Easton F5 inline hockey skate review

These were my fourth pair of skates, but my very first pair of hockey skates. If you've never worn hockey skates before, there's a few things you should be warned about. Hockey skates aren't going to be as comfy as recreational skates, they have far less cushy padding, but the increased maneuverability of the skates more than makes up for this.

Hockey skates are also designed to be used indoors for the most part, and consequently, you will feel bumps and cracks much more than on recreational skates. However, buying softer wheels will absorb some of this impact at the price of faster wheel wear. Secondly, hockey skates are designed to give front and back support to your ankle, not sideways support. This is because some of the "fancy footwork" hockey requires means you have to run on the outside of your wheels, bulky ankle support hinders this.

F5 Boot

The F5s have a very rigid boot on them, which is sadly not heat molded, this means you have top break them in in the traditional style, pain. I would recommend sitting watching TV with the skates done up as tight as you can, this will speed the process up, while cutting off the blood circulation to your feet. However, once you've gotten through the initial pain of wearing in the skates, they really are very comfy, with mine getting more so every time I wear them.

The boot is chunky enough to deflect the ball/puck without you feeling it too much, something my ice skates should learn about! One difference I've spotted between the Easton skates and other skates is the boot has a plastic re-enforced tongue, this was bloomin' annoying when I bought the skates as it kept digging into my leg, but once it wears in, it gives a bit more protection to the top of your feet whilst providing a little more ankle support. The other benefit of the boot is its "vent" design, i.e. its got holes in it. This is intended to keep you feet cooler I guess, but either way, your feet still get far too hot playing indoors!

Easton Chassis

Bolted on to the boot, the chassis is a magnesium alloy, making it lightweight and cast in one piece (I think....) This is where the Easton skates differ from other manufacturers, the skates have three different wheel sizes (72, 68, 80, 72 front to back) on a "Big wheel" setup. The idea is that they help maximize acceleration and sustaining high speed. (Little wheels accelerate faster, while big ones hold their speed better, its a question of inertia!)

The rockered chassis doesn't seem to change the height of the wheels that much, but it seems much more effective than that of my rec skates, this is most probably down to the short wheel base and the different heights of all the wheel center lines. As with all hockey skates, the chassis is designed that the boot touches the floor before the chassis, so you won't leave scratches all over the polished wooden floor of Battersea gym!

(I know that this next bit is going to cause controversy, so if you like Mission, look away now.....) The main advantage of this chassis is its chunky build, there is a lot of cross bracing and they haven't tried to cut away sections of the frame to reduce weight (like mission!) I have seen three of four pairs of snapped Mission skates due to this design flaw, as the back support of the frame flexes and eventually suffers fatigue failure. All the pairs of Easton skates I know of (which skate soc has a lot of!) are all aging fine. The final advantage of the chassis is the counter sunk axles, they're contained within the skates, so you can't destroy the allen keyed side leaving you axles stuck in your skates (a problem I've suffered with my recreational skates)

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Wheels and bearings

The skates are supplied with some indoor Kusak wheels. The 68mm wheels are solid wheels to the core, while the larger wheels are foam filled. This is solely to reduce the weight of them (foam weighs less than rubber, makes
sense!) but if they're used outside you haven't as much rubber to put down onto the floor. The bearings as Easton ABEC 5s, and while they took a while to get going, they now roll very nicely indeed! Again, like most hockey skates, the spacers are only there to stop the bearings being pinched together by over tightening of the bolts.

Overall Conclusion - Easton F5

These are really cracking hockey skates, so long as you're patient enough to break them in, and also willing to wait for the to arrive from the states. The UK list price for them is a whopping £384, whereas I only paid around £200 having paid import tax and postage. The other downside is buying wheels, you have to either find a supplier who'll sell individual wheels (the guy in Urban Chaos is good for this!) or someone who can get you a set of official Easton Wheels. I also had to get a spare set of spacers since I swap my indoor and outdoor wheels, fortunately I'm friends with the right people and got a set cheap (since you have to buy a set of bolts as well!)

Disclaimer

As usual, this review is only my opinion about these skates, and your mileage may vary. You should always carefully judge whether the skates you intend buying are best suited for you and for the purpose you intend using. Remember that fit and comfort are extremely important, and you may wish to read the inline skating buying guide here on this site.

Easton F5 Hockey Skate Review

by Andy Stinson

June 2001

F5 Boot

Easton Chassis

Wheels and bearings

Overall Conclusion - Easton F5

Disclaimer