Powerslide Zoom are extremely popular freeskates. Their success boils down to two things: affordable price and high level of comfort. But that’s just a surface, as these skates have a lot more to offer.
Let’s start with the basics. Did you know that there are two distinctive types of Zoom skates? More basic ones, Powerslide One Zoom, are intended for skaters who look for a trustworthy and supportive hardboot at affordable price. Zoom Pro are coming with many meaningful upgrades and should satisfy even more demanding freeskaters.
Powerslide Zoom and Powerslide Zoom Pro skates – same shell, but not the rest.
The shell of Zoom is a highlight of these hardboots. It is super solid – so strong, in fact, that it is also used to make aggressive inline skates called USD Sway.
This is thanks to material used to make it – Powerslide used GFRP, glass fibers reinforced plastic. Rigidity is excellent and boot gives you all the ankle support you could ever want.
This stiffness also translates to better transfer of movements to wheels. Agility is great and furthermore, efficient energy transfer allows you to accelerate very fast. When you compare Zoom to fitness softboots, there’s a major difference in these areas.
However, Zoom still offer plenty of forward flex in cuff area. Cuff follows your movements and skaters who are used to softer skates will find it a welcome feature. This allows you to get low on your knees and to have deep, powerful push.
Zoom boot is very generous in terms of fit and majority of users find it very comfortable. This is thanks to thick, high quality liners found in all versions of the skates. Of course, there’s no such thing as a boot which will fit all users perfectly (if you want to read more on this subject, we have an article) but judging by our experience, it is extremely rare for someone to put on a pair of Zooms and instantly feel discomfort.
One of great things about Zoom skates is their old-school style lacing. Many freeskates on the market won’t prevent heel lift without use of lower buckle or strap, but same is not true for Zoom. The “hockey” shell lacing works so good that Powerslide makes versions of the skates without lower buckle or strap.
Powerslide One Zoom – a great choice for a first pair of hardboots to learn skating on (and more)!
There are two ways to make affordable hardboot skates:
- Make skates which resemble more expensive models, but have lower quality of all elements.
- Simplify skates as much as possible, but make sure every part is of decent quality.
Powerslide went for the second option and it definitely paid off in case of Zoom. These skates are very close to original template established by Roces and Rollerblade back in the 90’s. There are some modern upgrades, of course – but core concept is the same. It is a proven, reliable design.
Cuff is attached using rivets. It is a budget cut, but doesn’t matter much, as it doesn’t impact functionality compared to attachment via screws. Furthermore, there are four less screw to worry about.
Frame is attached via 12 rivets, just like in old style skates and modern hockey ones. You cannot go wrong with such connection – it is super solid and improves energy transfer, allowing for dynamic skating with rapid acceleration and tight turns.
Production process is rather unusual for a frame mounted in more budget skates. Three manufacturing techniques are used. First, extruded profile is made. Then, it is stamped to give it desired shape. Last but not least, it is given CNC treatment to clean up rough edges. It may look like a simple stamped frame, but there’s way more going on here and end result is really solid.
To make things more cost-efficient, frame use two piece axles. It is also a very smart choice in terms of functionality. This way, you won’t have to worry about damaging threads in frame itself, which would be a massive headache for both manufacturer and customer, considering that the part is riveted to boot. No such risk here.
Liner is a highlight of basic models. Thick, comfortable and well made out of good quality materials – what’s not to love? It really stands out of the crowd of liners included in skates at similar price-point.
Some basic Zoom models have additional Velcro strap to lock the heel more securely, but as we said – this isn’t that important element if you lace this boot tightly.
Zoom are made in two varieties – with four or three wheels. Both are excellent skates to start on and will last you for a long time.
However, they are a bit different when it comes to functionality. The four wheel version is undoubtedly more versatile of the two, offering you a possibility of trying multiple styles: freeskating, freestyle slalom and even amateur inline hockey play or basic elements of skating in skatepark.
