Westside

Bumping a 6 year old topic... First digits are the order number, easy enough. Skates are 8 1/4 which is clear. Last digits of T8 are the toe cap size. All that makes sense. It’s the numbers in between the skate size and toe cap size that I’m curious about. CHAA? CAAA? CHHH??

I've been wearing the last gen Bauer X900 (retail) skates for the last few years in a size 8.5D. Skate has always been comfortable and never given me any pain/pressure/lace bite. Earlier this year I went to my LHS to try on a pair of 2X Pros both in 8.5D and 8D. My left foot is slightly larger than my right so the 8 was a bit too snug, but the 8.5's felt good. Thought if I could find a pair or pro stock in size 8.25D, that would be my sweet spot. I also prefer traditional eyelets over the injected ones. A pair recently popped up in my specs so I grabbed them. They have a traditional tongue which I didn't think I'd mind. Length and width wise, the skates fit my feet very snug, but well enough. After baking and breaking in I think they'd be the right fit. But I'm getting unbelievable pressure on the top of my foot where the first few eyelets are. The only thing I could think of that would make such an impact in fit with these skates vs my current skates and what I've tried on is the tongue. After doing research, I believe the tongues are from the APX2 which would be 52oz. My current tongues are a mix of 48oz on the top and 40oz on the sides. The standard 2X Pro tongue is 48oz. I don't know anything about tongues so I'm not sure what 4oz or 12oz would equate to in terms of fit. Would anyone be able to shed some insight? Is there something else I might be missing? I don't believe I can return the skates, but they're also unskatable at this point. I thought I could look into someplace around Los Angeles and see if I could have the tongues of both my skates swapped, or find a stock pair of 2X Pro tongues and put them in. Also contemplated cutting portions of the tongue up to create more room, but that didn't seem like a wise move. Here are both tongues for reference and here is where the pressure is *EDIT* After swapping out footbeds from the stock Bauer ones to the Super Feet I normally use I noted the markings on the inside of the skate. From using the search, are these a C/AAA skate and not a D/A? If that's the case, that would probably cause more of a problem than the tongue, right? Any help/guidance is greatly appreciated!

New boots. The holes are not the same between the O1 and the R1

I cry a little every time I see laces wrapped around the tendon guard

Going off a pic when I first put them together, mine are also very close together. I remember noticing the center two wheels as there was no way to fit the tool in there (like you can with the O1), but didn’t even realize how close the other wheels were. That said, I haven’t experienced any issues. Medium chassis mounted on an 8.5 boot. 76-76-80-80 MPC Freestyle wheels

Nice writeup! I'm not one for flashy skates, but I gotta say, that rainbow of colors you have going on looks sweet! Like you, I would like a bit 'more' rocker than the H5-T8 insert offers. Didn't realize you could loosen the center bolt on the R1 like you could with the O1? At least you weren't supposed to. The wear isn't surprising given that the O1 plastic on plastic wears similar so it was only a matter of time before the anodized finish wore off the R1. I haven't taken my R1's apart, but seeing as I've been skating on asphalt near the beach, I gotta imagine mine look similar to yours. It would be nice to see any of the sponsored people's R1's after a significant amount of use. IIRC, Marsblade sells (or sold) O1 replacement parts so if something were to break with the R1, I'd imagine you'd be able to buy a replacement without much issue. Still can't believe there hasn't really been a single vlogger to put out a decent video like the countless videos of the O1

Yep, the model is ‘proper fitting shin pads’...

Builds up forearm muscles. My through process was if I could increase my stickhandling speed with a heavier stick, that would translate to even faster performance with a composite. Same idea of skating with weights on your skates

For a while I was using a wood stick outdoors. The weight made going back to a composite stick on ice feel like I was holding nothing. I was just using it for stickhandling, not shooting though

So I did a super scientific test this weekend and skated the R1/O1 back-to-back then decided to try both at the same time. I was using the H5 insert on the R1 and keep the O1's center bolt pretty loose. I definitely feel (and see) a lot more rocker with the O1 which forces my muscles to work more when stationary, but when I was skating with one chassis on each foot, the difference didn't feel as drastic. I could do C-cuts on inside and outside edges about the same and didn't feel much of a difference with transitions or the turning radius. Granted, this was skating in a parking lot and not a game situation, but from my initial skate on the R1's I thought there would have been a more noticeable difference. The MPC Freestyle wheels provided me MUCH more grip than they did on the smooth concrete surface I skated on last week so I am definitely going to keep these wheels on for the time being. Biggest difference had nothing to do with the chassis itself, but rather the boot I mounted the R1's to since they're brand new and I'm still breaking them in. Looking forward to others who have both chassis giving their impressions

The O1's were the same way. My go-to roller stick is cut higher than my ice sticks to compensate

I was only recently introduced to him so I’m not sure where he went, but he’s in DTLA now

Where in the West Coast? I’ve had two Marsblade conversions done by Jake in LA within 3 days

I’m in Santa Monica and have been to the Mar Vista rink once. I was invited to pickup a few times pre-covid and believe they have leagues as well. I wasn’t sure if anyone was playing since as last I heard the rink was locked up. Looks like SM beach pickup is going to start up again soon so I’ll likely head there for pickup and hopefully when leagues start again at MV I can join a team. I recently found out about the Rose Bowl group which sounds sweet, but it’s a bit of a drive from the Westside. I do plan to check it out at least once or twice. Same with Covina.

