FR SL Freeride Inline Skates - 1st Impressions. Are these as Awesome as they should be? 

They very nice! Playful and agile like a 4x80 but they defo roll more like a 4x90, especially when putting down the power! They seem quicker and they handle terrain better. I appreciate the individual merits of all of my skates, and I try not to have favourites, so all I’ll say is that it makes me very, very happy to put these on! 😁👍

Thank you! I can be pretty harsh on where my country -mainly because the weather suck! But I do admit, at times, it can be mighty spectacular! 😁☀️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

It feels great! And, possibly…?

Thank you! I still have my Oxelos -all of them! They are fantastic skates! My son is now learning to skate on my original pair of MF500s. One thing is certain, you will see me roll these again! Happy rolling, Amigo! 👍☀️

I have a similar foot type. I like my SL-7s a lot, which I believe is the same last but with a standard liner rather than intution (can someone confirm about the last?). Good width, although i do use a weird lacing scheme that skips an eyelet over my instep. I would say the instep is on the higher side relative to other skates i've tried, but I have a bone that sticks up over the instep and i've never tried a skate that didn't press it down, causing my arch to collapse and making it hard to use the outside edge. I skip eyelets on all of my skates. Toebox height in the SL-7 is a bit too high for me, so I use a hockey product called powerfeet that's basically a piece of foam that goes above the toes. hopefully the intuition liner fixes this. It's definitely better on the SL speed intuition that I also have, but I also sized down to a 41 for that skate, and while the ankle wrap fits more snugly, the toe width is not quite there relative to my SL-7 size 42. wide toe, high instep, narrow heel, excessive dorsiflexion is boot fit hell.

Ok, let’s try and put something together; not sure if it’ll answer your question but here goes. Everything I say next is in direct comparison to how my Oxelo MF500s feel with a Seba liner. Both skates are the same size -EU44, 280MP. The FR is easier to get into and does feel wider on the whole. The arch feels slightly more supportive, though I wouldn’t say it feels excessively high. The toe box does feel quite roomy, which is an area I am quite sensitive around. If I wear shoes that are even 5mm too small, the toe box is where I feel it and I have never had any issues with these FR at all. I have not heat-molded these skates and probably never will due to their exceptional comfortable out of the box. Since I began wearing them, they have never have caused even the slightest degree of discomfort. I hope you can discern an answer from this! 👍

@@emmetsmith6402 Thanks for the detailed response. I may be a similar foot size. How long and wide is your foot in mm? I'm about 165mm x 110mm. I also have a thing that sticks up from my instep - why I really like open top boots look the FR1. Always wanted a carbon boot though, but thought my odds of finding one that would work for me close to 0. Have you thought about using waxed laces? I use those with the lacing technique from Billy Arlew's video to get a nice heel lock, but I'm able to relieve pressure where I need to due to the waxed laces.

@@RichHayterSkater Thanks for the response.

Yes, I believe these would be suitable for a wider foot. Carbon skates do ride a bit firmer, and the geometry of these do feel quite different to that of my MF500s, which did take some adaptation. I would do some research before you switch skates especially with carbon due to the cost. What I will say is that, there is not as much of a difference between a really expensive carbon skate and a comparatively budget skate such as the MF500, but it will absolutely pain you more to fall on them!

I’ve never tried tried the Trix but I can see why that would work.

Yeah it’s flat, currently I’m simple switching 1+4, 2+3, and switching left right at the same time. I’m doing it fairly regularly to try and even out the wear. So far so good.

Hey thanks! The F3 looks similar to the F4, it uses different bearings, which can be easily changed when needed. Just buy the skates you can afford and get out and learn to use them. If these are anything like the F4, you’ll be surprised at how good the actually are. Good luck!👍

@@RichHayterSkater Know that you are the best skating channel, king, we follow you with love, continue with the content 💪🏻🤍🔥

