Salomon TR Mg Elite 2 inline skate review

This is the top of the line 4 wheel fitness skate from Salomon, and it is immediately noticeable as such. The boot build quality and comfort is excellent.

Salomon have designed their skates to progressively wrap your foot, starting from the hard outer boot material to the softer and more flexible lace area. The two-part liner adds to the fit, and can be removed for washing if your skates get too stinky. Taking the liner out is a little fiddly, but doesn't take too long. Salomon warn not to wash the liner at more than 30°C, probably because this would change the liner shape since it's heat mouldable.

It's noticeable how many more components are used in the construction of this skate than that of the X-TR Wave. More expense and more fiddly bits when building the skate, but it does give superior comfort. This skate boot is one of those where your feet almost sigh with pleasure as you put them on.

The skate has a shock absorber underneath the liner and on the bottom of the hard shell portion of the boot to help with vibration absorption. It's fairly effective, although in spite of Salomon's marketing some vibration still gets through. The FSK CrossMax thick second shock absorber is still more effective, but that kind of padding doesn't really have a place on this kind of skate.

Apparently some 2001 model Salomon skates had an issue where the frame bolt retainer in the boot could pop up and spin round when loosening to adjust or change the frame. That's still possible on this skate, and you need to be careful not to push the bolt too hard, as the retainer will otherwise lift out of the socket. Pulling slightly on the frame while loosening the bolt helps to prevent this from happening. All that's holding the retainer down is the pressure from the shock absorber, liner and foot bed components. It's a minor issue, and the retainer isn't that easy to shift. Even if it does pop out, all you need to do is remove the liner to sort out the problem.

Salomon liners are soft and very comfortable, and may be related to a few skaters wearing through the liners on last years and earlier Salomon skate models more quickly after a year or so of heavy use.

The tongue has a little loop in it through which the speed laces go. Presumably this is to help prevent the tongue from slipping down and to the side. I love that speed lacing system! Do up the buckle, then just one pull on the laces and your skates are on. It's so simple to get exactly the right tension on the laces because they slide easily through all eyelets right through to the end of the toe. One little trick you can do is to take the loop on the end of the speed lacing system and put the buckle through it, thus keeping the end of the speed lacing system up and out of the way.

I have the same finger loop issue as with other Salomon skates. The loop has improved since two years ago, but it's still nowhere near as quick and easy to pick up as is the K2 loop. Minor point really, but it does make carrying your skates much easier after a hard day's skating in the park.

Available boot sizes are: Mondo :24-31,5 USA : 5,5-14,5 UK : 5-14 Eur : 38-49 1/3

TR Magnesium Ankle Support

The one buckle near the top of the ankle cuff is quick and easy to tighten and to release. At least one heavy weight skater has complained that this buckle occasionally releases if they bend their knees a lot when really going for it. I haven't managed that with my 12st (74kg) weight and quite a bit of trying.

This skate has quite a high cuff given that it's aimed at fitness skaters, but it's certainly not too restrictive. As expected, the cuff gives quite a lot more ankle support than my TR Vitesse 2001 skates, and the energyzer can be released to help you really bend your knees and get down low if you need to.

Like the lower end TR9 I had from 2000, this skate has somewhat wimpier ankle support from the cuff. That's OK, though, this is a fitness skate and you don't want too much ankle support anyway. As with the TR9, there's a little more side-side flexibility than other skates such as the FSK CrossMax.

TR Mg Elite II Heat moulding

These skates have 3D custom fit, or Salomon's term for being designed for heat moulding. The shop will stick your skates onto a Salomon heater blower for about 15 minutes so that they heat up and soften. You’ll have to pay for the skates first, though. After this, put the hot skates on and stand normally in them for another 15 minutes to give the heat-mouldable boot time to form around your foot, and then cool down and set.

Salomon TwinMetal Frame

Nice long frame that's optimised for fitness skating at 289mm in my size, or about half a wheel length shorter than my TR Vitesse 2001 skates. The frame can be adjusted from side to side by removing the wheel in position two, second from the front, and loosening the frame retaining bolt there.

24>24,5 : frame length = 263mm
25>26,5 : frame length = 275mm
27>28,5 : frame length = 289mm
29>30,5 : frame length = 300mm

The long frame gives plenty of stability at speed, and helps to get the power to the ground in those long carves to the side when you're really getting into your fitness stride. The frame bolts can be loosened in order to adjust the frame - a movement of 3.5mm in either direction is possible.

Take note of the rivets issue with Salomon 2001 twinmetal frames. The article covers what happened in 2001 with these frames. You may remember that with Marc Garland's Salomon Screamers, the rivets were slightly loose right from the start. Because of this, I tried to stress the TR Mg Elite 2 frames a little, and found no detectable play at all after a couple of hours of skating.

I've not heard any comment about problems rivets/frame issues on the 2002 skate models, but they have only recently been released, so time will tell.

Wheels, Axles, and Bearings

The wheels are 80mm diameter, 81A hardness, or otherwise pretty average for this type of skate. Interestingly Salomon have chosen to use micro bearing suitable wheels, in which the hub has a smaller recess designed to fit micro bearings.

This means that when this set wears out you will need to buy either more micro bearing wheels, or new 608 sized bearings and spacers with conventional 608 wheels. Either option shouldn't be a problem, and given how common the use of micro bearing sized wheels are starting to become, there's likely to be less and less price difference as time goes by. I found at least one retailer that shows no price differential between 608 and 688 based wheels of the same type.

Maximum wheel size is 82mm, so you can fit those slightly larger wheels for better efficiency.

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Salomon TR Mg Elite 2 - Overall Conclusion

The TR Mg Elite 2 is an excellent skate aimed squarely at those wanting to train for fitness in 4 wheel skates. I think this skate is very comfortable and competent at what it's designed for. They have minimal rolling resistance. These skates are a good compromise for those skaters unwilling to use a 5 wheeled skate such as the TR Vitesse. The long frame isn't quite as long and unwieldy as that of the TR Vitesse, but then again it's not quite as efficient either.

I have one small concern with these skates, and that is the twinmetal frame and the rivets issue. It does seem unlikely that Salomon would release the same frame technology this year (and in 2003) without having taken some corrective action, and last year they were certainly pretty quick to refund/replace any skates that were defective so it's unlikely that you'll loose out to the issue.

The skate is estimated to retail for around 299 Euros (around 260 USD or 185 GBP). Well into the price of high-end skates, but you are getting what you pay for.

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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.

Salomon TR Mg Elite 2 - 2002

Inline skates reviews

April 2002

TR Mg Elite2 Boot