It can be said the Swell fitness skates have been born from the ashes of one of many other Powerslide’s projects.
During years 2010-2015 (approximately), the German company tried to introduce a new line of high performance skates, built around a new, unique concept of boot closure. New models were intended for people who are more demanding skaters, but do not want to go for carbon based boots for a number of reasons. The Virus line of skates and frames has been released and luckily, this unfortunate branding was scrapped in favour of shorter Vi in no time. Yeah, Powerslide isn’t particularly gifted when it comes to naming, sometimes.
What made Vi unique was a very rigid base made out of glass fiber reinforced plastic – a thing not really common in skates about a decade ago. Vi skates were also the first to come equipped with MyFit liners, although back then it was simply an indication of heat-moldability rather than a whole spin-off liner brand. They also came with arguably the most absurd ATOP style lacing system ever used in skates. Powerslide tried to hit multiple birds with one stone and developed Vi boot to perform well in variety of usage scenarios: fitness, speedskating, freeskating and even off-road.
The top of the skate was simply a plastic flap, attached by hinge to the front of the shell, with steel thread wrapping around both parts. The idea was simple – tightening the thread using adjustment disc caused the flap to put pressure on top of the foot.
Such a beautiful catastrophe.
It was also a disaster, as the very first Vi versions were too low in toe area, especially near the hinge, which made them toe-crushers. These skates were usable basically only for people with high instep, as in this scenario the hinge remained open at wider angle after tightening and was more merciful for front of the foot.
This problem was quickly fixed in new batches of the skates, but another issue with Vi boots wasn’t. Powerslide are known for making narrow, performance-oriented skates, but they have pushed this to extreme in case of Vi. Germans messed this up so badly that they were providing instructions on how to to heat-mold these skates. Yeah, not just the liners, but shells too! We now know that initially this super-slim fit wasn’t intentional and happened because parts coming out of injection molds were cooled too fast, which resulted in excessive plastic shrinkage. Well, better to release super narrow skates than to bin them and have them go to a landfill. Powerslide corrected this in subsequent runs, but damage was done.
The man in charge, Matthias Knoll, strongly believed in the project. Company has tried to save it. Vi shell was made wider, some smaller issues got cleaned-up, but it was all to late. Vi’s reputation was tarnished and pragmatism has led the company to scrap the whole line of skates, as there was no future for it. What was supposed to be a “killer product” and revolutionise skating, ended up being avoided by skaters.
Thing is, Powerslide have invested in injection molds for Vi parts. The top flap wasn’t much of a problem, but retiring the ones for shells and cuffs so soon wasn’t such a great idea. We do not know if these molds paid themselves off, but retiring proprietary moulds after only several years of usage surely wasn’t a good thing from business perspective. So they got back to drawing board, seeing if they can salvage something from the pile of rubble the Vi project has turned into.
Powerslide Swell - a new generation of fitness skates!
The second attempt at creating high end skates has been way more successful. Powerslide took shells and cuffs of Vi, tweaked them a bit and got down to business of creating new line of (thankfully, more sensible) skates. This time they have narrowed the scope to only high-end fitness models - a good decision, in hidsight.
Our German friends wouldn’t be themselves if they wouldn’t give their new skates a rather (and we are generous here) controversial name: Swell.
This word carries a variety of meanings, but majority of them mean things which are associated with the opposite of comfort. Have we mentioned already that Powerslide can be hopeless when it comes to naming their products? However, despite their name, Swell turned out to be excellent high-end skates.
The company has carefully chosen aesthetics, which evoked style of running shoes with their powerknit upper. The skates were given bright, attractive colours and were offered as triskates, riding that 3 wheel setups popularity wave which peaked at the time. Initially all Swell models had integrated padding, but later on Powerslide have introduced additional, cheaper Swell Lite boot template with removable liner.
Powerslide didn’t abandon their goal of delivering high performance for demanding skaters. The glass fiber added into plastic of both shell and cuff greatly improves material strength and rigidity, resulting in superb energy transfer and control over skates. Swell are truly made for those who want to skate fast, often and use the sport to get in shape as well as improve their endurance.
Surprisingly, even though Swells were still considered narrow skates by many, they received a warm welcome and sold well. You cannot spell Swell without well, don’t you?
Powerslide have introduced multiple tweaks and more major changes through the years, ranging from making the boot more accommodating for wider feet to changing padding shape, material or giving the skates completely new look and cuff. More on that later, but first, few words about the frames.
