Rollerblade Microblade - Midnight Blue/Warm Orange Inline Skates

The Rollerblade brand holds a reputation of premium skates manufacturer and for a good reason. Their products are made out of the best materials and have high quality finish. Without a shadow of doubt, Rollerblade is not playing a game of compromises – this approach has been used in creation of their junior skates, of course.

Microblade skates are one of the brand’s best-sellers. The attention to detail and care put into creating these is easily on par with top tier fitness skates for adults made by RB. Microblade skates are top shelf product, but they are worth every single penny spent on them.

The boot is a classic softboot – a soft, sneaker-like upper attached to strong, composite skeleton. The fact that soft part of the skates is built using similar technologies to high end running shoes is a nice touch. Microblade share this aesthetics with Macroblade fitness skates for adults and what can we say – it rocks.

What is truly impressive is that, when you gather all available Microblade varieties together, you get ...11 different colourways of the boot and three different wheel setups. There’s a very slim chance that children won’t find at least one appealing to them.

The boot is built around Junior Fit concept, to be better suited for children’s anatomy. The fact that it is covered by engineered mesh makes it very breathable. Overall, skate provides a high level of comfort. Classic lacing system helps to tighten the skate and strong Velcro strap locks the heel in place and top buckle with lock stabilizes the ankle. Rigid cuff provides excellent support – there won’t be any unwanted bending of the ankles. The foot is secured in place and you do not need to worry that skates will unbuckle themselves or flex too much to the sides during skating.

As in most cases of junior skates, Microblades have adjustable boot. Thanks to it, they will provide joy to children for more than just single skating season. Adjustment mechanism is super simple to use – just press the button placed on the side of the boot and slide the toe cap to front or back as needed. There are three size ranges and each one of them have four possible toe cap positions. These are as follows: EU28-32, EU33-36.5 and EU36.5-40.5. If this seems strange, know this – the secondary reference point is US sizing, which doesn’t translate to EU one in nice, round numbers. This is actually a good sign, because that means the sizes across the regions are marked according to mondo point in centimetres. Rollerblade is trustworthy with sizing, as many companies tend to round the numbers up or down to give an impression of full sizes.

The frame is plastic composite and is moulded as single part with the boot’s base. This is called monocoque or unibody concept and thanks to it, the skates are really responsive. It is a hybrid frame, accepting 3 or 4 wheel setups, allowing you to switch between the two. Frame was designed to provide a low centre of gravity, which makes skating much easier for younger skaters.

Four wheeled versions come with – you guessed it – four wheels of 72 mm diameter and 80A hardness. This kind of setup is brilliant for kids to start on, giving them low height from the ground, moderate speed and plenty of grip. However, one has to take into account that youngest kids sometimes struggle with 4 wheeled skates because of their weight. This is where hybrid frame design shines – you can quickly turn these skates into three wheeled ones. Just remove one of middle wheels and move another one to the centre – done. Triskating setup also opens up a possibility to make the skates faster. You can use up to 80 mm wheels, which should satisfy more advanced young skaters craving for speed. Rollerblade SG3 and brake (you can take it off if needed) complete the package.

Without a shadow of doubt, the Microblades are one of the best options to introduce children to skating. As always, by choosing Rollerblade, high level of quality is guaranteed!