Roughly for a recreational skater, it is about 250 to 300 hours of ice time, this is an estimate that has been passed around for years, and although I doubt the actual number could be quantified it is in my opinion a solid estimate. Other factors come into play such as how often you sharpen them, the quality of your sharpening, how many rock n rolls you do on them, whether or not they are used outside of the ice rink, and of course your weight.

Silky Terrier Dog Breed Playing Aro... Silky Terrier Dog Breed Playing Around

I am a lighter skater at 115 lbs so it is no surprise that my first pair of blades only lasted about 200 hours before they needed to be replaced, I was also pretty hard on them doing rock n rolls on every stride. I asked around with other skaters who were closer to my size (5’2 110lbs) and got estimates ranging from 100-180 hours. For some skaters like myself, their first pair of blades will last longer than others because new blades are “sharper” than the old dull ones people bring in for sharpening, this leads me to believe that many beginners go through 2 or 3 pairs before they find a good sharpener, I know that was my case.

Sharpening can be very cheap (10-18 dollars) to very expensive (45-55+), once you get your blades sharpened by someone you like it’s probably best to stick with them for life or invest in your own ice machine and do it yourself. I’ll admit that there is definitely something satisfying about having your skates properly tuned by someone who knows what they’re doing but unless you are making bank off of skating blade sharpening is not the most profitable trade so finding an experienced skate technician can be difficult.

There are many things that affect how long your skates will last, the only sure-fire method for determining how long your blades will last is to have them sharpened before they start to feel dull and then continue skating until you can see yourself wearing down the edges.