K2 Raider Splash Inline Skates

K2 focuses on making comfortable, lightweight skates for recreational skating and fitness. The brand has introduced the whole idea of a “softboot” to the market, and they hit the jackpot here – nowadays, every major skate manufacturers produce their own fitness models according to this blueprint.

You for sure have seen a pair of K2 Skates for adults in the wild – but did you know that the brand also makes very good skates for children? The Raider Splash and Marlee Splash are made for boys and girls with the same attitude towards design that made K2 skates fan-favorites all over the globe: giving the user maximum comfort.

That’s not all, though. K2 had a clever idea how to make skating even more attractive for children: giving them a way to customize boots to their liking. Skates upper is similar to colouring books and kids can personalize it with five permanent fabric markers, which come with the skate. Thanks to it, no skate will look the same!

Both skates come in four adjustable sizing varieties:

XS: EU26-31
S: EU29-34
M: EU32-37
L: EU35-40

The adjustment mechanism is super simple and works with a press of a button located on the inner side of the skate. Then just move the front part (toe cap) forwards or backwards to desired position, release the button and that’s it! Thanks to each skate covering five full sizes, they will keep up with growing feet of the children and serve them for longer.

As expected from K2, these skates are based around softboot concept. A comfortable boot resembling a sneaker is attached in rigid outer skeleton which provides excellent ankle support. Raider and Marle Pro skates come with quick lacing system – it’s takes very little time to put them on, thanks to clever mechanism that requires you to simply pull the laces to tighten the boot. The boot padding is built from anatomically shaped foams, giving children the level of comfort K2 Skates are famous for. The plastic buckle on the cuff secures the ankle while 45 degree Velcro strap keeps the heel locked in place.

The base of the skate and the frame are single moulded part – thanks to this solution, the wheels are as close to foot as possible. This lowers the centre of gravity and makes the skates easier to handle. Additional benefit of single part design is superb vibration dampening. Every skate size comes with 72 mm wheels, a good compromise between smooth roll, speed and height. The 80A hardness is also perfect for children who weight much less than adults (80A is considered a soft wheel for grown-ups). What makes wheels rolling are reliable ABEC 3 class bearings. The skates come with detachable brake – the shorter axle is packed in the box.

The only difference between Raider Splash and Marlee Splash skates are colours. Nothing innovative here: the skates with green decals are targeted at for boys, with pink ones at girls. Considering how customizable they are, it’s just a matter of aesthetic choice. There are no differences when it comes to parts or fit and children can colour them how they like.

We highly recommend these as a first pair of skates to learn technique on as well as for children who want to have pure fun skating recreationally.