Riding the skates for 2 months:

After riding the new Rollerblade Estilo for 2 months I have to say that they are very comfortable. The liners fit very well, and have absolutely no pressure points. I didn’t have any problems with blisters or sore feet well breaking them in. The laces, buckle, and Velcro strap do an amazing job to hold your foot in place. They work together to provide tons of support yet still allow for good flexibility. The buckle on the fore foot completely eliminates heel lift, giving you improved control while skating, jumping, and grinding. The Buckle is the traditional Crank style from Rollerblade, making it easy for you to control just how tight you want it. The Estilo provides a comfortable fit, which is easily adjustable, so you can set it up just the way you like it.

The first thing I noticed while riding the Estilo was the smooth fast ride. The large 72 mm wheels make a huge difference when rolling on any surface. Not only do they provide nearly un-matched speed in a park, they also make riding street twice as smooth, even on cobble stone. I had no problem with the wheels slipping on any surface, due to their size they have exceptional grip. So the larger wheels have a lot of advantages when it comes to speed and control, but they also have their disadvantages. As one can imagine, the wheels do get in the way while grinding on ledges. I only really got caught up with tricks like royals and savannahs. This really isn’t all that bad, but try to not to curse your wheels when you nearly die on a fast true front savannah on a small ledge because your wheels catch up. Other then than the few instances where my wheels got caught up on ledges there really isn’t anything else bad to say about them. They are fast, smooth, provide good control, and perform great on the skate.

When trying my first couple grinds on the Estilo I got a big surprise, they felt nothing like a Salomon skate!!!! The skates locked solid on soul tricks which made me very confident on them in a short period of time. Negative tricks became very easy with the Estilo because they have a nice wide negative soul plate, much like that of a Xsjado skate. I wasn’t sure on how topsides would be with such a tall frame and large wheels, but the large souls balance it all out and make topsides quite easy. Royale tricks provide a great lock, with the large h-block on the frame and a good groove on the soul plate. They make you really feel like your down on your boot. Royales on the Estilo skate feel nothing like they did on the Salomon wide bodies, which was a question I was asked very frequently while testing the skate. The wide souls work in perfect harmony with the tall frame to provide the perfect angle for royale tricks. The hard plastic, which makes up the souls and frames makes for a smooth, fast slide on almost any obstacle and stays fast after months of grinding. The Estilo performs very will for grinds, but still has some weak points. I sometimes had issues with keeping unities locked, because if you sit to low you lose the lock provided by the frame and only have the lock from the soul plate to balance on. This almost makes you feel like you are not locked on at all, which usually leads to a bail. I also had the same issue when jumping on higher rails with royales, because you sit so low when you first lock. It also affected my ability to spin into royales and mizous, because your none objective foot sometimes doesn’t lock properly and just slips off the obstacle. However this was the only downside I found while grinding with the Estilo, so even though it was sometimes annoying, it wasn’t that big of an issue because the tricks could still be done with a few extra attempts.

The Estilo skate was engineered to work perfectly as a stock unit. I tried riding it with after market parts, such as Ground Control frames and Jug liners, and they only made the skate worse. Performance wise, the Estilo is perfect as it comes out of the box. The buckles, laces, and straps provide great support. The boot and cuff give nice flexibility. The souls and frames provide and great lock and slide, and the wheels give you speed and control. The performance is unmatched for an out of the box setup.

- roger wilkinson

photos by Katie Demetrious

Initial Review: Before skating

Price: Suggested retail value of $420.00 CAD

When I first saw the new Rollerblade Estilo skates, one word came to mind, UGLY! To me it looks like mix between a Salomon with wide bodies and a Xsjado skate. It has a standard lacing system, with a buckle on the fore foot and a velcro strap on the ankle. It is a hard boot skate and has a black and gray color scheme with slight red and maroon highlights. The main part of the boot is made from a dark see through plastic, reminiscent the 2005, Salomon St Pros. The boot also has holes cut out of it which I imagine are for ventilation and weight reduction, and the cuff comes with a slight v-cut. The skates weigh no more then an average pair of Razors or Remz which is around 8.5 lbs. (size 9 skates) The frames and wheels definitely caught my eye because they are hands down, HUGE! At first glance they look a little awkward and funny on the skate, but I am quickly getting use to it. So in my personal opinion, this skate does not do well in the looks department, but that is not enough to say that it sucks, so lets take a closer look at the parts and function of the skate.

