My current skate is 2003 Albert Hooi pro Throne skate (AH) (bought them 7 Sept 2003). Features the Kizer Diamond II UFS frame, 48mm Diamond grind rocks & Diamond soul plates. These super durable & ultra fast parts are made of high quality UHMW material, which is the slickest and most durable plastic in the world!. Awesome color scheme & new liner with extra padding Great for all skating surfaces: ledges, rails, park, etc. Also features 56mm USD Team Cube wheels & ABEC 5's
My last skate was the 2000 Josh Petty Psirus. Compared with it, AH has at least 1cm wider soul (and negative) area. Now this was a bit annoying cos im used to boning my knee over the coping when I skate park (doing normal grinds like soul/pornstar etc) and this wide soul caused more friction and obviously made it harder to balance but lukily I skate (waxed up) ledges and rails more than park/vert. The laces were too short but there was a velcro thing on each side to keep the top of the tongue in place. These velcro things and the buckle are all I use and I havent had to tie my laces. Its really good cos the liner makes putting on your skates much easier without having to do your laces at all (smooth as silk!) I have skated for hours and the laces are ok not being able to be tied up (maybe its cos I have fat feet). The front of the boot was quite tight. The buckle is really good and is protected. The wide soul definitely makes truspin top soyale much easier to lock on. Its my first antirocker skate and I got used to it within half an hour. Royales on ledges definitely are much faster (flying is an understatement lol). In fact, with little effort you can grind long ledges with style :) A week later... I have found AH is actually lighter than my old Psirus (they had 50/50 frames). As a result, I have been able to jump onto higher rails with less effort (a good thing).
Other Minor Disadvantages:
The middle 2 grindstones don't roll and make a nasty noise when you roll.
However, practically this (the grindstones not rolling) is a good thing cos if you wear out one side, u can turn it with your fingers so it wears out another side lol. The grindstones are fabulous cos when you grind waxed ledges, u can actually be on top like u would on a rail! Its got a hard shell so if you have fat feet like me, it may get a bit painful after long hours of sk8ing.
Aggressive.com tutorial - How 2 do a royale
Note I found it easier learning how 2 do topside acid first cos I used to put more weight on the acid foot as it is my natural (right) that I normally use as soul foot. Also, I didn't topsoul much when I started cos the 2 middle wheels on my old sk8s kept getting in the way on ledges. With topacid I didn't have a problem with the 2 middle wheels lol. Topacid is easier than topsoul cos the acid foot helps u focus when you lock on so your soul foot also locks on easier. Once I got used to grinding on my outerboot with my acid foot, my royales (and unity) came naturally :)
My current skate is 2003 Albert Hooi pro Throne skate (AH) (bought them 7 Sept 2003). Features the Kizer Diamond II UFS frame, 48mm Diamond grind rocks & Diamond soul plates. These super durable & ultra fast parts are made of high quality UHMW material, which is the slickest and most durable plastic in the world!. Awesome color scheme & new liner with extra padding Great for all skating surfaces: ledges, rails, park, etc. Also features 56mm USD Team Cube wheels & ABEC 5's
My last skate was the 2000 Josh Petty Psirus. Compared with it, AH has at least 1cm wider soul (and negative) area. Now this was a bit annoying cos im used to boning my knee over the coping when I skate park (doing normal grinds like soul/pornstar etc) and this wide soul caused more friction and obviously made it harder to balance but lukily I skate (waxed up) ledges and rails more than park/vert. The laces were too short but there was a velcro thing on each side to keep the top of the tongue in place. These velcro things and the buckle are all I use and I havent had to tie my laces. Its really good cos the liner makes putting on your skates much easier without having to do your laces at all (smooth as silk!) I have skated for hours and the laces are ok not being able to be tied up (maybe its cos I have fat feet). The front of the boot was quite tight. The buckle is really good and is protected. The wide soul definitely makes truspin top soyale much easier to lock on. Its my first antirocker skate and I got used to it within half an hour. Royales on ledges definitely are much faster (flying is an understatement lol). In fact, with little effort you can grind long ledges with style :) A week later... I have found AH is actually lighter than my old Psirus (they had 50/50 frames). As a result, I have been able to jump onto higher rails with less effort (a good thing).
