Change plate to Laser Elite from Roll-Line Mistral

The_Snowman

My quads are pretty damned heavy, so I was looking to maybe change from my current plate, which are Roll-Line Mistrals. I was thinking of going to a Laser Elite. But have some questions:

1) How durable are they for heavier skaters (I’m 195lbs)?

2) How are the newer plates made by Sure Grip compared to the originals made by the Laser Skate Company?

3) What are different options for trucks (are dual-action even possible), cushions, and kingpins?

4) Is it advisable to epoxy the old mounting holes when installing the new plates? They’d be mounted to a pair of old generation Reidell 911 boots, leather soles.

As with the Skatelog forum rules, please allow Doc to answer first, as this is a forum for asking him for his expertise.

The_Snowman

I found part of my answer for #3, the Elite comes as a DA plate, but still looking for kingpin and cushion options, if available.

DocSk8

Thanks for reminding me to come here. This will most likely spark a lot of noise, but first, tell your friend that wants you on a Pro Line to pound sand. Not even close to being on my list of favorite sk8s. Grossly over rated and over priced. If you find a used one make darn sure the pivot cups are in good shape and the axles are straight. Way too many wanna be jam sk8rs have done a lot of damage to daddy's old racing sk8s. I also hear about broken king pins. Well, if one over tightens the action, then one can get broken king pins from the truck hitting the king pin, the suspension not absorbing shock because the cushions were loaded to their flex limit..... or the grub screw end of the king pin was bent or broken because the adjuster nut was run too far up from the fingers.

If you like your Mistral and had any kind of reasonable suspension set up... (I ran all greens backed all the way off on my Giottos and Rings @ 220 pounds.) Even with tons of modifications I could not get a Pro Line anywhere close to the Roll Lines stock....In fact, I never has to modify a Roll Line to make me 90% happy... (My OG Mistral w/o the click action made me 100% but that is another story.)

Now to the Laser. I despise those in general. Any plate that requires a hammer to adjust the action is a non player for me. Past that I really dislike the feel of the DA (They are available as SA or DA) set up. Seemed to be like sk8ing in mud... It was so bad I switched back to the SA trucks within one session, and did not even try to sort them any further. I believe the small 7/8" OD cushions were the issue with the DA trucks. In general, the Lasers always felt mushy to me. I like a stiff sk8 under my foot. Most folks that like Lasers like the way the turn. Amusingly it also seem to take a lot of sk8rs forever and a day to get the adjustment right. I have been verbally abused by sk8rs that wanted me to work on their sk8s when I started loosening the action. King pins are no big deal they have 3/8-16 threads. I have had good luck using the Snyder Super Tuff pins. Cushions are another story and it is part of the adjustment issue. There are very few good cushions available any longer. Since a SA plate has only one cushion it is quite possible to find that the adjustment best suited to your style does not exist since it would be between 2 of the available durometers.

All that said, I would not waste my time filling the old holes if you switch to a Laser, The stock Elevator bolts work just fine. If you had tee nutted the Roll Line you would be able to switch plates in a few minutes and make a really good comparison.

The current Lasers are built on the OG Laser tooling. My main gripe is the call the plate w/ the stops a hard nose but it is not. No metal insert for the toe stops. Not an issue w/ the Elite however. 😉

So, tell me how you want your sk8s to act, and a bit more about your Roll Lines. Maybe I can make a a more helpful recommendation or 3.

The_Snowman

My issues with the Mistrals are that when I try to skate fast, the edge of the wheels lift before the trucks can turn enough to get a full push off of the flat of the wheel. Loosening the action doesn’t to help much either.

I was over 200 pounds when I first bought the Mistrals over 15 years ago And opted for the clear yellow cushions, which according to the Roll-Line site are the stiffest, rated at 70kg+. Since the cushions are also over 15 years old, the urethane has probably hardened even more.

So, in your opinion, would going to a newer and probably softer cushion help the issue I am facing?

DocSk8

I'll point out what I tell the derby league the wife and I sponsor, Softer action always = more traction for the very reason you pointed out. One has the wheels flat on the floor longer. I have successfully ignored Roll Lines cushion recommendations since they switched to the click action. I have always run the softest cushions in my Roll Lines. In fact, most of my sk8s have really soft / quick actions. If you can afford to play with Roll Lines cushions, the I would step down to the blues and see if that makes you happier. Start off with just the blue cones... Then, if you want more, put in the blue barrels. Keep working your way softer. I really think you will be surprised by the difference.

Here is how I see this. Hard cushions means the sk8 is in control and you have to fight it to get it to go where you want. Softer cushions put you in control, but now the fight becomes more for you to hold a straight line. Quad sk8s only do what you tell them to do, so when you get them loosened up, they may seem to go crazy. However, the sk8s are not going crazy, they are still doing what you are telling them to do. You are just over controlling them and you are making them act crazy. So work through this slowly and condition yourself to deal with the sk8s. I guarantee it will be worth the effort.

dvw

What he said.