Thanks, I was considering red too, but figured it'd be wiser to go with a neutral color. Took them out for a brief spin on the H5 insert since I want the most amount of rocker. Felt like I was pitched back a bit further on my heels than I'm used to, but I was trying an entirely new setup today so there's a lot to get used to. Initial feelings are pretty great. Felt like I could cut really hard and be more aggressive in turns compared to the O1. The R1 definitely feels more stable than the O1, but I have those setup so they're extremely loose to give me a ton of rocker. Skated on a smooth concrete court instead of the rough asphalt I'm usually on. The MPC Freestyle wheels have to be the smoothest feeling ride I've ever had on inline skates. They are amazing. Downside is I kept sliding out which is something that almost never happens with the Labeda Asphalts I've been skating on for the last few years. I'm guessing this is just a learning curve since I'm so used to one model of wheel. Not to mention I was on a totally different surface so I'm sure that played a factor as well. When I have more time I plan to skate them back to back with the O1 and then play around with the inserts. I have high hopes that the R1 can be my 'one skate'

R1's arrived after a lengthy delay in customs. Got them mounted to a new pair of X800R boots. Stoked to skate on them this weekend and see how they compare to the O1's I do plan on anodizing them a different color as the turquoise just isn't for me. Debating about silver or black

Love reading all these answers. I grew up playing organized ice hockey in Chicagoland, but would play pond and roller for fun with friends. I got back into pick up roller hockey a few years ago in DC when I had free time and to supplement ice hockey which I was doing 2-3x per week. With Covid and ice time pretty much non existent I’ve spent a lot more time on inlines and would like to play more. Hopefully I can find a league around Los Angeles when things get closer to ‘normal’. Having not playing organized roller, with pickup the nice part is it’s free. The price of ice time around LA is ridiculous compared to Chicago or DC. That alone makes me consider joining a roller league for the spring/summer rather than playing ice year-round. All you need to play is a pair of skates and a stick even though I also wear shins/gloves and some other guys wear elbows/helmets. You can practice anywhere for free which is awesome. For me, the downsides are I can’t stop/pivot quickly (compared to ice) and I also find balls bouncy and harder to control than pucks. Everywhere I’ve played outdoor has been on asphalt or a rougher concrete surface. The ‘no offsides’ thing really threw me when I got into playing as I’d be waiting for the puck carrier to move the puck up while everyone else was rushing to the other zone! I definitely agree it’s a different game than ice in how you control the puck and how the overall game flows

Reached out to my local Pure Hockey as I realized the discount ends today. Since they offer a 30 day return after skates are baked I figured I might as well give them a try. Unfortunately, PH isn't honoring the True discount. Hockey Monkey is, but they won't accept returns once a skate has been baked. Ah well. Thought they might be worth a shot, but I'm not paying full price or risking them not fitting after I bake them

Sweet looking setup! But an insert could be made to create a single radius? Like say 5ft heel and toe? It seems (on here at least) you have a number of individuals that already own the O1 and are buying the R1. If there was an insert to make the R1 feel more like the O1, some people (myself included) could get rid of multiple pairs of skates and simply swap inserts when they want/need a different rocker feeling. I'd love to have a single pair of skates that I could use for off-ice training then simply pop in a different insert if I wanted a different feeling for game play or casual skating

I guess that’s the whole point of the R1, but I was hoping they would feel similar to the O1 so I could finally get down to a single pair of skates! Potential upside is if Marsblade allows people to 3D print inserts (or simple creates more offerings) it seems like it would be possible to create one with even more movement than what’s currently offered. My R1’s appear to have been stuck in German customs en route to the US since last week so I’ll be waiting a little longer to get them mounted and give them a roll

Gotcha. Makes sense. Thank you for the confirmation. One other question I have now that the R1 is getting in the hands of more people and they’re posting photos... Did I miss an option to get the two-tone blue/silver combination? Or were those early prototypes vs the all blue at the bottom?

Huh. Can the R1 be used without an insert? If so, what’s the impact? I didn’t even think about the bolt so now you can change the insert AND adjust the bolt tension for more/less rocker?

You’re right. It was the lower part of the chassis that always threw me off

Definitely look like teal-ish green to me. Like you, I would have preferred they were a more neutral color like gray/silver or black. I’d love to see the outcome of powder coating or anodizing if you go through with it. I thought about that myself but was concerned the coating would offset tight tolerances the chassis may have. Unless you’re able to completely strip the blue coating

Damn I just bought a backup 4500 helmet last week! Would have loved to have rocked a throwback cooper