First things first, the buckle. Rollerblade opted to place the buckle on the outside forefoot of the skate, instead of higher on the cuff like most other hard boot skates. I would think that it was put there to help hold down your fore foot and eliminate any heel lift, which sounds like a great idea. So why don’t other skate companies place their buckles there? Simple, the outside of your skate takes an absolute beating while skating, from sliding out, missing grinds, and just falling in general. The buckle seems very solid, and I hope it is because I know it is going to take some extreme punishment from most, if not all, my bails. However, they do have a solid piece of plastic in front of the buckle to deflect any impacts, so hopefully that will help the buckles durability. The buckle is held onto the boot by a screw at the top, and a little steel lip which slides into a slip cut out of the boot. Not sure on why they took this approach but it is something I have never seen before on a buckle, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

The souls on the new Estilo skate seem to be extremely heavy duty! They are made of a very high density plastic, which makes them very hard. This should provide a fast and consistent slide, and an extremely long life for the soul plates. Both the outside and negative soul plates are quite wide, which should make locking in for any soul trick a breeze. The souls look very similar to the old school wide bodies from Salomon, so your royale groove will be directly on the soul plate. My skates did not come with pre-made grooves so I will have to make my own, but I’ve heard that they will have a pre-made groove when they are fully released. The souls look very solid and they are making me excited to ride the skates. I just hope that Rollerblade has done a better job on this type of soul plate, then Salomon did , because if not then the skates should pretty much be canned now!

The liner on the Estilo skate is a new design from Rollerblade. It has a lot of support in the upper ankle and a slight v-cut to match the cuff. It appears to have good ventilation through out the linear especially on the toe. The liner comes with an insole, which has a small shock absorber, which should provide nice protection when team up with the almost ¾ inch heel pad inside the boot of the skate. The liner seems to be a little stiff, so I’m worried I might have to content with blisters while breaking them in, but a tag on the liner says it has a 5 star fit, so hopefully they are right. The liner doesn’t have any fancy neoprene wraps, or pull strings like you would find on some after market liners, but it looks like it will be comfortable and its making me want to ride the skates even more.

Last but not least the frames and wheels. The skate comes with the Rollerblade point 8 frames, huge 72 mm/84 A wheels, abec 9 bearings, and anti-rockers as a stock setup. The point 8 frame is the only frame on the market which allows you to ride such large wheels. The frame is very tall compared to other frames, almost ½ inch taller then an average Ground Control frame. The frame has a large h-block area and is made of high density plastic just like the soul plates, which should provide a fast slide and long life. They have a sickle blot system which makes changing wheels easier. The bolts can also be flipped around to accommodate larger or smaller wheels, giving you tons of options as to what kind of setup you would like to ride. The frames look very solid and I’m now dying to try these babies out.

So as I said earlier the overall look of the skate is not super appealing to me, but it seems the more I look at it, the more and more it grows on me. I’m excited to ride the skate and see how all the parts perform and hold up. So I’m now off to session, hoping to make some grooves in my extremely heavy duty soul plates. I will be skating the Estilo for the next 2-3 months then I will come back to let you know all about it, the pros, the cons, and the feeling you’ll get skating the new Rollerblade Estilo.

- Roger Wilkinson

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.

Aragon 2 Introduction

First off, I want to say that this is an initial review, which means I have just received these skates from Shop-Task and have only skated them once, so I obviously would not be able to write an accurate performance report. Instead, I have decided to dissect the skate and show you every aspect, and point out my likes and dislikes.

Things to take into account: I have been riding Xsjado skates for nearly 2 years

Weight

Alright lets start off with the name, Super Lite. There has been a lot of debate on whether these skates are actually lite or just a gimmick by Razors. Aggressivemall has a size 9 skate weighing in at 4.2 pounds, with a Genysis size 9 weighing in at 4.5 pounds and a Cult coming in at 4.1 pounds. Well I can tell you that they earn their name, on my feet they actually feel liter then my Xsjado’s and in my hand it is virtually impossible to tell which one weighs more. I tested this theory out on my girlfriend and not even she could tell which skate weighed more (I tested it out on other people so it would not just be my mind saying they were liter then my Xsajdo and affecting my judgment, plus my girlfriend is honest) . So If this mold is as lite, or liter then a Xsjado skate, then it has earned its name. Also, I take a size 11 skate, which means that I am on the heavier side for boot molds, and this skate still feels like air, so if your picking up a smaller size shell then the weight issue only improves for you.

