Roller Derby Elite, a review
When I was at Mens World Cup in Birmingham Earlier this year, I noticed that some of the Team USA skaters were sporting new skates. Some USA themed Antiks and some USA themed..uh..what are those? Turns out they were made by Roller Derby Elite. This is the top of the line offering from Roller Derby Skate Co. I know little to nothing about this company. I do know that Tony Muse of Team USA and Your Mom Men's Roller Derby wears them and he's really good. He was manning the Roller Derby Elite booth at Rollercon 2014 when I was there. I had a chance to skate with him during a challenge bout and he is a really nice guy.
Anyway, I recently had the opportunity to skate a pair of the Stomp Factor One boots mounted to some Octane 7000 Pro plates. This is the top of the line package offered by Roller Derby Elite.
I started out with an inspection of the skates. They had been skated on once, and as far as I knew were straight out of the box.
Fairly typical all the way at the back plate mount. Also, check out how long they left that rear mounting bolt. Sloppy.
So, two of the lockscrews tightened like crazy into the kingpin and one that is falling out.
Huh? This kingpin seems to be missing the slots. This means that lockscrew does nothing and the adjuster nut can fall off. Also worth noting is the adjuster nuts were not tumbled or dressed at all and are sharp enough you can cut yourself. Upon closer inspection, it seems that the two "overtightened" lockscrews are actually just demonstrating the improperly machined kingpin. The counterbore appears to be oversized, allowing the lockscrews to thread in much too far. So these out of the box skates need 3 new kingpins. Hmm. It could be the lockscrews are the wrong diameter at the big end also. I don't know if I'll double check.
Nope. definitely kingpin.
First impression? Not great. I'm a stickler for details. I just really like properly machined and assembled things.
The plate itself is quite nice. The literature I found claims the plates are machined from 7075 aluminum. Pretty strong stuff. Finish on the plates is really nice.
On to the boots. They seem to be well constructed.The laces, like most laces that come with skates, are not the best quality. Multilayer leather sole, stitched on. Toe guard built in. Cool. Velcro strap right where you would need it. Aesthetically pleasing? I really do not care for how these boots look. More importantly, are they comfortable? Heck yes. They fit my feet quite well. No rubbing did I notice and no cramped toes.
I did wear these for a practice. Uh, well I wore them for 10 minutes of a practice. Due to the back mounted plate, I felt like I was skating straight up with all my weight on my heels. With the front axle directly under the ball of my foot, any pressure on the balls of my feet would cause the front trucks to turn. Very unsettling.
As anyone who regularly reads this blog knows, I am a proponent of forward mounted plates. Mine are more forward than most. I will not go back to a "standard" mounted plate.
So if you're looking for new skates, be forewarned. The Roller Derby Elite Stomp Factor One/Pro Octane package may have comfortable boots, but they are clearly not assembled with much care. Inspect your skates before skating them.