K2 Skate Buckles - Power XP

by Jeff McPhate

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Update - 22 December 2003

The previously mentioned interference between the cuff buckles was giving me trouble with my slalom so I decided to see if I could fix it. It was easier than I thought it would be - so easy I wonder why K2 didn't fix it.

The stock buckle has two prongs that slip into the strap slot in the cuff to anchor the rear of the buckle, and a single rivet in the front to anchor that end. I was going to move the buckle forward on the cuff but that would have required drilling a new hole in the cuff and figuring out how to anchor the back of the buckle, maybe even required two more holes. I had the discarded cuffs from a pair of Bauer inlines (that now have Razor cuffs) in my skate parts bin, and the buckle from the Bauer cuffs was a perfect replacement. The Bauer buckle has a single rivet in the rear and lifts in the opposite direction from the K2 buckle.

I ground the stock rivets off with a Dremel, removed the K2 buckle and substituted the Bauer buckle. I used a 1/4" stainless steel pop rivet with a backing washer to anchor the Bauer buckle. To make the back as smooth as possible, I knocked the little ball out of the rivet and flattened the rivet further with a small hammer. Total time was 20 minutes.

The modification works quite well. No interference when skating and no problems buckling the cuff. The ends of the serrated strap tuck into the stock cutout on the cuff just like before, and the little bubble in the cuff for the strap provides a perfect bumper when the skates rub together. I think this is how the cuff should have come from the factory. Obviously my factory warranty is void but as I have enough hours on the skate to have caught any infant mortality, I think the risk is minimal. The photos below show the modification and how it eliminates the clash present with the stock buckles, which is clearly shown in the photos above.