Judith reached out to us about a week ago, she was looking for a specific experience on inline skates.  Judith has been figure skating all her life and she wanted to get the same feel, control, and almost edge quality, as her figure skates. She had already done a bit of research and knew she needed a rockered wheel setup, her concerns seemed more with getting the proper boot in the right size.  With some women having pretty small feet, it can be difficult to find a skate that fits right. Luckily for Judith, and all the other women out there with smaller feet, we can accommodate those sizes too.

After measuring Judith's feet I brought her a pair of Seba Trix 2 80's to try for the boot, knowing that I would need to change the flat 80mm setup to a rockered setup of some sorts. She liked the feel of the the skates, so I switched out the outer 80mm wheels for 76mm ones. This gave her the ability to turn easier, even in our small space.  She was a little closer to the experience she was looking for. However with the 76mm/80mm rockered setup still on a 243mm (in length) frame built for flat 80mm wheels, the frame was too long for her skate size and with 80mm wheels in the middle she was pretty high off the ground compared to the blade height of her figure skates. A solution for this would be a shorter rockered frame with smaller wheels.

I had another boot in mind for her to try, so I setup a pair of Seba FR2's with Intuition Skate Liners for an improved fit (it's heat mouldable) and better energy transfer, similar to that of a figure skating boot.  She needed a shorter rockered frame for manoeuvrability and smaller wheels to bring her lower to the ground to improve stability, so  I put on the Seba Deluxe Rockered 219mm frame with Gyro FR2 72mm wheels.  Judith was happier with overall fit and comfort of this second option and as she spent more time rolling around I could see her feeling more confident on them. She was beginning to skate as she would on her figure skates, crossing over, pivoting, going backwards, and doing it all with style and grace. It was very evident that Judith loves skating and that we had found a setup that fulfilled what she was looking for.

Thank you Judith for finding us, making the trip to visit our little shop, and trusting us to put together the perfect setup for you.  I hope you and your skates have lots of fun together.

AJ DeLong
Tagged: People & Skates