Three wheel version is more freeskating oriented. Three 100 mm wheels mounted in a short frame make for fast and agile skate, perfect for covering distances in urban enviroment and performing tricks.
The classic, four wheel model is also made in colours other than black. First of this kind, the mint green version, received a warm welcome, so Powerslide have decide to release new colours for season 2023. You’ll find them in our shop when they will finally be available. If you want to grab a pair of Zoom skates, follow this link.
Powerslide also released new versions of this skate, coming in fresh (and one in classy black colourways):
You can see new skates in action below:
To end the subject of basic Zoom skates, we will say that there’s a beauty in simplicity. It’s extremely hard to break something in them and all maintenance you need to perform boils down to rotating wheels from time to time and making sure the axles are tightened. They are great alternative to fitness boots if you look for a pair to learn skating on.
Zoom Pro – “full fat” urban skates.
A lot of what we’ve already wrote about Zoom applies to Zoom Pro. However, the latter come with many key upgrades making them what we call fully featured freeskates.
The biggest ace up in their sleeve is Trinity mounting adapter, which allows to use frames compatible with this system on the boot. Thanks to it, Powerslide can easily offer Zoom Pro skates in many configurations, even an off-road one! The upgrade path is opened for us, too – so if you’ll ever feel line swapping frames for different model, you can do it.
Zoom Pro usually come with Elite Casted AL frames, which take full advantage of gravity casting process – Powerslide engineers have designed them with structural bridges which would be hard (or nearly impossible) to achieve in case of extrusion and CNC machining. As a result, frames are very rigid.
A nice quality of life feature in Zoom Pro are different frame lengths according to boot size – thanks to it, the balance between stability and agility is correct for all users.
Trinity frame mount have other advantage over rivets found in basic Zoom – there is possibility to adjust frame’s position under the boot a bit, to make it a better fit for your anatomy and aid you in performing tricks and skating with proper stride. Trinity also triumphs over more traditional, two point mounting systems when it comes to distribution of vibrations – thanks to three mounting points, skating is more comfortable.
When it comes to liners, Zoom Pro come with and upgraded version of basic Zoom one, made out of more advanced materials. Some editions have heat-moldable models! This allows you to get a perfect fit right after taking skates out of the box, without extended break-in period.
Zoom Pro also have a lower buckle to secure heel more firmly in place. As we already wrote, it isn’t that important thanks to lacing of the shell, but nonetheless, allows you to get more rigid feel around the ankle area. This can be useful for trick like slides.
The last difference is slider attached to the side of a shell. Simple upgrade, but important one – especially given that it is one of the most massive ones in the industry and does a great job of protecting side of the shell from damage.
As of today, there are two Zoom Pro models which are made each season: Zoom Pro 80 and Zoom Pro 100. There are limited editions and upgraded versions, sometimes even Pro models, so it is worth to take a peek from time to time to check what is available.
Zoom Pro skates are an excellent choice for people who want a pair of solid freeskates for urban ride, or simply want a gear that will last them years of less “hardcore” skating and opens up a path to frame upgrade.
Are you looking for affordable hardboot skates you can trust? Grab yourself a pair of Zooms!
A lot of things make Zoom attractive choice, as they are very well made skates. Without a shadow of doubt, the factor playing the biggest part is how comfortable they are for majority of buyers. They fit is so generous that both versions are one of the best selling hardboot skates in our shops.
We recommend basic Zoom for skaters who look for their first pair of skates with hard shell. Zoom Pro will satisfy even more demanding urban skaters. If they are good enough for Nick Lomax and Krystian Zarzeczny, they will surely be good for you, too!
A bonus for those who read this article to an end: discount on Zoom skates!
Rules are simple:
- You get 10% off on Zoom skates, no matter if they already have other discount applied!
- When placing an order, use code: bvzoom
- Offer is valid up to and including 8th June 2023
- Discount applies only for online orders with delivery: won’t work in case of pickups at our brick and mortar shops.