Rollerblade Solo's Review

Rundown-
A couple weeks ago my friend Tom Hyser hooked me up with a pair of the new Solo's for testing and because i was going to write a review for him haha. Anyways because I got hooked up does not mean that this will be a super bias review.

Pros-
-Boot-
Pros-
The first thing that most people notice about this skate is that it looks really different.The basis of this boot is off the old swindler design but at the least it is on steroids. It is full of cutouts, it has a strap at the top, and a 45 degree buckle. If you listen to the b-mag haters you would think this is ugly but when you see it in person and more particularly on your feet they look amazing. One thing that I found interesting about the skate is the weight. I usually don't care about this aspect of skates but it is nice because the skates have no weight to them but are completely sturdy. The top strap gives a large amount of support and is made of a really strong material that will last. The 45 degree buckle really locks your foot in so that your foot feels secure in the skate.

Cons-
The only real problem with this skate is the 45 degree buckle. For me i hit this area of the boot ALOT. what happens with this is the bottom part of the buckle. This is a really easy fix but it becomes annoying to fix. The improvement for this is already underway though.

-Liner-
Pros-
The Liner has decent padding and has a nice feel. And has a very nice feel for a stock liner.

Cons-
The Front of the liner has no padding and is neoprene.If your skate is a little snug this allows for toe bash.

Soul Plate-
Pros-
These souls are one of the best soul plates on the market. They are fast on almost any material and are huge both negative and positives. These souls will give you the confidence of Xsjado's but are much faster. The Soul groove is very well placed and large as well. Topsides are almost effortless.

Support-
Skates have good support. The cuff is a good height and the higher models have a V-cut cuff. The strap at the top and the 45 degree strap make a very controlled and secure feel.

Shock System-
The Rollerblade solo has a very large heel shock absorber and a pad in the front of the skate to absorb shock at the ball of your foot. One thing that i would make note of is that the skate absorbs shock like most others. I believe that the heel shock absorber could be made of a different material to really make full use its size.

RB Fluid Frame-
The Rollerblade fluid frame is a good solid frame. The groove is large and well placed. It is made of a very fast material that will last a long time. They are really user friendly and only need one allen wrench. The RB fluid frames do seem slightly taller than other frames but that could because I am not used to seeing new frames.