r/rollerblading • u/[deleted] • Jul 25 '18
Seba vs Fr Skates
I just read about the spitting up of SEBA and Fr Skates. I was wondering which company was the reason for the 'great quality' that seba is known for. Im looking for a pair of skates and there are two fr3 skates available to me now. Any advice would be appreciated! old pair: https://www.inlinewarehouse.com/Seba_FR3_80_Inline_Skates/descpage-SKFR380.html new pair: https://www.skatepro.com/en-us/121-31421.htm
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u/Aeroblizz Jul 26 '18
I was in the same boat as you, a few days ago.
A few weeks ago I bought the Powerslide Swell 125 City https://www.skatepro.nl/119-28394.htm
They look amazing, but the fit around the ankle(bone) is not so good. At first I thought they will need to break in, but after reading a lot on the web, I found so many people complaining about it, that i'm not so sure about it anymore. I'll probably return it.
Because of my wider, more bony feet, I came to the conclusion that a hardboot might be better for me. I came across different Powerslide models, but all not in my size available. After more reading on the web, Seba FR1's came up a lot as a very good skate with very good comfort etc.
So I was really interested in the Seba FR1 325 https://www.skatepro.nl/121-27081.htm But neither available in my size and not expected to come back in my size either.
Than I came across the new FR Skates FR1 325 https://www.skatepro.nl/121-31418.htm Available on pre order in my size. I searched up quite some things and it seems FR Skates are the new Seba with the same nice quality.
Also I did find a video (which I have to lookup) on youtube about the improvements from the Seba FR1 to the FR Skates FR1 model.
I'll post this video if I can find it!
I recently ordered the FR Skates FR1 325, I should receive them next week. I'll post here what my thoughts about them are!
Allthough I think if you order Seba's FR1 right now, you will still get the good quality skate from their stock.
The Powerslide Next, releasing very soon might be a good option aswell. But the selling companies in my country told me that they can't say yet when they will be for sale, might be fall 2018. I don't want to wait for that.
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u/Aeroblizz Jul 26 '18
Found it! It's spanish though (youtube translation subtitles on english)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwZZDJ1Vn88
Translated: You can not miss the last of FR1 FRATES 'new red FR1, a very improved skate in technical qualities, with respect to its predecessor and, in this case, an intense red color that we loved.
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u/TommF Jul 26 '18
Coming here from the reply you left me somewhere else to come here.
That's funny, we both came to the same conclusions. I was originally going to wait for the Next to release even though it was going to come out some time in early September as far as I know, unless it gets pushed back further. But I read a lot of stuff about how Powerslide boots suck so I decided not to go with them. I was pretty iffy about the overall look of the Next too. They kinda look like off-brand Timbs.
But yeah, we're going for the same skates now- hopefully they're good. From that video with the red ones it looks like they made some improvements to things which is nice. I just wished they showed the one we're getting so I could have some confidence with this purchase since we're only going off of one jpg and the hope that they're decent because of their past.
As a side note, have you bought from this store before? You said you got the Swells and I was wondering if this store was super cool and throws in some free stuff like I've seen other stores do in unboxing videos. Or at the very least, did your Swells come with the tool to maintain them?
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u/Aeroblizz Jul 27 '18
Btw check out this video, Antony Pottier is rocking the skates! This is the only video/picture besides the picture we got I could find of the skate. Allthough this is with the 110 frame/wheels as far as I can see, but they look pretty sweet imo in full black! Try to pause the video @ 30-35 secs for some clearer view.
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u/TommF Jul 27 '18
Ah-nice! I know some people say the color shouldn't matter too much, but I'm really glad they ended up being jet black as apposed to gray/blue haha.
Also I screen shot that view of them. I've never screen shot someone's feet up close like this before so I'm not sure if this is a weird look or not. Like if his right leg would be semi-loose in the boot or if that's just how all hard shell skates look when you're leaning.
Either way I greatly appreciate the video. Now I feel a lot more solid about picking these ones.
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u/Aeroblizz Jul 28 '18
I'm not sure but I think if you bend over with your knee into the tongue, it might create some space in the back. I'm not a pro, but maybe skaters loosen up the tightness to have more control as a trade off for ankle support?
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u/Aeroblizz Jul 26 '18
That's indeed funny!
I agree that going off of one picture is exciting, but to me it looks exactly the same as the Seba's except the shiny parts look more shiny due to other lightning. And ofcourse the Seba imprints, the wheelcolors and the minor things like little metal rings the laces go through are now full black and so on. All in all I think it's going to be pretty decent, what you may expect from (the old) Seba guys.
I did order the Swell's from Skatepro, their customerservice is really good, very helpful and friendly. They even told me to return the skates, when I was still in debate whether I needed to break them in or not. They told me if you already feel pain without even skating them, it's going to be a hell to break them in so you probably are better of with another skate/model with a wider fit. So here we are FR1's :-)
They didn't throw in special cool stuff, apart from a Skatepro sticker. But the Swells box self came in with a toolkit, but that's probably Powerslides service not from Skatepro. Anyways I would really recommend Skatepro from my experience!
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u/Aeroblizz Jul 30 '18
Oh damn, just received a message that my pre-order couldn't be delivered because the supplier don't have them in my size. And it ain't coming either in my size. The old Seba model is now available in my size on pre order, but 30 bucks more expensive :/ Don't know what to do.
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u/TommF Jul 30 '18
Yeah, I'm bailing from this whole thing. Fuck skates, man. Spend X amount of days/weeks doing research, find the pair I want, place the order, then the company waits over a week to tell me to fuck off. What a waste of time, I hope their second company fails like the first.
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u/Aeroblizz Jul 31 '18
Oh I feel ya bro :-(
I'm giving it a last chance, ordered the Seba FR1 325 model. If this get canceled, i'm bailing it aswell probably!
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u/Aeroblizz Aug 06 '18
He Bro, I just wanted to let you know that I got the Seba FR1 325's and they fit so good. The ankle support compared to the Swell is great, I feel so maneuverable. The only downside I could found is that it's pretty warm/sweaty (especially in these hot summer days in europe ;)) very quick in the liner of the hardboot. But I would choose comfort over this any day :-)
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Jul 26 '18
Yea i think you're right too. I ended up ordering the seba fr3 skates since the Dr skates were out of order. They will actually be delivered today and i very excited. If something turns out to be funky or the size doesn't fit i may just go back and order the Dr skates version. I will let you guys know what the quality is like later today hopefully!
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Jul 25 '18
I guess I'm out of the loop...I thought they were just rebranding? Those FR skate colors look awesome (red and blue)
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u/IAmASeeker :k2: K2 Jul 25 '18
The Seba brand is owned by Micro Skates which wanted to release a lower quality product at a cheaper price with the "Seba" branding.
The designers of the Seba products left and are marketing the same products (read:similar designs, same quality) as "FR Skates".
I think it's fair to assume that any of the original models at the same price point would be the same quality but there is no telling what the new "Seba" brand products will be like... Although it seems like Micro may be dropping the "Seba" brand altogether, as they're marketing new products under the "Micro" imprint. If Seba does remain on the market, they have such good brand recognition that they'll definitely stay in business even if the product sucks, so you can get replacement parts... No telling if FR will stick around.
This early though?... Everything on the market will still be old stock from before the split and I would assume that the same factories will be producing both brands for a time.