Aggressive Skate Blog

Salomon 06 Minton Pro

By Jason Babich aka FidyFidy.

So when my Deshi skates started to get a little too beat up for my liking, I wanted to try new skates. I looked around the internet and saw a pair of Salomon Brandon Campbell 1 Skates (on Roller Warehouse, of course). Purchasing them was probably one of my best decisions skate-wise.

When the FedEx man arrived at the door with the box containing the skates, I could not wait to open it and look at them. They were the last pair of Salomon Brandon Campbell 1’s that Roller Warehouse had in stock. I opened the box and they looked amazing. Examining the skate, I noted several key points that make Salomon brand skates stand out from other skates.

The skate liners by Salomon are unbeatable. They are the best stock liners, in my opinion, and they allow for no heel lift. I, personally, believe that the newer Salomon liners are more comfortable than of that on the older versions (the Sti-Pro, for example). This is not to say that the Sti-Pro does not have a comfortable liner, but I think the newer ones are nicer. Whenever someone does a review about a skate they like, they usually tend to leave out the bad aspects. I am trying to provide the reader with the best review I can, so here are a few things I found bad.

The buckle. On the newer versions, Salomon decided to install a much longer buckle. I didn’t like this at all. It took away from the skate’s look aesthetically, plus it just got in the way. This problem was easily remedied by a pair of handy scissors.

Sizing. Most people say that Salomon skates run true to size. I have found that this is not the case with me. I wear a 10 shoe, and my 9.5 Salomon skates seemed a bit big. If I were to order a new pair, I would downsize to a 9 or maybe even an 8.5.

A concern for most new people looking into buying Salomon skates is the ever-controversial widebody soulframes. Widebody souls are just an addition onto the normal Salomon souls for increased grinding space. The widebodies also provide a groove for your royales, backslides, torques, etc. Many people say that h-block style tricks feel awkward with widebodies. This was not the case with me. However, I did find the groove to be a small annoyance. I fixed this by taking a grinder and cutting a deeper groove into the widebody. If you don’t like widebodies, you can take them off and skate Salomon skates with their normal souls, or try to customize your skates with a different pair of soul plates. I liked USD 2-piece souls, so I took a grinder and cut down certain sections of the boot so that USD souls would fit on them properly. I made the bottom of the boot flat, and trimmed the sides of the boot around the heel areas. If you’ve tried this and don’t like it, or are concerned that you won’t like it, you can always put your stock Salomon
soul plates back on after the experiment.

The flex in Salomon skates in phenomenal. I have found it to be better than that of any other skate brand. They don’t flex so much that you can’t skate straight, but they flex enough for topside grinds on any ledge. The flex goes hand in hand with the support. Since Salomon skates are hard boot style, the support is really good, too.

Salomon brand frames are arguably one of the best stock skate frames made. If you have yet to try them, you should definitely grab some and throw them on your skates. You will be impressed. A lot of people looking to try aggressive skating for the first time want to know if a certain brand of skate will hold up for them. I know I have heard stories of people’s Salomon skates lasting them 7 or more years. This is a really good lifespan for a skate. Generally, people who aggressive skate everyday tend to get new skates every 6 months to a year. Some skates are meant to last, some fall apart, but Salomon skates are definitely meant to last.

So, by now you’re probably asking yourself, “What other reasons should I look into buying Salomon skates for?” Well, simply put, they are very inexpensive. On Roller Warehouse, you can buy Salomon skates for as low as $69, which is unheard of in the aggressive skating industry.

Salomon skates are very customizable, as well. You can have stock souls, widebodies, night soul plates, or custom cut your boot to fit on other brand soul plates such as Razors or USD. They are extremely light skates, possibly the lightest in the industry. So if you are looking for skates that you’ll be able to get onto high objects with, these skates are for you.

I have been through two pairs of Salomon skates, the Brandon Campbell 1 model and the Sti-Pro model. Though they vary on certain aspects, they are just very small, unimportant things that won’t effect your skating negatively. I can honestly say that this brand of skates is the best that I have tried. There is so many good things about these skates that you can not go wrong in purchasing and/or trying a pair out. Borrow a friend’s pair of Salomon skates and try them out, or when you get your next pay check, log on Roller Warehouse’s website and go to the Salomon skate section. Check out all of the features on them, and purchase a pair for yourself. They are good for both beginners and experts alike, so no matter your skill range, you will still be amazed with these skates. The appearance, the flex, the souls, the liners, the frames- they are unbeatable. Invest in a pair of Salomon skates today. You’ll be glad you did. I know I’m glad that I did.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 at 8:25 am and is filed under skating, razors, salomon, review, brandon campbell, aggressive, rollerblade. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.