Bont Jet Review

by Edmar Gwiazda

Background:

This is my first "formal" skate review, so be kind in your thoughts whilst reading...

Being a custom speed skate owner, I've always said that I wouldn't go back to stock boots. However, a combination of factors (developing significant discomfort in my current skates, maintaining the desire to keep speed skating and limited finances) had reversed that decision.

The Choice:

A lot has been talked about the new range of Bont 3-point skates, and so I thought "why not?". There are quite a few to choose from, mainly to ensure suitability to the different type and level of skater - see Bont site for more details, I won't bore or confuse you with them. I opted for the Bont Jets, as it was within my price range, but the real clincher was a limited offer of 110mm wheel fitting frames - now legal for racing in, and rumoured to be the way forward in speed skating. This offer was available through Glenn Koshi (Bont's US representative), who I've bought from before and found to be an extremely helpful guy, whether you're buying something, or just after advice.

The Skates:

The boots took about 2 weeks to arrive (as quoted), and I received an email from Glenn notifying me of it's dispatch and ETA. They arrived in a compact box - so compact that I was sure there was something missing - but everything was there.

When opening the box, the first thing I noticed was that everything was separate, i.e. no bearings fitted wheels, no wheels fitted to the frame and no frame fitted to the boot. Instead, everything was neatly packed separately (bearings, spacers, Allen key were in a separate envelope). The second thing I noticed was that the skates were very, very white...and very, very shiny! They also use the innovative 3-point mounting design (most inline skates you see will have 2-point mountings). To briefly summarise what I understand to be the benefits of this are as follows: - Provide a stronger mounting of the frame to the boot, by the inclusion of a 3rd mounting point - The position of the mounting points allow the boot to be closer to the ground, thus allowing a lower centre of gravity (less stress on the ankles, and perhaps a more stable skating position) The third thing I noticed were the wheels. Hyper Stripe 100mm, yes 100mm wheels, to go on my 110mm frames - not quite what I was expecting. I later found out that Hyper are yet to produce 110mm wheels - Bont have some sort of arrangement with Hyper, so couldn't offer any other wheels with the skates. Not one to be short of wheels or bearings myself, I opted to use my existing wheels and bearings on the new skates, and save the new stuff for another time.

The Fit:

I am actually a size UK8.5, and the boots I was recommended (based on the measurement of the longest points of my feet) are a UK9, so they do feel a bit roomy (especially around the toes), but can be minimised by tying the laces somewhat tighter.

There is also a ratchet strap that goes across the top of the foot further, which cemented my feet into the boot. I stood up, and they did feel quite stiff and somewhat "plasticky" compared to my custom leather speed skates. That said, one of the aforementioned differences in the Bont range is the quality of materials used to construct the boot. The more you spend, the better the material.

Customising the Fit:

As mentioned before, the skates are heat-mouldable. This basically means that parts of the interior when heated, can be moulded to shape around your foot ensuring a better fit. The enclosed booklet provides you with all the necessary instructions to do this (involves an oven, some heat, and about 30 minutes). Even though the boots fitted reasonably well without the heat moulding, I thought I may as well do it, just to be sure.

Unfortunately, even after a couple goes of heat moulding, I still found a bit of pinching on the wider parts of my foot, but as mentioned before, I had a plan. Before I share this with you, I must say that I would not recommend doing the following, unless you're either really sure you know what you're doing, or you are willing to accept the potential adverse consequences...

I've heard about people using heat guns (imagine paint stripper) to make modifications to their skates (mainly those of a plastic or carbon fibre kind), so I went about purchasing one from my local hardware store. Having taken a few deep breaths, I then began the process of heating the outer part of the skate in the areas that were causing the pinching. The enclosed booklet does give some high-level instructions for using a heat gun, but perhaps not enough for those of a nervous disposition when it comes to making amateur modifications to brand new skates. So I went the gently, gently approach of applying medium heat (read "notch 2 of four of the dial"). After about 4 minutes outside, 2 minutes inside heating of the boot, I then proceeded to use the handle of a screwdriver to push the boot (from the inside) at the point of pinching, thus widening the boot. This process repeated a few times, each time, with growing confidence until I was satisfied I had made a difference.

I then put the boot on after a few minutes (it was hot!) and found it had made an improvement. I had since repeated the process over the course of the following week to the point where I'm now satisfied they're sufficient.

The Test Drive:

As mentioned before, I didn't get 110mm wheels with the skate, so the review will be limited until I've sourced suitable wheels. And I haven't done much mileage in them, so the following is based on: - A ten minute skate round the block at 2am in the morning First thoughts were that they were a bit loose fitting. This was soon resolved by further heat moulding treatment. - 1 LFNS route check - A couple of training sessions at Tatem.

After my first 10 minutes of skating, I realised that I hadn't tightened the laces enough, which left them feeling a bit roomy and not as responsive. After tightening them up a bit more and a bit more skating, I realised that I wasn't going to get the same sort of fit as custom boots, but nonetheless they were quite comfortable. The boot as well as the tongue are quite stiff, which meant getting the right degree of angle bend meant the tongue pressing into my shin a bit - something that is likely to subside subside over time - probably all part of the "breaking in" process.

My 2 hour route check experience of them on London roads was quite a pleasant one. The boots maintained their comfort, and I was at ease doing the occasional sprints on long stretches of road. I did have to stop a few times to retighten the laces, and probably will require a few more attempts at heat moulding to ensure a snugger fit. Other than that, for most of the route check, there were no major differences in sensations than when I skate with my custom boots.

When doing training sessions at Tatem, it is a slightly different story. We're encouraged to skate low (i.e. more knee and ankle bend), which again, causes the tongue to press into my shin. As mentioned before, this is due to the slightly stiff properties of the boot material, and something that will probably have more give after a while. Other than that, I had no real problems with skating in them - more a case of poor fitness and the need to improve on technique!

Conclusion:

Having tried several stock speed skates when I was first interested in speed skating, I really must say that the Bonts are the best I've tried. I did have the added advantage of having been able to widen the boot (where I usually have most problems), whereas the previous boots I have tried were not mine to do so. However, the capacity of the ankle area of the boot appears to be able to cater for almost any ankle given sufficient heat moulding treatment, something that I had problems with other stock skates.

For me, they are never going to be as perfectly fitting as custom boots, but for someone on a budget or purely testing the water of speed skating, would do well to start on something like these.

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