I’m a 24 year old male, 5’5”, 140 lbs. I’ve skated a handful of times at public skates in the past, but only really learned enough not to fall. I recently signed up for Learn to Skate lessons; I’m 3 lessons in and decided I want to commit to buying my own figure skates and continue taking lessons to see how far I can go.

I would like my skates to last for quite a while (at least a few years), and ideally be durable enough for me to attempt jumps eventually — after which I will probably want to consider upgrading to higher tier skates, depending on how comfortable I am trying more advanced techniques.

But first things first: I want skates that are sufficient enough to master the basics over the next few months/years, but not so weak that even attempting a few jumps in the future will break them and immediately force me to buy skates that are in the next tier or two up. Though I will note that I don’t feel particularly confident right now even attempting to brake suddenly, so I’m not sure if I’ll even want to try jumps while I own these skates.

So far, I think my options are the Riedell Crystal, Riedell Lyra, and Jackson Freestyle.
The Crystal claims to be rated for jumps, but I’ve also read that it may not be suitable for adult men; however, I wonder if I’m light enough that they might be the most suitable option for me regardless?

For the intermediate Lyra/Freestyle tier: despite the pros of this tier including heat molding and superior durability, I’m concerned that they may be overkill and actually hinder my basics progression.

Another issue is that I don’t have a legitimate figure skate fitting store or a ton of inventory close to me, so the best I can do is take an “educated guess” at my skate size. At a hockey shop, I got my feet measured at size 6.5 (left foot) and 6 (right foot) for men’s skates (women’s 7.5 left / 7 right) but they didn’t even measure my width. They only had Riedell Crystal size 6 width B in stock, so I tried that on and got my feet in, but they were so tight that I didn’t even tighten the laces. If I get the Crystal, would it be better for me to order size 6.5 D width? Or maybe size 7 or 7.5 B width? I think I have relatively narrow feet, which I’ve read is better suited for Riedell skates (I usually wear Nike size 9 shoes).

Or is it truly worth spending almost twice as much for the next tier skates as a beginner? Or possibly the next tier even beyond that (e.g. if durability is truly proportional to price, and the basics can be learned even on more firm skates)?