Swell have launched with 165 mm mounting and Unity frames made from embossed aluminium sheets. There’s no hiding the fact that these frames weren’t living up to the rest of the skate and were used for cost balancing reasons. Extruded and CNC machined frames would ramp up price significantly and arguably, would be an overkill considering what these skates are made for. But Unity, even though they were of adequate specs, weren’t really good looking, came with two piece axles and felt cheap. It was clear that they were out of place here.
Finally hitting the right notes.
A major upgrade in this aspect came with introduction of Trinity frame mounting and, alongside it, a very generous range of gravity casted frames named Elite Casted AL or MG (depending on alloy they are made out of). Finally, Swell were “made whole” – the current frames are of much better quality than old Unity ones and thanks to smart geometry, they are strong enough to handle just about everything you throw at them. The exact same models are used in Next and Zoom urban skates. They are relatively cheap in production, so it is still a very cost-efficient choice. Their cleaner looks also add a lot to the appeal of the skates.
When it comes to Trinity mounting system itself, it is based around the concept of three mounting screws arranged into a triangle – one below the heel, two below balls of the feet. As there’s no longer a front bolt place in the same line as wheels, designers can lower the centre of gravity as much as possible, which results in better control over skates. More stable and rigid base for push granted by three contact points between boot and the frame improves the energy transfer, so you can skate faster with less effort.
A huge advantage of all Trinity equipped skates is compatibility with all frames designed for the system. No need to wonder if new frame will be properly centered under the boot of if wheel won’t scratch the underside. The path to change your skates into a setup which feels very different is open and even easier to take considering that Elite Casted AL and MG frames are sold separately and at a very attractive price. In this case, swapping the frames if you don’t like stock setup for some reason or want to experiment with another one makes more sense than buying a whole new pair of skates.
Swell models also have more in common with freeskates than your regular fitness skates. The tech and build quality used here are so good that they will withstand a lot more than just a calm ride on city park lanes. Want to skate through city, be it for commuting or to get fit? Sure thing, no problem. Always been curious about how you will hold up in marathon? Plenty of speed here, why not give it a go? Long distance skating? Yup. Intense fitness workouts? Why are you having any doubts at this point?
On a side-note, the shell used in Swell is durable enough to be used in Kaze freeskates. No further proof of their resilience needed here, we believe!
New, fresh and better than ever - Swell 3D AP
Apart from classic Swell boot and simplified Lite variant, Powerslide have introduced a new version aiming to elevate skating experience to a new level. Yes, even basic Swells are impressive in terms of technology, especially their Recall foams padding, which remembers the shape of your ankle area and foot, plus micro-adjusts to it while you are skating. But the new 3D AP ones are truly something special.
Their more futuristic look resembles fancy basketball sneakers more than running shoes. Cuff has been changed to give user a better range of ankle movement, helping to achieve low skating stance. It is almost identical to part used in new USD Aeon aggressive skates, but made out of softer material, which fits the character and intended use of Swells better.
The star of the show is 3D Adapt padding, which is nothing else than a single part casted out of soft polyurethane. This material is elastic and retains its’ springiness over time, making the skates wrapping around your foot every single time you put them on. Furthermore – it adjusts to our anatomy even better after a bit of skating, as it does have thermoplastic properties. It absorbs the shocks and vibrations too, increasing comfort. The boot tongue is made out of the very same material, enhancing heel lock.
Competition should try harder.
Swell skates, no matter which model you’ll pick, are excellent fitness skates without much of a competition in their space. As far as high performance fitness boots go, the closest thing to them are new Seba GT (which are less advanced from technological standpoint), but eveyrthing else places either lower (and competing with Poweslide Phuzion line of skates) or higher (and competing with carbon based, semi-race skates) in terms of price bracket. They are truly in a "sweet spot" when it comes to materials, attention to detail, design choices and overall quality.
If numbers of kilometers you skate during the season counts into thousands, buying them is a no-brainer. The models with bigger wheels are great piece of kit for amateur starts in marathon and for long distance rides. If you do not accept rough compromises and want reliable, high quality and great looking skates, we wholeheartedly recommend Swells – we are selling them in our shops for years now and see that they are picked up by both advanced and less experienced skaters alike.
Last but not least – the history of Swell is a proof that you can build something great on top of a rubble left by a collapse of previous project. We need to give that to Powerslide – they are not always nailing it the first time, but their dedication often brings excellent results in the long run.