sdcopp 1 Report post Posted January 23, 2012 Revision Vanquish size 8.5 – 1yr usageReviewer intro/specs/previous skates used: 5’10” 210lbs 31 yrs old, experienced skater playing in intermediate to advanced level leagues and club teams. Med-High volume foot, Avg-Narrow heel, Wide Forefoot. Alkali CA9, Mission T9, Revision Vanquish, Mission Commander SE, Mission Boss BlackFit: Wide forefoot, med heel, high volume. Out of the box these things hurt bad. The skate stance is slightly forward, and unlike most other models on the market the tendon guard is super stiff. The first couple skate while adjusting to the pitch and C-Note chassis it did dig into the back of my leg a bit. The tongue was the other big source of discomfort as the felt is a little thinner than others and the lace-bite guard is much thicker than any others. After a bake and a couple skates the tongues became very comfortable as did the overall skate. The stiffness I have become accustomed to in top end skates wasn’t quite there, but for the price the Vanquish is better than the field (8.5/10)Chassis/Wheels/Bearings: C-Note chassis, Variant wheels, Revision branded abec9 bearings. The chassis looks very alien at first, but the 100mm wheel on the back performs, and performs very well. The advertised increased speed, better grip cutting and turning is true, not a total night and day type difference, but a nice bump on all accounts. I’m a big fan of the setup. The Variant wheels are a real nice wheel, though they tended to not last quite as long as the Rink Rat wheels I’ve used prior and since. The performance is top notch though. The bearings are solid and spin well. Nothing special, but nothing awful. (10/10)Weight/Protection: Compared to the top end skates I’ve used, the weight and protection both take a hit as the big wheel adds some decent weight along with the materials used in boot construction. Compared to the $300 field, the weight is only slightly higher and the protection is a bit better. For the price range and intended usage both are good, though multiple games in the same day does make the higher weight more noticeable late into things. (9/10)Durability: The overall durability of the skate is pretty good. The silver material on the boot is an exception though as it tears up pretty quickly, but seems to just be an overlay and doesn’t affect boot stiffness or protection as it wears down. (9/10)Intangibles: The Vanquish is a one of a kind look. I honestly wasn’t a big fan of gold wheels with a large silver patch on the boot, but there’s still a very cool factor of the overall look. With the newer look wheels though it definitely makes the skates look much better. The C-Note chassis is a very different, but very nice feature of the skate and is probably my favorite setup to date. For a bigger guy like me to be able to dig in on a cut and not worry about my heels slipping out from under me is a wonderful feeling. (9/10)Conclusion: I really like the Vanquish skate, and bought two pairs given it cost the same as one top end pair of skates, so I could have an indoor and outdoor pair. I was quite anxious to see the VQ2 and possibly pick up a pair based on my experience on the Vanquish, but with the unfortunate delay in its release I did move on to other skates. The indoor pair is still in my closet with relatively fresh wheels as my go-to pair of backup skates as I know without a doubt I can use them and perform in them. The weight at the end of a tournament series two summers ago with me playing multiple games a day over the course of four days did add up at the end and prompted me to get back into a lighter setup as I don’t recover quite as quickly as I used to. If Revision can get their manufacturing woes ironed out and produce skates at a pace consistent with the market the Vanquish is a very promising entry for them to build off of. (Total score 9.1/10 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
