Salomon Crossmax2 Freeskates

by Jerry Cooke

December 2003

Having been a sworn K2 fitness skate follower for 7 years, I decided to make the move to Salomon with no small amount of trepidation. My main motivations basically involved wanting to be able to progress to more complicated and technical moves that I felt that I could only get by moving to the more manoeuvrable FSKs. I had heard many good reviews about the Salomon FSK range and decided after asking for some advice and being told that Crossmax was the best model for somebody getting their first pair of FSKs. I ordered a pair of Crossmax2 size 10UK.

The Package

Some of my reservations about buying the skates were focused on the look. At first I felt that the skates look garish and much too much like the plastic kids skates you often see. All these worries disappeared when I first opened the box. The skates themselves are quite something to look at. Also contained in the box are two Allen keys, one which is a large double ended right angle good for quickly undoing bolts. The other is a small tool, the hex end of which is fairly useless for undoing axel or frame bolts because the other end rubs against the boot. The other end of this tool is a smaller hex which while not seeming to undo anything, is useful for pushing out the axel of the 2-part rockerable front axels. Also contained is a small fold out poster/guide which although well laid out and nice as it gives you a nice poster to stick somewhere, doesn’t give anywhere as much information as it could. The illustrations seem to be for show rather than information and don’t give detailed information about configuration of the skate or even what some of the bolts are for.

The Skate

The skates are fairly peculiar. Looking like a cross between a pair of aggressive skates and a pair of training skates. The silver boot is speckled and reflective which I think looks great, especially when coupled with the shiny red aluminium frame. A feature that I didn’t notice from the pictures I had seen of the skate was the solid metal buckle, which I think is a good feature as I have suffered many battered and mangled plastic buckles in the past. Also good are the ‘blobs’ on the side of the boots, these are contoured and placed near the front outer edge of the skate. These are designed to prevent the side of the boot from taking any nasty scrape, which I love since it lets my skates continue looking good and new.

The Fitting

At first, I spent a couple of minutes trying to force the skate onto my foot, before realising that the innovative ‘quick-lace’ system was preventing the boot from widening to allow my foot to enter. Once the skate was on my foot, I felt how comfortable they really are (apart from some aching in the in-step due to my not having had the skates thermoformed for a custom fit yet) very well fitted, they hold your foot in place well without rubbing or pinching. The heel strap, while looking strong and effective, did not seem to have much effect on the fit. The fit felt the same with or without the heel strap being tightened.

The Test – First Try

Having the kind of bad luck that only skaters and long-haul truckers seem to experience, on the day my skates arrived it seemed to be a localized storm in my small town. Of course, I could not wait to get out for a roll on my new skates and so was forced to skate around in my little 1 x 1.5 meter covered courtyard. Even in these cramped conditions the skates showed off their amazing manoeuvrability and stability. I was very happy with the way in which they reacted and wore them around the house for a bit to get a feel for them (until I broke a hole in the wall when trying some skate-dancing).

The Test – Second Try

The storm finally having rained itself out and the pavement dry I was set to go out for my first proper run. I set out on my standard route along Exmouth seafront, marvelling at how easy my movements had become. The hi-lo frame allowing me to pivot extremely easily. The setup allows for almost effortless slalom as well as making one footed manoeuvres a synch. The hi-lo set-up takes a surprisingly small amount of time to get used to although the experience may vary from skater to skater. I did find however that if I wasn’t paying quite enough attention to my foot movements, I had a tendency to slip slightly on the toes since the front wheels smaller that my old skates. Another difference I noticed was the shock absorber. This system while offering a very smooth ride and soft landings, does tend to lift you up and down a bit while going over larger bumps. I found my self missing slightly the vibration damper of my old K2s.

The Hardware – Frame

One of the main selling points of the Crossmax2 is how much you can customize the frame. The frame (which comes is a slick looking red aluminium) comes in both 237mm and 247mm flavours (mine being 247) and are fitted with two 80mm 83a wheels at the back of the frame and two 76mm 83a wheels at the front. All wheels are kitted out with twin-cam ABEC 5 bearings complete with racing gel. The back two wheels are fitted to the frame with one-piece axels that screw directly into the frame. The two wheels have rockerable two piece axels which allow you several choices including the default hi-lo “roadster” and the hi-lo-lower “banana” set up. The frame can also accept up to a 80mm flat setup. The frame is UFS which makes it compatible with many other makes of frame out there. Another interesting point to note, one which I appreciate a lot is that all the bolts (axel and frame) come pre-treated with loctite or another similar fixative which seems to be keeping the bolts fairly well fixed after about 25 miles of use.

The Hardware – Boot

Although the boot of the Crossmax may not be to everybody’s taste, there is no denying that the boot fits like a glove (especially if you’ve taken the time to get the boot baked to your specific foot shape). The multitude of padding hold the foot really quite well and they even seem to reshape themselves over time to fit better. I really would recommend the thermoforming procedure to anyone, as well as making you feet feel warm and snug for quarter of an hour, it also greatly improves your skates fit. After the skates have been heated, I would recommend skating in them for around 5 minutes followed by standing still for 10. Sounds boring, I know but this allow the liner to set. The buckle and Velcro strap aren’t really anything special, however I do like the moulding on the boot into which the end of the strap tucks in, you see it on a few models out there, but I like it. The quick-lace system common to Salomon is something which I find really useful as It means that you can pull your laces tight and fix them before you do up the ankle strap and then tie the laces without worrying about keeping the tension. One problem I had when I first got them was that I forgot to release the quick lace before putting them on, making me worry about whether I had the right size. It becomes habit in the end but bothers you for a while. Another feature that I love is the “blob” or as I call it the “scratch-patch” a moulded addition to the side of the boot which seems to pretty well prevents the side of the skate from taking to much damage in the event of a fall. I can say from experience that this does in fact work surprisingly well. The ventilation works okay, keeping the feet relatively cool while not making the toes go numb like I’ve found some K2 skates do.

The Conclusion

As is fairly obvious, I can’t get enough of these skates. I would recommend them to anyone as I think would hundreds of other skaters in the world. These skates are incredibly popular and I would recommend that you find out for yourself why. You should be able to pick them up for a snip under £200. Shop around, I paid £180 for mine, I guess it depends on the supplier and how much in demand they are. A solid buy, well worth the money.

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