Pics and stats Crazy Skate Evoke Boot + Powerdyne Arius Platinum + Rollerbones + Kwik Nitride Gold
One of the few skates I could get right away was this one from Crazy Skates. It's the "Evoke" came with a set of 65MM 78A outdoor "Cola" wheels and a nylon plate with metal fittings. I rode the skate once with the native plate (nylon was too bouncy for me). I replaced it with the Arius Platinum from PowerDyne (owned by Riedell). I have about 40 hours in these skates so far. The boot is thin suede. It's lined with some moisture wicking stuff that works well. Neoprene-backed leather tongue (had to sew on my own lace loop, Ewww). My first thought was "a bit cheap feeling and flimsy". However, they grew on me fast at the rink. I got good performance out of them right away. The thin material worked to my advantage and molded to my foot a lot faster than say, my Sure Grip 1300 skate boots which are thicker leather. The liner is thin but effective at preventing rub/blisters. Front mounting holes worked for the Arius Platinum. The heels I had to mount myself. I ride the medium/soft cushions which have that green color you see. The heels are laser cut steel wrap-around logo-cutouts. The silver line you see is paint. The bearings are Riedell Kwik Nitride ceramics. The soles are PVC/nylon. The insole has room for extra insoles and the fit in the toe box is wide to straight similar to what I'm used to in Sure Grip boots. The boot eyelets are metal and high quality but with low clearance (no thick laces). The wheels are 98A 57MM x 31MM Team Rollerbones "Logo" wheels. I use these skates for rhythm skating. The lights are "board blazers" UV / blacklight mounted with 3M adhesive velcro "dots" and running on dual CR2032 for about 8-10 hours a set. Note the UV causing the cushions to glow. The Platinum fully fixes the toe stop issue with the Arius Red series. Note my use of low profile stops screwed up to the max. Gold laces are "derby laces" from Amazon. 🤤
Comments
Fun fact to know and tell: 6061 (UNS designation A96061) is a precipitation-hardenedaluminum alloy, containing magnesium and silicon as its major alloying elements.
Looks cool! I have been interested in trying the Arius for artistic sometime, nobody uses it for that purpose but just to see how the action works for spinning.
That thing about aluminium reminded me I wanted to find a way to test if the type of aluminium on my plates are really what is advertised.
@sevenspirals
I don't see any pictures!
Do you have video posted [on YouTube] of dancing/maneuvering on Arius? I want to know everything I can for building my new boot.
@sevenspirals
I see the pictures now. The 4th one shows a close-up of the Team Bones Logo wheels. I noticed that there isn't much clearance between the wheel and one of the mounting points. Would you be able to fit the 62mm wheels on there [2.5mm larger radius]? What about 65mm wheels [4mm larger radius]? Have you come across any oddities when skating on them [yet]?
Video would be great to see as well.
@BboyHeathen
Despite the appearences I've been able to ride Kyptonics Route 70mm wheels with this setup. The only wheel fitment issues are with skateboard wheels that are too proud on the rear side (truck side) of the wheel. Those tend to rub as the clearance is super tight on that side (perhaps that is what you were observing, quite correctly). The other issue is that the axle isn't as long as some other plates and thus using speed washers and axle spacers can push the wheel so far out that you can't get the nylon to lock the axle nut to the axle. However, this only happens with fairly squirrelly wheels with some kind of overhang on the inner side.
As far as using the plate for artistic skating, I think they would work but you'd get less support on your toes or for deep edges. These plates are super snappy and high agility, but they aren't the most stable for two-wheel movement due to the 45' kingpin. However, stiffening the cushons helps a lot for such things. They are very easy to swap out.
I made an assertion my local skate shop that the Arius is the lightest plate on the market and they confirmed that they've weighed every plate they have got their hands on and the Arius Platinum takes the crown so far with only one plate being lighter (a plastic Laser plate) but nothing metal and in the same class as the Arius Platinum comes in lighter.
The materials and types of trucks, bearings will be factors that determine if it is smooth and safe enough for me to ride on.