Powerslide Tau 90 - Black/White Inline Skates

Powerslide Tau 90 is a younger sibling of Hardcore Evo – both skates occupy the spot of Powerslide’s flagship product for freestyle slalom and freeskating. This skate was also the first in German brand’s catalogue to incorporate the Trinity mounting in slalom-oriented boot, ahead of HC  Evo and Kaze 90.

Tau started as a modern, premium option for skating between cones and to this day, these are one of the best choices for freestyle slalom. Thanks to it, they have became a choice of, among others, Lorenzo Guslandi, one of the best freestyle slalom skaters in the world.

Similarly to Hardcore Evo, Tau are very universal skates and thus, quickly gained popularity among urban skating enthusiasts. Since their first iteration, they underwent so many changes and improvements that current model hardly resembles the original skates. It can be said without a shadow of doubt – these are some of the most technically advanced skates for freestyle in mass production.

Tau brought a major innovation in terms of boot construction – their shell is made out of compressed carbon. In year 2019, Tau has raised the bar even higher, as these are the first skates ever to be made in such technology and allowing heat molding at the same time. No other company but Powerslide uses this tech. Not only the shell can be shaped in this way – the padding also adjusts after heating it up, allowing you to get a perfect fit for your anatomy, thanks to the same materials as ones used in top of the range MyFit liners. As in case of Hardcore Evo, heat-molding your boots is not mandatory, it is an option – but the difference in how the skate feels, how responsive it is and how comfortably snug it wraps around your foot is simply massive after “baking”. Tongue is shaped anatomically, with flex cuts, to better adjust to your foot and provide superior, secure fit in connection with lacing and buckles.

Tau 2019 style resembles a racing car and not without a reason. These skates are made for breaking new records. Thanks to technologies and materials used in production, a whole skate is incredibly light (only 1350g for size EU41). External cuff looks familiar to anyone who is following Powerslide’s output year after year, but it has been reinforced with addition of glass fibres. This makes it very stiff and provides great lateral support. Frame mounting system is of course Powerslide’s innovative Trinity – giving you a better precision and energy transfer. A side bonus is lower centre of gravity.

Moreover, Taus are really durable. Toe area is protected by additional rubberised shield and side of the boot does have replaceable slider. In addition, compressed carbon is really resistant to cracking thanks to its physical properties. These skates will last you years if you will take good care of them. Parts like cuffs, sliders, buckles are all replaceable and available for purchase.

Tau 90 come stock with 3x90 mm Nexus frame. Why? Powerslide had made a point with introduction of triskates into freestyle slalom. A lot of people were saying that it will be a flop, but it certainly wasn’t. For example one of the best freestyle slalom skaters in the whole world, Lorenzo Guslandi (awesome guy, by the way!), uses this setup in competition. Because 3x90 concept felt so fresh and got so popular, the first Tau edition which came with 4x80 mm frame has been overshadowed by boot only option – people were buying it and making triskates out of them.

What really counts as a huge plus of triskating frame is the fact that now matter what length of it we get, it will still fit 90 mm wheels.

In four wheeled frames, there’s a rigid relationship between wheel sizes and frame lengths. The most popular slalom frames are: 219 mm, 231 mm and 243. They fit 4x72, 4x76 and 4x80 wheels. These lengths are a result of leaving exactly 1 mm of space between each wheel in the frame. If the frame is too long in relationship to the foot, it makes turning significantly harder, which is a deal breaker between cones. So freestyle slalom skaters with smaller feet are forced to use 4x72 or 4x76 mm wheeled frames. This puts them at disadvantage, though! Smaller wheels roll worse and in turn, make wheeling tricks harder to pull off.

Okay, but what about 3 wheels? The problem is gone – the shortest possible wheelbase for 3x90 mm setup is just 182 mm. Every skate size comes with 90 mm wheels. If you have read previous paragraph carefully, you know now that this is a major thing to be excited about, especially given that 90 mm give better roll than 80 mm ones used in largest, traditional freestyle slalom frames. Most importantly, this is a great equalizer – everyone is competing on the same wheel size. You do not get inferior roll just because of your smaller feet.

Last but not least, the frame lengths could be adjusted, breaking from the usual, rigid model of 219 mm, 231 mm and 243 mm. Seeing that 182 mm is minimum length for 3x90 setup, Powerslide has tweaked their frames using their freestyle team experience and came up with three versions of Nexus frame:

• Sizes EU38 and EU39 – 215 mm long frame
• Sizes EU40 and EU41 – 225 mm long frame
• Sizes EU42 and bigger – 235 mm long frame

Okay, but how do you get a banana rocker with just three wheels? You don’t. But you can get an equivalent of that. The middle and rear axles in the frame are rockerable and you can put wheels in these positions 2 mm below level of the front wheel. This makes the setup crazy agile, as our weight is place on rear wheel and middle one, or middle one and front. Just like in classic banana setup, only two wheels at a time have contact with the surface, resulting in excellent agility. The stock frame can also be used for flat setup, which is actually a very decent option for city skating. You would be surprised how goot 3x90 mm setup skates in urban environment.

When it comes to stock wheels, we get a “best bang for your bucks” classic, the reliable Spinners in size of 90 mm. They are good and will perform well in both slalom and freeskating, but yes, there are better wheels (from the upper shelf) on the market and truly high level skaters may want to swap the stock set for something else. Skate also comes with Wicked ABEC9 bearings, so again – nothing fancy, but nonetheless, a reliable and a good choice.

Tau 2019 are worth considering even if you don’t have a slightest interest in freestyle slalom, as the boot is a great fit for almost every skating type – freeskating, downhill, inline alpine, off-road and even racing marathons, for skaters who want lightweight, stiff boots with high cuff. No matter what kind of Trinity frame you’ll attach to the boot, the result will be a skate which is a pure joy to ride. Plus, their futuristic looks are just excellent.

It’s worth pointing out that Tau is not a successor to Hardcore Evo skate – both exist in parallel, as alternatives. Both models are made for similar types of skating, but technologies used to make them differ, as well as their shape. We highly recommend trying on both to check which one of Powerslide’s best offering will be a better fit for you.