So I’ve got a pair of Salomon skates I’m not ready to let go of yet. I’m wondering what my options are for extending their life a little. Anybody have any experience with Night soul kits, especially for Salos? They hang way over the boot, so I’m wondering if they’re stiff enough to not bend out on the ends, and do they get in the way in turns (like Widebodies) or grabs (they look sharp).

Also, is the old school Razors backslide plate still the best option for improving the royale area? I’d like to widen it out some there, but not to the Widebody extreme. Is there something I can use without cutting up my boot or grinding away half of the plate?

Oh, also, while I’m asking. How do you all feel about these UHMW antirocker wheels that are floating around now? Do they slide that much better than urethane antirockers? Do they slide so much better that they’re useless for rolling, like down stairs or sharp ramps at the park?

Yeah sorry to crash your topic again, but I’ve had NIGHT plates on my Salomon. And I sometimes ride them om my Razors now and then.
You’re right about the jagged edge; it’s kinda sharp. Another disadvantage is that they’re kinda slow on rails. If you skate a lot of curbs though they’re great, slide fast, durable, a bit wider then the stock plates…

I like my anti’s hard in any case, so I reckon that at one point in hardness, you will hardly notice the difference between UHMW and Urethane.

You’re not crashing… I appreciate the input.

What I’m mostly worried about on the antis is slipping out as I roll over the top edge of a very steep banked ramp. The local skatepark must have been designed by people that hated rollerbladers, so it’s full of rounded-edge ledges and ramps so steep you’ll bottom out your frames across the top if you’re not careful. I’ve never been an antirocker fan, but I feel like my flat setup is holding my grinding back. But I’m used to being able to roll over stairs and not hang up on ramps, so I need some antis that will roll with control for those things while still letting me get my grinds more on top of the ledges for a longer ride.

Is there a better option out there than Night souls? I can file them down to fix the sharp edges at the expense of a little soul space, but can’t do much about the slow on metal part.

You could mount either RB TRS1 or 2 soulframes/plates on them, as well as USD dual plates. Both require boot modification (as in; sanding the boot down to secura a proper fit of the soulsplates). I’ve now got white USD dual plates on my Salomons and I see why a lot of Salomon riders have done it. The modicification is minimal and the dual plates fit on quite good. Besides that, it looks fresh too.

To mount a Razors Classic bs plate you’ll have to sand down both the boot and bs plate (because the groove is not aligned with the frame when you mount them on) a bit too. Personally I think dual plates are a better solution, especially because they’re available in a wide range of colors and sizes and are mostly in stock in every rollerblading shop.

Seeing you ride a flat setup, have you ever tried freestyle? For most people who have been hooked to a flat up since year 0, a freestyle setup is a revelation. I myself prefer anti-rocker in any way, in my view it uses best of both worlds.

If you want to ride an anti-setup; I would suggest you to get some Razors/GC antirockers (48 mm) wich are made of plastic so they slide very well. On top of that they come with their own “bearings” (I put this between " because they’re not really bearings, but share that effect) wich causes them to roll without ever getting stuck.

This a rather old pic of my Salo’s with customized widebody.

I considered the USD plates, but I’m worried about how well they fit and match up with the boot. The souls I’ve seen hang over, like Nights, which isn’t a big deal. But what I can’t tell is how well the backslide plate sits against the boot. Is there a gap there, or does it fit flush? If there’s a gap, doesn’t that make it flimsy. So when my fat, out of shape self comes down with a disaster royale, am I going to bend or break the backslide plate?

Nope, never tried freestyle. I don’t like anti because it kills my wheels so fast and my skates feel less stable somehow without the middle wheels. Plus I’ve gained alot of weight and I’m kinda scared I’ll break a frame without the extra support. I figure most of these problems will exist for freestyle, plus I lose the middle wheels completely so no more stair rides. I think I got my technique back this morning at the park anyway though. I had forgotten that speed is my friend. If you hit the ledge fast enough your middle wheels don’t hang anymore. :)

The more I look at these Night souls, the more I think I could make better ones myself. There’s a plastics distributor down the road, and if I can’t buy UHMW PE from them I can definitely order some online. It comes in convenient sheets of various thicknesses. Then it looks like all I need to do is mill out a UFS groove with a router and cut out the plates with a jigsaw, using the boot as a template. Best of all, I can make 1 piece souls and get more rigid frame mounting while I’m at it. Could make some UHMW slider blocks to go in my frames too. I might have to go plastic shopping this week.

There are low-profile NIGHT souls available wich are exactly shaped as the original Salomon plates.

The USD Duals work fine, when I’m at my girlfriend’s (thats where my salomons are at) I’ll take a picture and you’ll see how well they fit.

The low profiles are pretty hard to find these days. Not seen any for an 11.5 boot yet. But anyhow, if I make my own I can do a one piece soul, so I’ll get better frame support and mounting and no hang-ups on uneven surfaces from the back plate catching. It’s a better solution all around, and maybe cheaper too.

I’d really appreciate a good picture of how your USD plates mount up. Especially how they sit against the boot on the backslide and inside edge. If they mesh up flush then that’s probably the route I’ll go.

Here are my Salo’s, with USD plate:

As you can see the hanging over is kept to a minimal. They wrap around the boot just nicely. It doesn’t bother me though.

The soulspace is quite avarage, yet not too bulky.

I’ve been quite lazy when it comes to the fine tuning and fitting of the plates, but I think this is the best solution and it doesn’t require a lot of boot modification. USD plates are faster and longer lasting then the stock Salomon plates.

Not bad! They’re ugly as sin, but looks like they fit right. I burned my budget on grind rail materials at Home Depot, so no soul plates for a while. But I might have to give that a shot soon. Does the soul plate change the forward angle of the boot? They look thicker in the back than the front.

Nah, it doesn’t matter. They feel all natural and even though they don’t follow the lines of the boot, I think they look pretty neat.

The only con is that they only head on to the skates by the ufs screws…but there are too much pro’s; better souls space, bs area, cheap, easy to get, easy to mount…

Could drill some countersunk holes in line with the stock soul mounting holes to make the mounting more secure.

Slightly different topic, but how do you feel about those Element frames? That huge split between the middle wheels would be great for riding flat. My fear though is that the screws that hold the plastic walls on would vibrate loose or strip out since you’re threading into aluminum. Otherwise though, they must be super fast rolling with the bearings tightening down on metal with no stray plastic rubbing.

They’re allright. Have tried them with a flat setup, but I didn’t liked it. Freestyle is alright, but I prefer anti-rocker, with the small groove (displayed now is the large groove).

If you got large feet; these frames are quite long wich looks good underneath any 10+ boot.

Eh, I don’t like my frames too long, it feels funny. Stock Salo frames are about perfect.