Sure Grip 73 Boot with Sure Grip Avenger Magnesium Plates
Hi,
I'm a relative newbie quad skater, more of the longboarding/electric longboarding type, that's getting into roller skating after decades of not roller skating. So I bought some Pacer Stratos skates to practice with outdoors and am enjoying it but know that once I get more comfortable and skilled I'm going to want better equipment.
Well my equipment upgrade started early as I found some new Sure Grip 73 boots in my size on Ebay for under $60 delivered to me so I had to jump on the deal. Now I'm trying to figure out what plate and clearly the Sure Grip Avenger Magnesium Plates caught my eye due to the angle and the lighter weight. Would this be a bad combo for Indoor and Outdoor use? I don't have plans for roller derby, jam skating but will dabble with dancing at some point but nothing serious.
I am drawn to the 45 degree plates as I like/love the ability to carve/turn/pump aggressively on my longboards. Some are surf skates: Carver and Swelltech and others I have modified via adding Waterborne Surf Adapters, double king pin trucks with custom bushings and lots of riser pads so that they will turn to their mechanical limits quickly at the thought of it and have a real Surfy Feel. Most people try my boards and say that they are too squirrelly for them OR no way I'm gonna try that, it leans soo much and quickly I'm gonna eat $hit if I get on that. Perhaps its my lack of technique but my current quad skates don't feel that turny nor do they appear they have the mechanical potential to be that turny even if I do swap out the bushings.
As such, I'd appreciate your feedback on whether this is a bad/good choice and other options to consider.
Regards,
Tony
Comments
You will probably like them quite a lot.
The predecessor to the Avenger was the Sure-Grip Magnum which had 45 degree single-action trucks. I skated for many years on white magnesium Magnums and really liked them. At some point, I was convinced to switch to some handmade plates called Ultimate 3, which had 10 or 12 degree double-action trucks.
That was before inline speed happened, so it was during the final part of quad speed skating’s golden era. The late 1980’s. What I discovered was that for actual speed skating, the 10(ish)degree Ultimates were just as fast, but felt more sure footed. Once you chose a line for the corner, you weren’t going to change it much, but feet were very stable. But for what we used to call jam skating back then (I think the youngsters now call it shuffle or rhythm skating, but I might be wrong), the ultimates were just hard to pump up momentum by just shuffling, while the 45 degree Magnums were really quick to cut, carve, and shuffle which made it easier to gain and maintain momentum by pumping and shuffling the skates alone. The disadvantage Magnum had was really just that even the magnesium model was heavy for it’s day.
The Mag Avengers are supposed to be much lighter weight than Magnum, while maintaining the 45 degree geometry in a smoother double-action setup. I think you’re going to love jamming, dancing, carving or just generally getting funky with your Avenger plates.
I’ve just purchased some myself that I will mount to a pair of mint condition early 1980’s Oberhamer boots. I’m looking forward to skating with them.
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Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, I’m looking forward to when I’m at that point of feeling consistent enough with my current skates that I’ll put together and ride the 73 Boots with Avengers.
I totally get what you mean about the “pumping” to get/maintain speed aspect that aggressive truck angles can provide compared to less aggressive truck angles. I have several longboards set up for Long Distance Pumping oaks well as a hybrid Push/Pump set up. Front trucks have custom come and barrel bushings and is severely wedged to make it dive and rebound quickly. Rear truck runs stiff barrel bushings and is dewedged so that it basically tilts slightly left and right.
This allows you to pump the board and allow body weight to create speed and momentum with the diving front end without having the back end turn, keeping the tracking straight once you’re in your rhythm. It’s so much fun, a good workout, and pretty cool looking and amazing that it works as it does!
Thanks again, I’m seeing light at the end of the tunnel once I progress from where I’m at.
Regards,
Tony
I've just built up my quads with Magnesium Avengers. They are super responsive! Just get a set!
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I ordered them, hopefully in 2 weeks they will be mounted up and give em a whirl.
Did you find them an easy transition or a little squirrelly?
regards,
Tony
So lets clarify some of this. The Magnum and all the rest of the Sure Grip single action plates will take the Avenger trucks no sweat as long as the nylon pivot cups are used. I prototyped those trucks on a Magnum and XK4 back in the day.
Ultimate plates were milled on a punch tape CNC machine except the first Gen gen SST. I was a casting.
The SA plates were 25°. The DA plates were 7 (or maybe 10°??) Old timers is slowing me down.
The Avengers have a 30° king pin angle, not 45. The only thing out there with a true 45° king pin that I am aware of is the Roller Derby Elite Axis plate.
Now if you like the Avenger, save yer bucks for a Snyder Royal. It's where the DA45 truck idea originated.
Now if ya want the details of the Avenger, here is a link to Thom Schillinger's blog about the Avenger design process. Thom is quite the artist. http://3dconceptualdesigner.blogspot.com/search?q=avenger
Note the 3rd paragraph.
One other thing. I have built SA Avengers. Used the Super White mag trucks. Light sk8s they are.
@Tony,
In regard to how well I transitioned to the DA45 Avenger Mags, It's difficult to say since I had sold my last set of Quad skates ( the ones with the DA Ultimate 3 plates) about four years ago. I had been skating only on my 4x110 inline speed skates for a while, so any new quads would have been a significant difference.
I like them. I went with a standard length plate and standard mount. Sometimes kind of wish I had sized down just one plate length for a slightly sportier mount, but not the full-race short-forward mount. Still, they are very nice for mostly just cruising around the rink forward and backwards, and occasionally old-school shuffling about '70s/'80s style.
I am considering building up a second set for outdoor road skating and the occasional quad speed practice with some Sure Grip Power Trac plates with about 1/4 inch shorter axle distance than my standard mount Avengers. (Yes, they still hold a quad speed practice at the nearest rink.) I think that the shallower kingpin angle of the powertrac would feel more planted when going fast, but maybe the slightly shorter axle base will keep them from feeling too slow to steer. (similar to my old Ultimate 3s) Would you agree with that assessment @DocSk8?
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