Salomon TR9 inline skate review

These were my second pair of skates, bought in July 2000. Please note that this review is only my opinion and thoughts on this model of skate, and that any decision you may make regarding purchasing based on this information is at your own risk entirely.

TR9 Boot

The boot is well constructed and very comfortable to wear, even for extended periods. I really like the speed lacing system as it makes putting on and taking these skates off quick and easy. Just one pull and slide down on the laces clip, do the buckle, and the boots are done up. The tongue of the boot is puffy and well padded, and helps to hold the foot nicely.

I was less impressed with the strap/buckle at the top of the boot. There is nothing specifically wrong with it, but it just feels less easy to use than the version on the K2 series. Again, like the K2 Cirrus this skate doesn’t have an ankle strap, but the TR9 design in this respect seems better than that of the K2 and holds the ankle and heel nicely back in the rear of the boot.

The padding is in two sections, one that surrounds the heel, ankle and calf areas, and the other the rest of the foot area. The overall feel of the boot is a firm, good hold on your foot.

The skates weigh 3,4kg, but bear in mind that's without the heel brake attached, and with the original but fairly worn wheels.

Salomon Ankle Support

The TR9 is firm in both side to side and fore-aft movement, more equally so than was the case for the K2 Cirrus. The K2 Cirrus is much more firm in side-to-side movement, but less firm fore-and aft.

Personally, I’d prefer the TR9’s to be a little more firm in side to side movement, but they are very acceptable as they are. Fore-aft movement can be increased to the level of the K2 Cirrus simply by removing a bolt from the lower back of the ankle cuff that frees up the cuff to rotate fore-aft freely. This bolt otherwise holds the cuff and only allows fore-aft movement via flexing in the cuff structure.

Heat molding

Eeeoooow, make sure you wear your socks, as the boots get _HOT_. 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-moldable boot time to form around your foot, and then cool down and set.

It’s not recommended to do more than 3 moldings with a pair of skates so you don’t want to do this too often. Additionally, Salomon warn against letting other people use your skates after they’ve been custom-fit to your feet, as that will at least slightly change the fitting for you.

Frames

The frames seem solid and firm enough for the skating I’ve done, but are nowhere near as strongly built as the K2 Cirrus frames. They feel especially weak when the wheels are removed for cleaning, while the K2 frames were still solid even with the wheels out. Having said this, the frames on the TR9s are held firm once the wheels are in and the axles tightened.

Salomon give the option of using rockering axles, but they supply ordinary axles with the skates. You have to buy rockering axles if you want to rocker the wheels on this model. I'm not too impressed by that as this is a simple omission by Salomon, and perhaps even a cheap attempt to gouge the customer.

Rockering is effectively altering the height of some wheels (usually the middle two) so that the wheels have a curve to their profile a little like that found on ice skates. This really improves manoeuvrability at the expense of high-speed stability. Read more about rockering in this article here.

Wheels and Bearings

The skates come with Hyper 80mm 78A wheels, so a little on the softer side. They are a little more noisy than the K2s, but roll very nicely and are quite stable as a result of the long wheelbase. They also click quietly when picking up and putting down the skates, which the K2’s didn’t do at all.

The wheels have quite a narrow profile and are definitely aimed at going fast. Being so narrow and of so soft a compound, though, means that these wheels will wear fairly quickly. I noticed this especially as I removed my brake shortly before getting these skates, so now depend on T-stops and other wheel scuffing manoeuvres.

I really like the ABEC 5 bearings Salomon has put into these skates - they have a plastic cover on one side that is easy to remove with a small tool such as a watchmaker's screwdriver. These plastic covers can be taken off in seconds, unlike a C-clip, and the bearings are thus much easier to clean than the average C-clip fastened model.

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Salomon TR9 - Overall Conclusion

The Salomon TR9’s are an excellent pair of recreational/fitness skates, and you won’t go wrong with them if this is the kind of skating you want to do. They are well built and give off a feeling of quality, although they are quite expensive - mine cost 180 pounds.

More Salomon Reviews

Disclaimer

As usual, this review is only my opinion about these skates, so please take what you read with a pinch of salt. You should always carefully judge whether the skates you intend buying are suited for the purpose you want them for. Remember that fit is extremely important, and a read around the buying section at www.SkateFAQ.com is always worth while. This FAQ was written quite a while ago, but still has plenty of relevant advice.

Salomon TR9 Inline Skate Review