Seven years have passed since the release of the very first USD Aeon model. The skate hax settled in for good in our community, constantly gaining new believers. By far the most popular model of the Universal Skate Design brand, available in many different versions, updated every year with a number of new improvements. In this article we will try to present the key advantages of this unusual skate and try to answer the question: Why are USD Aeons so popular?
"If you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards"
Powerslide company (including their brands like USD and Kizer) is an unquestioned leader in the field of hardware innovation – for them, each season is the beginning of something new. In many cases solutions introduced by Germans become standard over time, only to be imitated by other manufacturers.
It was the USD brand that started the era of skates customization, offering the first examples of modular components which skates were free to configure or replace to their liking. The brand had a big impact on the development process of the UFS standard and the increase in the popularity of skating freestyle setups (aggressive skating frame for only two wheels with a significantly increased surface for grinds). Another good example of breaking the boundaries in equipment space was the introduction of the first carbon fiber skates (Deshi Carbon, later known as USD Carbon) or aluminum flat frames (Kizer Element I) at a time when most people had not yet dreamed of returning to 8-wheel skating.
Unibody
USD designers have asked themselves a number of questions - do aggressive skates need to have so many parts? Is UFS really the best solution? The result is the innovative "Unibody" skate concept, combining the shell, soulplate and frame into a single part. The number of screws, threads and other hardware elements has been notably reduced. The center of gravity has been significantly lowered, thus giving much better control over the entire skate. In addition, the departure from the UFS system allowed for the full potential of larger wheels in aggressive skating - even up to 72 mm (although 80 mm version of the skate does exist, but targets more of a freeskating-aggressive hybrid style). The USD Aeon 72 frame is still as "low" as the standard aggressive frame.
What's more, the lack of additional soulplate layers below the shell means a noticeable weight loss and what USD Aeon users appreciate the most - responsiveness and an extraordinary 'sense of contact' with the surface while grinding a rail or a ledge. When performing a trick in the Aeons, you can get an impression of grinding on your own feet.
Making the shell and the frame out of the same material initially raised concerns. Usually, the frames are made of harder materials, and the shells are made of a more flexible one, for obvious reasons. In the case of USD Aeon skates, both the frame and boot are the same type of plastic - quite hard. Early adopters could complain a bit - the flex of the skates was limited, but in the current USD Aeon range, they have two different versions of cuffs - soft and hard, to be able to adapt this aspect to your needs. In addition, similar to the THEM 909 skates, the new cuff can be set in two positions (higher or lower), further changing skate’s flex properties.
Ready out of the box
The vast majority of us do not use "stock" skates. We like to replace parts in our skates according to our preferences - both in terms of specific properties or purely visual aspect. This is mainly due to the fact that the components in complete stock skates often leave a lot to be desired (wheels, bearings or liners), not offering sufficient quality. USD Aeon skates have broken this rule by offering a ready-made set that you can confidently rely on. Depending on the version of the skate, the set includes, for example, premium wheels with an aluminum core or the traditional ones, but with surprisingly good durability. A beginner can easily use them during their whole first season, while a seasoned street skater will appreciate their durability even in the most extreme conditions. Let's add a set of easily serviceable Wicked bearings, decent liner and we get a great, complete skate ready to roll right out of the box.
Junior Friendly
One of the most important improvements to the USD Aeon skates was definitely an introduction of dedicated shell size for users with small feet, including children. The size 36-38 is a separate, dedicated shell, which immediately wiped out the already negligible competition in this field. Thus far, small-size children's skates were usually 2-piece shells with the size adjustment option (USD Transformer, Razors Genesys Junior or K-skate from Kaltik). Such solution can work well in fitness skates, but in aggressive skating, adjustable boots do not last that long. The young adept of this style needs a durable shell with an appropriate ankle protection to master their skills at the skatepark - and this is what the USD Aeon models deliver and in unbeatable fashion, too. Thanks to the limited number of components, these skates are really hard to damage and wear out!
King of flat
We’ve came to the most important advantage of the USD Aeon skates – they are the easiest way to start skating aggressive inline with a flat setup (4 wheels of one size in one frame). Not only because of the largest available center wheel split for easy grinds, but most of all, being the most accessible to the average user.
Starting aggressive skating on 8 wheels setup is very difficult for a beginner due to the number of options available - it may take a long time to find the right frames and type of wheels. If we are just starting the adventure with aggressive skates, and do not necessarily want or need spending a few months on experimenting with various setups - USD Aeon skates are a option. When it comes to 8 wheeled stock setups, absolutely everyone will be able to grind on Aeons without much trouble, which cannot be said about every skate out there.
Skating flat is a very important aspect of USD Aeon skates - thanks to them, many promising young riders, such as the current Polish Junior Champion, Adam Wrzal, started their adventure with aggressive skating on a user-friendly flat setting, thanks to which they mastered a smooth ride, which has positively impacted their style. Starting skating with the Anti-rocker frames is not a good idea, as this way we lose all the "fun" of skating - dynamics, speed and maneuverability.
Summary
USD is reinforcing its position on the market with products such as Aeon skates. They are all about bold departure from the standards taken for granted and are keen on creating new solutions that develop our sport in the longer run. Who knows what aggressive scene would look like today, if it weren't for this brand - we can safely say that it was USD Aeon that opened the "Pandora" box of flat setups and significantly contributed to widespread return of this configuration. If you want to check the skates in action, we recommend watching the portfolio of the leading Polish competitor, Tomek Przybylik - who constantly returns to USD Aeon as his favorite equipment.