Sizing

A lot of people have been wondering about the sizing for the skate, and although I cannot speak for all sizes, I have to say this skate fits true to size. I take a size 11 shoe, and wear a size 11 Xsjado, and the Razor Aragon 2 fits well. My toe almost reaches the end of the boot, but not enough to bash against the plastic. What you have to take into account though is that the size 11 is the biggest of the boot mold (which is from 10-11) so someone with a 10 foot may not experience the same feeling. Overall, great fitting skate that runs true to size for me.

Liner Feel

These skates have a neoprene liner which is just being broken in, so they are feeling quite snug at the moment. However, I have skated neoprene liners in the past (Franky Morales Remz) and once they are broken in they feel amazing. The liner also has padding at the back where your Achilles indents, these are there to provide support, but can be annoying when they are not aligned correctly, which takes some time to do with the neoprene liner. I can see the logic behind this padding, and it probably helps some people, but to be honest I think they are a little too padded and I could live without them. I can only hope they wear down and mold to my foot over time. What you have to take into account though is that I am switching from a Xsjado skate and am used to a shoe, and whatever padding comes from the cloth part of the cuff. This means I am not used to tons of Achilles support from a liner.

Side View

Top View

Achilles Padding

The foot-bed provide a lot of arch support, which is great for people with normal arches, but I have a realty low arch in my foot so they are hurting my feet at the moment. The footbed is made of a hard plastic on the bottom that may make breaking it in a hassle, but I believe once broken in these will mold to my foot and the pain will go away. So if you have low arches like myself, expect a little discomfort in the beginning and possibly a change in either liners or liner set up (if you put the foot bed under the liner I hear it helps) if the footbed cannot be broken in.

Top View

Showing raised Arch

Hard Plastic Bottom

Liner Overall

I really have not skated the Jug liner since the ones that came in the Franky Morales Remz, but there have been big improvements since then. First, there is now a pocket to put the draw-string tab, which saves me tucking it into my skate and is a great idea. Second, there is more padding in the liner, which I already went over with the Achilles support. Third, the neoprene separates so you have less chance of ripping it out of the liner. Fourth, they made the draw string holder stronger, so it will not break on you through repetitive pulling. The one bad thing I found about the liner though, is that the neoprene is only held in from 2 separate points and it seems like it should have been supported all around the heel area. I can only hope that these 2 points will not rip or wear down over time because the point of having a neoprene liner will be lost. Having said all that, this liner is a winner. Jug has paid attention to the small details and have fixed many of the problems I had before.

Draw-String Tab holder / Better Draw-String Holder

No Neoprene All Around Heel. Only Held In At 2 Points

Soul Design

I like the soul design on these boots its flat and really helps when doing shuffles on ledges. I also like that the soul sliders are really cheap to replace ( $24. 90 on Aggressivemall, yet to be priced at Shop-Task). What I do not like is the bolts used to hold the soul sliders in place, they are not recessed enough and seem like after a good couple of months of skate you may be grinding on the bolts, and we all know how fun that is.

Look At Souls Off The Boot

Soul Screws Not Recessed Nearly Enough

Base Plate / Soul Plate Inside

Base Plate / Soul Plate Outside

Soul Feel

I am coming from Xsjado skates, possibly the biggest souls in the skate industry, and I found that the Aragon 2s had less soul space, but it did not inconvenience me in anyway. When skating I actually did not notice the difference in soul space at all. What I did notice that these souls were quicker, significantly quicker then my Xsjado souls. I am not sure if that is because they are new, but from what I felt was a quick solid soul system. On one last note, these souls are great for cess slides because they are low profile, and they are so cheap to replace so you do not have to worry about wearing through a couple of pairs and not being able to afford the reaplcements.

