Tell me about your plates?

[Nita Nitro]

So, soon(ish) I'm hopefully going to get me some new skates, now that I finally have my custom orthotics and I can try boots with them in. I'm pondering plates and I'm not really sure what I want/need other than something as light as possible. I skate on Wickeds at the moment which sometimes feel a bit like having rocks strapped to my feet. I think they have 15 degree trucks and I am not sure I would want anything more than that, but I'd love to hear people's opinions of having more/less manoeuvrability. Having never really skated on anything else (and I can't remember anything about my R3's other than the pain ) I have no idea what I'd expect or advantages/disadvantages of different types of plate. When I do come to buy them budget shouldn't be much of an issue so luckily that won't affect my decision.

So pretty, pretty please, tell me about the plates you chose for your skates and what you love or hate about them?

Thank you!
Nitro x

[Tilly Latimer]

I think you should make a trip to Double Threat! I spent ages talking to them about which plates etc to buy, because I was pretty clueless! I ended up with pilot falcon plates, which are 16 degree, and I'm getting on well with them.

[Nita Nitro]

I think you should make a trip to Double Threat! I spent ages talking to them about which plates etc to buy, because I was pretty clueless! I ended up with pilot falcon plates, which are 16 degree, and I'm getting on well with them.

When I am ready to buy them that's exactly what I am going to do I just want to do as much research as possible first and get peoples opinions. I know pretty much what I want/need for my boots, but the more manufacturer's info I read about plates, the more confused I generally am!

[da silva surfer]

i just lent knuckles a copy of five on five which has a good review of a load of new plates, if shes done with the mag you are welcome to borrow it x

[Nita Nitro]

i just lent knuckles a copy of five on five which has a good review of a load of new plates, if shes done with the mag you are welcome to borrow it x

That would be awesome Silva - thanks Hope you're doing OK after yesterday xx

[da silva surfer]

I just realised that I didn't post any info on plates here ever so here is some:

Plates 101 page 50, Plates 201 page 52 of the rookie guide here:
viewtopic.php?f=153&t=6912

[the Blizzard]

Really good overview: http://www.doublethreatskates.co.uk/blo ... s-in-brief

[the Blizzard]

My Avenger to Arius experience (cut and pasted from fb)

[in January 15] Getting more and more used to my Arius plates! The goal is to love them Great for skatepark (stable) but still getting used to how they work for derby for me. My previous set up was super agile so they feel rather stiff. I had size 0 Avenger plate with pretty loose trucks.

I tried medium cushions with Arius but way tooo stiff - switched to the softest ones (dark turquoise) but still fairly stiff, so just need to get used to that. My foot moves inside the boot slightly (not nice) which wasn't happening with the highly responsive Avengers. Trying to adjust skating style slightly. Let's see how it goes!

I found ploughing a lot easier with the Arius! (Hmm.. Actually, I did find it hard at the start to go into a strong plough in a wall. Foot wouldn't twist in and out of plough when trying to speed control. Now I've cracked that.) I must mention that I went a size and half up - Avengers 130mm axle-axle, Arius 144mm (size 4). I find hard carving /laterals more difficult now. I mean this is kind of good because I wanted less crazy set up to calm me down! I love jumping as landings are more stable now. Edges are stronger. Quick feet feel slower now and I'm not sure yet how fast twitches I can get out of them when doing jammer tricks. I can see the potential and working on it!

[update March 15]
They are nice and stable. The best feature is how they stick to the floor at quick direction changes at speed when I really go for it. They help my wheels grip/edge plant shall I say. They feel like lightweight bricks, but now I know how to use that feeling to my advantage - a brick edges well.. I have learned to not attempt to carve too hard and they don't feel stuff anymore, which is great.
Strangely, adding slide blocks made them feel even nicer.. more weight towards the floor.. maybe they were a bit too light!

[Black Thorn]

This totally sums up my plate dilemma. I love the lateral movement of my avenger plates, I can change direction really easily and do really sharp lateral cuts. Manoeuvrability is a really important part of my game, and I have this in bucket loads!

However, they are really difficult to generate any kind of power from, my top speed is compromised, and I have to fight for stability. They are also useless erring on unsafe for the skate park (I have to tighten my trucks right up) and I can't jump on them because the stability on landing in non-existent.

I have just read this back, and I think through my choice of language I may have answered my own dilemma! Anyone want to buy an avenger plate

[Tilly Latimer]

I really love my Pilot Falcons. I feel like they work well for me - they are stable, I can do the skate park in them, and the degree of flexibility in tightening and loosening the trucks makes them really useful all round. You can spend £40 to upgrade them to the Pro, which gives you even more adjustability, but in all honesty I've never felt I needed it. I really want to try some 95 radar presto wheels with them, because I feel like I could do with marginally more grip occasionally. But I love the feel of these plates. I tried avengers but didn't like how squirrely they felt.

[Kamo]

*snip*
However, they are really difficult to generate any kind of power from, my top speed is compromised, and I have to fight for stability. *snip*

It's not just me then.
I've been considering a change for a while; but just can't quite convince myself I won't hate it and be rubbish
Think somewhere will do us a multi-buy discount on plates Thorn?

[Luklear Blast]

I skate on Sure-Grip Magnesium Avengers and I like them, although the only thing I have to compare them to are the rubbish nylon plates that came on my first ever skates. I've got soft yellow cushions in them now and have loosened off the trucks. I don't feel unstable on them at speed, landing jumps or at the skatepark.

Mine's a size 4 plate (170mm wheel base) in a standard mount, so the additional length might provide some stability the shorter plates are missing.

[Delta Strike]

So I used to skate on the avenger plate and basically had the same love and issues as Thorn and Kamo. It got to the point though that I decided the stability issue was just starting to become too much of a hindrance,

I had a roll line mistral at one point and always liked it but just got irritated with the 7mm bearings. I was told the pilot falcon was similar to the roll line so decided to go with the falcon and its only been a couple of months but I feel sooooo much better stability wise. I still need to experiment some more I think with my trucks to see if I can get my lateral movement a bit closer to the avenge level but it certainly doesn't feel terrible!

I was also interested in the arius but after too many adventurous skate decisions in the past decided to go with something a little safer!

Delta x

[Tilly Latimer]

Delta I spent ages one free skate session loosening the trucks one click at a time until I found the right point on mine for me, I totally recommend doing that, though it was pretty tedious!

[the Blizzard]

Here is some good press for the Avengers

I really loved the plate! They got me adventurous, quick and super agile. They showed what was possible and were a lot of fun. I think they pushed my progress. Now I am trying to get the same action out of my current plates, need to push them more but because i know I can do the maneuver, it's about getting my plates to work for me.