Salomon TR Vitesse inline speed fitness skate review

These were my fifth pair of skates, bought in April 2001 in Paris. 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.

Why 5 Wheel Skates?

Why would you want a pair of 5 wheel skates, especially ones like the TR Vitesse, that are not for serious racing? Well, for me the reason was that these skates are still very comfortable and relatively cheap, and yet they are very much more efficient than 4 wheel skates.

There's a bit more than this as well - I'm Dutch, and skating with long skates is something of a Dutch national obsession. The Netherlands is after all the home of the "Elfstedetocht", or eleven city tour, where thousands of skaters travel some 200km around 11 towns on frozen canals. In modern times, though, the canals have not been frozen very much, thus preventing the race from happening, although an alternative happens in Austria.

It's almost hard to credit how much more efficient these skates are than my older TR9s - I'm simply amazed by the performance of the TR Vitesse. Admittedly, it's the first time I've skated on 5 wheelers. By the way, my TR9s have just had brand new bearings installed a week or two ago, and although the wheels on my TR9s are somewhat worn, I believe that the comparison is reasonable. A while ago I read in a skating fitness book that 5 wheel skates are very roughly 20% more efficient than 4 wheel skates, and I can easily believe this now.

One might not always expect an extra wheel to actually reduce rolling resistance, but this must be the case, else all the serious speed skaters would not run 5 wheelers, right? Well, it looks like reduced wheel deformation is one of the factors that is responsible for this, together with better vibration dissipation and higher stability at speed.

Salomon TR Boot

As with last year's Salomon TR9s, the boot is beautifully constructed and extremely comfortable to wear. Being a 5 wheel skate, the cuff is much lower than the TR9 I reviewed last year, and is lower even than the TR10 2000 model.

As with the TR9s, 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 boot padding material feels firmer and more finely made than last year. Salomon have also included a much nicer foot bed in the skate.

The skates weigh 3.0 kg, and are thus significantly lighter than the TR9s (3.4kg), or even the K2 Cirrus (at 3.3kg). Salomon must have done some impressive things considering that the TR Vitesse have an extra wheel and all the additional weight that implies. Of course, a serious racer would probably not be very impressed at all as these skates are likely to be quite a bit heavier than his or her racing skates!

Vitesse Ankle Support

The ankle cuff is much improved, and has much better side-to-side support than the TR9s reviewed last year. That's to say while it flexes well in a fore-aft direction, it is much firmer and more stable side-to-side. Salomon obviously listened to their customers and noted that this was a small problem last year. Anyway, I really like the boot and cuff that come with the TR Vitesse, and feel that it gives much better and more appropriate support when compared with my TR9s from last year. The cuff of course doesn't help proper racing form at all, but it is probably quite useful to those who don't want an all-out racing skate, or don't yet have sufficient ankle strength.

The Energyzer (what Salomon calls the ankle cuff) is free-moving on the TR Vitesse, and can't be bolted down as with the TR9s. This is by design - you need a free moving foot in order to be able to stroke more efficiently. Well, serious racing skates of course have no cuff at all, and the boot only comes up to below the ankle to enable this free movement.

Heat molding

Same sentiments about the heat molding this time round - be prepared to have _HOT_ feet for about the first 30 seconds. Thereafter the heat is easy to bear. The shop will put your skates on a Salomon skate heater blower for about 15 minutes, and you should stand wearing the heated skates for about a further 15 minutes after that.

Salomon warn against letting other people use your skates after they’ve been custom-fit to your feet, as the skates will then start to conform to the other person's feet and will no longer fit your foot as well.

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Salomon TR Vitesse Frame and Brake

The frame is hugely improved in comparison to last year's TR9s - they are now much more like that of the 2000 K2 Cirrus, constructed of thicker aluminium and structurally stronger. The TR Vitesse appears to be extruded aluminium, while the TR9s were pressed, and the TR Vitesse frame looks and feels a lot more like the incredibly strong frame on my Bauer Vapor 8 skates. The result is no detectable flex at all, even under some considerable abuse.

Salomon do supply a standard heel brake with the skate, but it's not attached by default. This is probably because heel brakes are not very effective on 5 wheelers, but the choice is there for those who want this. I've not used a heel brake for quite a while now, so didn't install it myself.

Wheels and Bearings

Wheels supplied are the Hyper Hyperformance 80mm micro bearing wheels with 82A hardness. Micro bearings are supplied as well, and look to be of decent quality. Salomon's intention is probably to reduce weight here, and of course also attract the feature geek (like myself? ;-)).

As per my micro bearing article, my conclusion was that micro-bearings are probably a waste of time for the average skater. Based on the micro bearings I weighed in that article, about a total of 108g would be saved for a pair of 5 wheel skates. In the TR Vitesse, this weight saving would perhaps be a little more because no nylon spacer is required for the micro bearings - the wheels take only micro bearings rather than the normal 608 bearing size.

This could be taken as a slight disadvantage - when you need new wheels or bearings for the TR Vitesse, you're going to need to buy more micro bearings, or wheels that support direct installation of micro bearings. That's bound to cost at least a little more than standard equipment. You could always use normal wheels and bearings, though!

A Subjective Skate

What are these skates like to skate on? The skates are noticeably more stable and feel much faster than any other skates I've used personally. It's still quite easily possible to do a fairly quick parallel turn on these skates, although you do have to put a bit of effort into it. They require a little more planning because you tend to be travelling a little faster on these skates, and turns can take just a little longer than you might be used to. The wheelbase of the TR Vitesse are only about a half wheel longer than the TR9s, but of course this is not a fair comparison - remember I rockered my TR9s some time ago, making them much less stable than the standard skates.

Each stroke feels very effective, and quickly you're speeding down the road with the wind in your hair. Higher speeds and downhills are nicer because the stability lends you immense confidence. These skates are easier to stand around in as well - the longer wheel base ensures that the rear wheel is further behind your skate, and that makes it nearly impossible to fall over backwards on these skates. I could even be really lazy and stand up with straight legs because of this.

Vibration and rough roads seem to be much easier to deal with. I had significantly less discomfort from a rough piece of road than with 4 wheel skates, but that's not to say the resulting vibration disappeared completely - it was simply more tolerable. That even considering that the wheels on the TR Vitesse are a somewhat hard 82A, which would normally lend itself to a less comfortable ride.

TR Vitesse - Overall Conclusion

I really like these skates. They are comfortable and well made, and are fun to skate in. The increased efficiency is a real bonus, and make the skate perfect for longer street skates or more serious fitness training. You do loose out in manoeuvrability, but everything has a price, and I'm more than happy with the trade off.

These skates make a nice change and give a considerably different kind of pleasure to ordinary recreational skates or playing hockey.

More Salomon Reviews

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 Vitesse inline skate review

5 Wheel Skates

April 2001