Look At Soul On Skate …Notice the

Backslide Plate

I have only skate the backslide plate that comes stock with the skate. I have not skated the backslide plate that is attached to the boot. The backslide plate that I skated felt really good with my Featherlite frames. Both the backslide plate and the H-block align perfectly, making royal tricks good to go out of the box. Great for Farvs, royals, unities, and savannahs, you feel locked right in. Also, although the lock-in is great these backslide plates are amazing for shuffles, such as royal to any alley-oop topside trick, because the backslide aligns with the souls, making the transition feel like butter. Somehow razors has managed to make a backslide frame that not only locks, but also shuffles very well. These soul are also priced very competitively ($14.95 at Aggressivemall, not priced at Shop-Task yet) .The only problem I would have for the backslide plate would come from the ones on the boot because they are not replaceable if you decide to skate them, and once you wear through those you are wearing through your boot. However, the fact that Razors gives you an opportunity to try 2 different backslide plates is an amazing idea that I am surprised no one has implemented until now.

Boot Backslide Plate

Stock Backslide Plate

Cuff

The cuff is the same thing you have come to expect from Razors with 2 exceptions. First, I find that it is a bit shorter then the old Razors cuff, but not significantly so. Second, they now have a place to put the excess buckle that used to hang out before. Other then these changes everything seems the same.

Cuff Inside

Cuff Outside

Boot overall feel

The boot is made of a thin plastic, and once you take off all the soul system and take out the liner, it is very malleable. However, once everything is put back together the skate feels solid. The thinness of the plastic gives the boot the lite feel and overall it works for the skate quite well. The flex on the skate is great, just the perfect amount for my tastes. The one minor problem I had was there is slight heel lift in these skates, not nearly as drastic as the Genysis or even the Open Shell Remz, but once again you must take into account the Xsjado skate has 0 heel lift. Chances are I will be putting an extra buckle on the skate just to get that familiar Xsjado feel.

Boot With Nothing On It, Side View

Boot With Nothing On It, Side View 2

Top View

Bottom View

Wheels

I am not sure if the wheels that came with these skates are M1 wheels, or just Razors wheels with the M1 logo on them. However, they do not look like a Razor wheel and do resemble a similar feel to a M1 wheel. What you need to keep in mind though is that my opinion on this matter is biased, I want the best of everything on my skates and my mind wants to believe that these are M1 wheels, so I could just be fooling myself into thinking they are M1s. What I can say is that I really like the graphic used on the wheel and the plastic Anti’s that come with the skate work great for Featherlite frames.

Bearings

These wheels come with your standard Abec 5 bearings. I quickly changed them for some Crap bearings.

**If you have any question about the skate, leave a comment and I will add them to this review. I want this to be the most comprehensive initial review of the Aragon 2 on the internet so it will give people a reference if they are thinking of buy them. **

Razors Flow Rider, Dan Davidson-Pilon, Shares His Opinion

I just got my pair and I’ve been skating street spots, and so far they are such a hot boot they are light as fuck and I find that when I land gaps in the skate there is enough flex in the boot to keep me in full control this is what I noticed the most.. but the flex is amazing right out of the box . the only thing I don’t like is that the h-block on the fthrlite sits a bit to close to the boot which feels weird you don’t really feel the frame over the beefy backslide when doing royals but some people like that.. BUT WAIT ! if you do unity tricks or savanas this boot is for YOU all you do is jump and sit, the skates do the rest, holding that front savana on rails is a thing of the past with these skates because it will chafeur you onto the ledge and hold you in that grind like no other skate see for your self ..

Extra Pictures of the boot’s integrated backslide plate

Alright, these pictures were taken for Spang who wanted a little more information and detailed pictures on the integrated backslide plate. In the first picture you will notice there is cut out plastic along the top of the backslide plate, this is where the external backslide plate snaps on to. The cloth you see in outline is actually the liner. These backslide plates create a bit slower, more rubbery feel on the grind (like Al Dolega said on the Revival review of these skates). They also make you bend down lower on tricks because it is closer to the boot. Good feeling backslide plate, and I think it will come in handy if you wear through the external one and need some time before you replace it. The second picture you see shows you how the external backslide plate screws in, but it also shows you the separation of the boot and the soul plate. The backslide plate is a part of the boot, while the separate piece of plastic (with the bolt wholes) is the soul plate that you can remove.

-Nick. D