2003 K2 Power XP

by Jeff McPhate

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

November 2003

The K2 Power XP is a mid-range men’s recreational inline skate. You can find K2’s description at www.k2skates.com. Note the picture on the website doesn’t exactly match the skates I recently bought, so I suspect some mid-year changes to the design. I would consider the Power XP comparable to the Salomon Ivy (which I have owned) so will draw some comparisons between the two. K2 also makes a women’s version, the Spire XP, supposedly with a women’s specific last, lower cuff and narrower heel pocket. Suggested retail price for 2003 was about $220 but I found them online for about $140.

I selected K2 skates because they fit my feet better than Salomon or Rollerblade. I selected the Power XP because they have reasonable features for the price and because they have laces to control the fit in the instep. The lack of laces caused me to reject the SlipFit™ models like the Cadence.

2003 K2 Power XP – NB: not the original wheels

K2 Power XP Boot

The boot is a bit wider than Salomon Ivy skates, but not as wide in the toe box as the Rollerblade recreational skates I have worn, and ran a few millimetres short of the labelled mondo 28. There are tiny vents at the toe and large vents across the sides, which can easily been seen in the photo above. The skates weigh 3.1 kg for the pair.

The Power XP has the K2 Softboot® with Exoflo™ ventilation, which means it has an external band of urethane around the instep area, perforated with holes that match the vent holes in the side of the boot. The instep band is adjusted with speed laces. There is an ankle strap with hook and loop to pull the foot into the heel pocket. The lacing system is thin speed laces with a button controlled friction lock at the top of the tongue. The ends of the laces are attached to a two-finger T-pull, but I found it easier to wrap the laces around a finger and pull.

Note the lacing system

The cuff is the Exotech™ Response cuff, which is K2’s abbreviated high cuff, equipped with a simple flip latch and a steel ratchet buckle for the toothed strap. The buckle location turns out to be a bit of a problem as the buckles on the two skates bang into each other if you brush your legs together. The Salomon Ivy locates the buckles well forward so they don’t interfere with each other. The cuff does not have a lot of lateral support. The cuff strap has a slide adjustable holder to park the T-pull so you can keep it from flapping around.

Buckle interference is obvious

Chassis and Wheels

The frame is stamped aluminum, 263mm wheelbase, riveted to the boot. The axles are 6mm steel, two-piece design.

Wheels are K2 branded 80mm 78a, 688 micro bearings and aluminum spacers. The skates come with a plastic handled Allen wrench that isn’t particularly suited for removing micro bearings. The Twincam bearings leaked lube over the outside of the wheels in the first few hours of use and got a bit noisy, but not excessively so. Maximum wheel size is 80mm. The 80mm wheel limit is definite as the wheel under the ball of the foot actually brushes the bottom of the boot when new.

80mm Max!

The axles have a square cross-section at the head end where they pass through the inner half of the frame to allow use of a single tool for tightening. The axle head is socket-less, however it is also oval, which makes no sense as it is the square section of the shaft that provides the torque resistance, not the oval head. You do need to match the oval of the head to the stamped recess in the frame so the axle will fit all the way in. All in all not the most brilliant feature I’ve seen.

Round axle in a square hole

Commentary

The following comments are from early impressions based on the initial few weekends of use. I will come back later and update this review with information about long term wear and use.

After skating on them about 18 hours I can say the skate is one of the most comfortable I have worn but that it has some tradeoffs and some design defects, as does any skate.

The lacing system can be pulled so tight that it cuts off circulation, but it is the ankle strap that really makes the skate fit, so I run the laces snug but the strap tight. The soft boot is comfortable and has no hard plastic on the sides, but that lack of hard plastic also means that there is little protection when street skating - bump something and you will know it. It also affects the control you have when you push sideways. The heel is well controlled, the instep adequately controlled, but the ball of the foot can slip a bit under heavy side load.

The low clearance means the sole of your foot is as close to the ground as practical, however the frame to boot interface doesn’t have any dampening and the boot doesn’t have a thick insole, so you do get rather intimate feedback from rough surfaces.

The skate is tricky to enter and exit, requiring you to pull the tongue forward and up to its full extent while feeding slack into the laces. Although the skates are equipped with large and convenient carry handles, these handles are not bootstraps and might tear loose if you pull on them too hard. Once you do get your foot in, the heel does snap nicely into place and is held firmly.

The heel brake works well and leaves very heavy black streaks. The wheels are too soft, but that was inevitable given the soft 78a rating.

The design defects are in two areas: the cuff buckles that interfere with each other, and the chassis and axle design. While changing the wheels I found out how difficult it is to align the wheels in the frame and get the axle started through the square hole and into the bushing. I pinched my hand a couple of times getting the wheels into place, which is something I’ve never done on any other skate I’ve owned. Once the axle is through assembly goes smoothly.

Pinch points when inserting wheels

Update December 22

See this page about replacing the standard K2 skate buckles.

Conclusion

The K2 Power XP is a recreational skate, well suited to cruising about the park and skating for hours on smooth surfaces. Since I bought it so I would have at least one pair of recreational skates with a heel brake and conventional frame length, it meets my requirements for that role. It is too easily deformed for jumps or hard starts and too lightly armoured for the bangs and bashes of hard street skating, but for recreational or fitness skating on smooth surfaces it is a very comfortable ride.

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