This skate's picture speaks for itself. This skate is like no other I have tried to this date. The tongue is huge, for those of you who have liners that squinch up and mash your toes and everything you hate like i have, this is like heaven.
I never have been tempted to even try on Salomons till this model came out, and even when I saw it, I thought *how is this supposed to be the most comfortable liner in the world, its so small*. Then I tried them on and wow its like a poofy pillow you strap into. theres no problems with toe pains or anything, its just *ahh.. nice..*
I love the quick lace system, theres no pulling and tugging real hard in certain spots, its just *bam* one tug and its tight, plus theres a small locking system so theres less strain on where the laces are tied, and if they come untied, the skates stay tight because of the locking system. The Buckle system is nice too, it stays in place, theres virtually nowhere for anything to move around.
I just thought the Shock Absorber was a largely advertised average heel pad, man I was wrong. This thing is huge, you'd have to take the liner out to believe it. Salomon put some serious padding in this skate, in fact theres 4 soft layers of linings before you reach cardboard and plastic.
Of course it has the wonderful UFS, they slide better and are more durable than Ground Control, but if you're used to doing ledges on Ground Controls, the second wheel might slow you down on the ledge because they seem to slide along it if not angled correctly. And the 56mm/80A SENATE (Liberty Spike) Wheels are the best I've used yet! They're fast and grip, as well as durable, great wheels! I underestimated Senate.
The bearings are nice because they use a patented gel lubricant that doesnt spin out.
Replacement souls and frames are cheap, 40 dollars for souls and frames. You can also just order one or the other.
The Soul is large, it doesn't look very large from the bottom but as soon as you hop on a ledge, you can tell a difference.
The Negative is HUGE, its the size of most skates soul. I mean, it's a good 1-2 inches wide. I appreciate it greatly since I am used to half an inch, at most, negative space.
The frame is set up quite nicely actually, the h-block is up in the frame so it provides a much nicer lockin than your Ground Control frame that slides off if weight's not on it *grumble*. That's my only dislike towards the GC frames. Salomons make good frames for a company that doesn't specialize in frames. They seem pretty slick.
The H-block and Souls are sooo slick and seem very hard and durable.
The cuff is a lot lower, as usual with Salomon, than USD and Razor skates, thankfully. It makes it so nice to be able to do topsides, royales, and pornstars without having to loosen your boot a whole lot. Of course if you don't like mid size cuffs, you won't like this skate. It is more stressful on the ankle when skating but it is much nicer for tricks.
Salomon has been in business with inlines as one of the first companies right behind Rollerblade, unlike most of the popular skates. They have been making boots for half a century and have been making skis and snowboards for decades, they have the knowledge, the experience, and the money to make some of the best skates!
