyard on a hot sunny day is now a reality with synthetic ice. If you are looking for rental
synthetic ice for skating, get a free quote here: kwikrinksyntheticice.com. Kwik Rink Synthetic
Ice delivers the most practical and high quality rinks loved by pros and experts.
