Solomon Screamer inline skate review

If you are interested in the "rivets problem" with Salomon's twinmetal chassis, please see the bottom of this page.

Please note this review is my own personal opinion and should only be taken in that context. The reference made to are based upon my own personnel experience with different makes of inline skates.

El cheapose
Rollerblade - Roadrunner
Roces - San Francisco
Salomon - TR9
Roxa - Country 2001 (used as ‘wet’ skates, very useful with the UK weather)

Screamer Boot

The boot is constructed of differing materials for strength, support, comfort and ventilation, with some discreet strips of reflective material, great for night skating (gives cars something to aim for). With the exception of the reflective strips and buckle, these boots are available in either black or black. Apart from looking cool, black is a forgiving color because no matter how good a skater you are the gravity God will get you and in the process your skates pick up war wounds.

Even with every day skating the liners get dirty, my old TR9 liners stopped looking white and clean very quickly….hmmm gray. Happily the Screamer liners are a complete one-piece unit that can be removed and washed. But best of all they can be heat molded and this I strongly recommend, no more slight foot wobble under high speed crossovers, a problem I’ve had with all skates including my TR9 but I never got round to having those molded.

The foot closure is quick lace with ankle strap and power cuff system. I’ve had trouble with full strap closure system (developed a lump under the strap, ouch) and speed lace systems that tend to slip and consequently prefer a tie-able lace system. My only gripe with the entire closure system is that the ankle strap can dig in a little where the foot and leg join, if worn very tight, as I like. But here the power strap comes to the rescue and by loosening the ankle strap slightly and wearing the power cuff tight, all ankle wobble is removed along with the slight discomfort.

Ankle support, back support and flex is provided in the now standard way, with a removable screw to free the Energyzer for increased forward bend. I find the support and forward flex excellent and have no complaints after three weeks of abuse I’ve put them through, toe rides, heel rides, spins, jumps (and combination), you name it.

I quite regularly on a good day (when not working) spend between 4 and 8 hours skating (longest 15hr) so comfort and ventilation are very important, here Salomon score very big. I tried my old Roces the other day and could not believe the difference, if they were cars one would be a Morris Minor and the other a Austin Martin, no prizes for guessing which.

Chassis

This is a two piece construction, the top half being Magnesium for its shock absorption and slight flex, whilst the lower half is Aluminium for strength. The two components are joined by 8 rivets and my initial worries regarding these have (so far) been proved wrong and indeed I have been told that the overall construction (including rivets) is stronger than the single piece aluminum chassis on my old TR9 skates. Again there is the ability to adjust the line of the chassis by loosening a bolt joining it to the boot. This is my only other gripe about these skates and what used to happen with my TR9s, in that during a heavy landing the boots sometimes would adjust themselves (grrr). This has happen once with the Screamer, but thanks to Danny of the Salomon UK Freestyle team I have an answer to this, quirk. A large washer fitting exactly the width of inside the chassis placed under the bolt, thus stopping any movement.

Rockered Axles purchased separately are available and greatly increase the already terrific maneuverability coupled with excellent power transfer.

A damping system is incorporated into the contact point of the chassis to the boot that make the Salomon skates very smooth with little if any vibration. Added to this I always use a pair of Sorbothane insoles in my skates, great for soaking up vibrations and bumps.

Salomon Screamer Wheels and Bearings

The wheels are basically re-badged 80mm 78A Hyper, which give great grip but lack durability. I’ve compared many wheels of similar specs by differing manufacturers and have to say I swear by Kryptonic wheels. Comparing identical durometers, the Kryptonic wheels out last all the other wheels I’ve tried by about three times without loosing any other characteristics.. Hence I’m now waiting for an order from America of Kryptonic 3D Adrenaline as the Hyper wheels are looking a bit rough after 50 hours of skating and constant rotating.

The bearings are ABEC 5, very smooth and glide for ages. When I first tried the Screamers on the smoothness of ride without any obscure clicks or wear noise was one of the first things I noticed. All my other skates had their own peculiar noises, notably the Roces, the buckets rattled to the point of sounding like knackered bearings.

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Overall Conclusion

Oh what fun! With the exception of the two points I’ve made regarding the chassis line adjustability and the ankle strap (oh and Hyper wheels) these skates are excellent. Inline skating has many different forms now and finally there are now skates to cater for the urban street skaters, the Black Edition range are aimed at this market. If, like me, you spend long periods of time on your skates and are looking for a comfortable, agile, durable skate then look no further, the Salomon Black Editon has arrived, notably Screamer.

More Salomon Reviews

Update on the Rivets Problem

Marc experienced a problem where his Salomon skates had the rivets holding the twinmetal chassis together come loose. Over to Marc to describe what happened:

[Marc put a call to Salomon Customer service] All credit to Salomon and probably SkateHog (and maybe even www.LondonSkaters.com?), the next morning (8.30... wow) a John Horton called from Salomon. He said he would speak to Lofty (at SkateHog) and confirm that I could either swap for a new pair or have a full cash refund. All before I could get a word in edge ways!

When he had finished, I asked about the fault with the rivets on my Screamer skates. John said there had been a fault on a few early pairs reported, mostly in America. But that this 'early batch' had been recalled and the problem rectified. It strikes me that the problem was that the rivets had not been tight enough on my Screamer in the first place, particularly the right boot.

On the first wheel rotation I noticed slight movement on the right chassis at the rivets. Over the past 12 weeks this has got worse and now when the right skates makes contact on the ground a clicking noise comes from the joints. When the wheels are removed this movement of the lower half of the chassis is about 1.5mm in any direction, more sideways. Very worrying if jumps come into your skating style........ The left chassis has very slight movement which seems to be no worse, but I am a right footed skater, we all have a strong side :-(.

I'd like to believe John and indeed have spoke to Lofty who got a pair of Screamer at around the same time as I did. Lofty has had no problems with movement, but "has not used them a great deal." Given the choice of other makes, K2 Mod 8 appeal but are not easily available in the UK. So I will be exchanging for a new pair of Screamer the day before Skate2001 whilst I'm in Eastbourne and checking the rivets with the wheels out first!

Truth be told, I do love the Screamer Skates for all the reasons stated in the review and hope the rivet fault was just part of the 'first batch'.

As a result of this, I posted a request for more information from people on the newsgroup rec.sport.skating.inline and on the London_Skaters discussion list. This resulted in only two additional people commenting, both from London_Skaters. The newsgroup posting resulted in exactly zero responses.

With informal polls like this, mostly only people with a problem will respond (and loudly!), and the relative few numbers of people complaining about the problem, it looks like Salomon's public opinion that the problem was confined to an early batch of skates is quite likely to be true.

I also own a pair of Salomon Screamer, but I've not put enough hours on them to be able to tell whether this problem affects my skates. (Too much hockey :)

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 Black Edition Screamer