Razors Icons Skate Review

Recently, my best friend Roger Wilkinson received a new pair of skates while he was up at Muskoka Woods teaching kids how to roll. What made these skates different was that they were not Remz, now if you know Roger you know that he has been rolling Remz for years now, and no one thought he would be switching any time soon. Roger decided to get himself a pair of Razors Icons and wrote me a brief review in bullet points, so I decided to elaborate on the points he gave me to furthest extent possible without actually testing the skates myself.

You Get What You Pay For

The skate retails for $299.99 Canadian (go HERE to have a look at the price) and comes stock with Ground Control Formula One Frames antirockered (black outer frame, white H-block), BIg J Liners from Jug, Razors 56mm /90a wheels, abec 5 bearings, and lastly, the classic genesis boot. So for the price your paying your getting a pretty good deal, if you take into account that a boot only Deshi retails for around the $250 price point and does not come with Ground Control frames, wheels, bearings (proof). Or if you look at the Remz 0802s they come with the Formula One frames, 57mm / 88a Remz wheels, abec 5 bearings, and a remz liner, but retail for $330 (proof).

Roger’s First Impressions

Right off the bat Roger liked the look of the skates, he really enjoys white skates with black accents so these were right up his alley. He also liked the look of the neoprene liner with ankle wrap, he felt it would be very comfortable to ride. Lastly, Roger was a little concerned with the size of the backslide plate, which was smaller then his Remz backslide plate and thought the transition would be a little more difficult than he would like.

Pros After Riding Them

The liner was extremely comfortable, one of the best liners he has ever ridden. The liner allowed for virtually no break in time because the comfort level was so high. He also expresses that the ankle wrap from the neoprene liner greatly reduces the chance of blisters. The backslide plate, that he previously believed to be a little small, actually works very well for royale trickes, and locked him into his grinds without a problem. The skate also performs very well for topside tricks, and regular soul tricks. Compared to his old Remz, Roger feel that the new souls are much quicker (this may be because they are new, but only time will tell).

Cons After Riding Them

Right off the bat, the first thing Roger noticed is that there was a lot of heel lift in the boot. He is used to Remz were the heel lift is greatly minimized, so when he switched this was one of the biggest problems. This heel lift took some getting used to and made him miss his first couple of tricks. I too can relate to Roger’s opinion, when I skated the Razors Aragon 2 skates I felt a lot more heel lift than I was use to in Xsjado skates (which have absolutely no heel lift at all), and the Aragon 2 boot was supposed to have reduced heel lift when compared to the Genesis mold.

Roger also found the skates to be a little stiff, this could be because he is switching from the mostly soft boot Remz, to the full hardboot of the Razors.

Lastly, the skate is really hard to get off. Now this may not be a big issue, but it can get annoying. Roger stated that when he tried to get the skate off the liner would come out of the boot, and when your in a rush this is aggravating.

Overall Impression of the Skate

The skate is extremely solid, but it will take a few sessions to get used to them. However, this is the same with virtually any new skate. The liner is phenomenal, and Roger highly suggest picking yourself up a pair of Big J liners if you do not already own a pair. He feels the comfort level is unrivaled. He also believes you are definitely getting a deal on what you pay for, the stock set up comes at a great price. Unfortunately, the skate has one downfall, heel lift. If you tighten the skates to reduce heel lift you get less flexibility, and if you do not tighten the skates enough you still get more heel lift than you would like.

**All photos presented were taken by Katie Demetrious**

Original Transcript of Roger’s Review

Price: $299.99
Stock setup:
- razors genesy boot
- jug big J linears
- formula one anti-rocker frames
- razors 56/90 wheels
- abec 5 bearings

First Impressions:
- sick looking skate , made me want to ride ( white boot , with black cuff and black souls)
- nice neoprene linear , with the ankle wrap , looked very comfortable
- seemed to have a small backslide plate (as compared to Remz , the last pair of skates i had)
First session, pros and cons:

PROS:
- very very very very comfortable linear
- virtually no break-in time , because the linear is so good
- neoprene wrap for ankle makes for no chance of blisters
- good lock on all soul and topside tricks
- good lock on royale tricks
- very slick souls and backslide plates
- did i mention how comfortable the linears are?

CONS:
- alot of heal lift (i felt like there was alot of heal lift because i came off of Remz , which have alomost zero heal lift)
- heal lift caused me to screw up spins for the first couple of tries
- alittle stiff
- really hard to get the skate off !!!!!! seriously the linear came out of the boot when i was trying to get the skate off

Final Thoughts:
- really solid skate
- will take me a few sessions to be really comfortable on the skate
- still love the look of the skate , and it looks even better alittle scuffed up
- great linear , props to JUG
- great stock setup for the price you pay
- heal lift still bugs me , tighting the buckle and laces to reduce heal lift results in less flex (but riding the skate longer may make the flex better)

Written By Nick D’Amico and Roger Wilkinson.