When you start looking at buying skates you're likely horrified by the prices. Unless you're rich, and you can afford to be the guy or girl who can barely stand up on their brand new Antiks (in which case, everyone hates you. Don't kid yourself). The rest of us have to choose carefully, but luckily for us there are only a few real options for a skating newbie - the Riedell R3 and the Sure Grip GT-50 spring to mind, there's also a Jackson one I think. All are around the £100 mark, and none of them offer anything that the others don't. The only difference is the fit, eg the GT-50 being reportedly wider than the narrower R3. I got the R3, so here's what I thought...
LOOKS: They're plain black, just like ALL THE OTHER SKATES. seriously I can barely tell the entry level skates apart they all look so similar. I guess no-one can complain because there's nothing to complain about. They're neat, with no shitty decals, save for the discreet riedell badge on the side and branding on the strap. The strap branding wears off after a few skates though. They look good, if unimaginative.
FIT: I found them narrow, but not uncomfortable. The main problem is that the shape of the toe box is, like all Riedell skates, designed for some sort of weirdo with pointed toes. The result of this is that everyone's always left with about half an inch to an inch gap at the end of their skate, which means it's never a snug fit. This seems to be the price you pay for buying into the entry level end of the market. I take a uk size 10 and bought US 11 which would be my normal size.
CUSTOMISATION: You should consider this, as most people will have their first derby style skates for awhile so they'll replace the plate at some point. Mainly because given the choice of replacing the boot or plate, most choose plate as it affect performance, new boots will mostly affect comfort which isn't as exciting for some reason. Riedell R3 are HORRIBLE for remounting plates. The heel is so small you're massively limited to where you can realistically drill, and if you've just bought an Avenger plate you might not get it where you wanted it. Some skate shops recommend buying a larger plate than normal to give yourself more room but this defeats the point on buying an Avenger, which is a shorter wheel base, not to mention adding to the weight. It's still possible though, it just won't reach right to the end of the toe. I've mounted a few and no-ones had any problems, it was just a pain to mount.
WHEELS: replace them, unless you're a fan of sliding out on corners, but keep them for skating outdoors where they're strangely efficient. Get the 'Roller Derby Fresh Meat' look buy replacing them with 8 poisons, then complain that you can't plow stop.
VERDICT: does it matter? They're all the same at this price range, so just get whichever fits better. You'll probably upgrade to leather boots after a year if you keep it up, so don't worry so much about scuffing the toes