I’m enjoying it so far! 👌

First off, I can’t imagine you’ll feel much of a difference between your FR2s and the FR1 Deluxe, aside from perhaps the liner -though I imagine the FR liner is pretty good anyway? As for the carbon skate appeal, I have some thoughts on this, which I’ll defo be sharing in a video, but to sum up, I own a set of £80 hard-boot skates, and a set of £650 carbon skates. I want to believe there’s a gulf of difference between them, but the reality is, there isn’t. My FR Freerides are super-comfortable and I love rolling them, but it feels as though there’s less of an angle between my foot and my leg, so they seem to set me further back towards my heel, which took some getting used to. Then there’s the thought of damaging them. I tell myself I bought them to use them and if I fall and scuff them, so be it, but the truth is, it will hurt way more on my shiny carbon skates way more than it ever would on my hard boots! My advice, if you’re a competent skater and have always wanted a set of really nice skates, and you can comfortably afford them, go for it. But, if you’re relatively new to skating, are still finding your feet, and you think carbon skates will make the process of learning easier, believe me, it won’t, and you’ll be ever more nervous about falling and the overall process of learning. Personally, I’d stick with your FR2s. I’d save your cash, perhaps update your liner, bearings, and wheels, and just enjoy skating, making your mistakes, and paying your dues. If you’re set on getting them, those carbon skates will come, just make sure you’re in a position to really enjoy them! I hope this helps. 👍

@RichHayterSkater that does help and will save me a lot of research hours! Thanks so much for the thorough reply! The FR1 deluxe come with the $220 intuition premium liners which will theoretically allow me to downsize 1 shell size for a tighter fit. Just saw the new model is sold out though so I'll have to wait. Great videos and tutorials too by the way, thanks again!

​@@vincentc2466just be aware that the smaller shell is also more narrow... There is a possibility you end up with a skate that won't fit... My FR1 42 is a little too big so I downsized to the 41.5 Intuition (shell 40)... My toes get crushed, even though the lenght is perfect and I can't use the liner in other shells 'cause it's too small 😢 By the way, FR Intuition is different than Intuition premium, softer foam and tongue, no removable velcro and no eyelets at instep area.

Thanks for this. With the knowledge you now have, what would you advise for anyone looking to replace their current liner with a new Intuition liner?

@@RichHayterSkater 🤔 Intuition works fine with most skates, if you're at the upper end of shell size and the stock liner feels tight... FR's are kind of special case 😅 because their stock liner is so thick and puffy these shells are like a size up and by downsizing it turns from normal fit to narrow fit... Intuition premium 42 (275 mondo) fits into FR 42 (27 mp) and Next 43 (27.5 mp). For other 41-42 boots the Intuition 41 (265) is better... You can easily fit 0.5cm longer foot into the premium version 😅 V2 is different, size S is 265 and perfectly tight on my 265 foot, it fits similar to the Premium 40, labeled 260... 🙄 I spent almost as much on liners as on skates 😂 ...but maybe the info helps somebody...

Yes, they are heat moldable but I haven’t bothered to do this as they are so comfortable straight out of the box!

Been skating seriously since 2018, but if you’re skating regularly, I’d imagine you’d be pretty confident in 2-3 years if you’re a complete beginner. There are lots of factors here, obviously, but try to enjoy the journey, there’s lots to get excited about when learning to skate.

@@RichHayterSkater thats not even that long! I am motivated! Going for a lot this summar. Currently can't do long activities as my back mussles are weak and after 10 minutes i need rest haha. But keep motivated to skate 3/5x a week for a hour or do 🙃

(Very nice flow by the way. I'm jealous of that jump over the ledge. Still have to practise a lot to build up the confidence for a jump like that.)

Ha! I love it! Yes, they are not the cheapest are they?? I waited and managed to get a discount code from Bladeville! But I have to say, I love these more each time I wear them! 😁 And thanks, I get what you mean about jumps, sometimes I just fumble them completely, but I’ve found consistency with continuous repetition. Every time I go out and skate, I make a point of jumping of something -ledges, tar snakes, drain covers, anything. Keep Rolling Raptor! 👊

@@RichHayterSkater Too bad they don't seem available as a boot-only (yet). Otherwise the temptation would've been irresistible. 🙂

@@TheRollingRaptor shoptask in Canada is selling as boot only but its only $200 less. The frame/wheels/bearings are worth more than $200

@@CritCommanda Hmm, well, the separate parts (boot included) are always sold at a higher price, so you can’t really compare. But 200 dollars less for the boot would already be quite interesting to me, since I wouldn’t use that frame and the wheels anyway. Unfortunately, Shop Task is across the pond, so I’d have to pay a fair amount for customs. I’m hoping a European shop will provide the boot-only too. 🤞