Seba CJ2 80 - Black Inline Skates

Seba brand, mostly associated with freestyle slalom and freeride skates, tried to change their portfolio to a broader one circa year 2013. While this ambition of becoming an inline skating powerhouse in all areas has not been realised, the result of company takin a step in this direction were several interesting skates.

One of them is Seba CJ, an aggressive skate made in association with Australian skater CJ Wellsmore. CJ is undoubtedly one of the most talented aggressive skaters on the planet, however he always had it a bit uphill because of the country he lives in (and we are not talking about lethal, venomous spiders and snakes here) – Australia is separated from the rest of the rolling world, most importantly from the US, a birthplace of aggressive skating, and Europe, where the community around this sport is thriving these days. Thus, CJ had to wait for far too long for his signature skate. Finally, he struck a deal with Seba, resulting in Seba CJ skates, now coming in three boot variants. What is more, CJ skates now also come in freeskating setups, not just aggressive ones.

Seba CJ2 are based around concept of a boot with integrated padding. This brings benefits of reduced weight and increased precision of following your movements by skate. While CJ Carbon are made, as name suggests, with carbon fibre shell, CJ2 uses a composite material equivalent. As a result, skate is a bit heavier than its more high end counterpart, but also a bit more flexible. This makes the skate feeling less rigid out of the box and will appeal to skaters who prefer a bit more ankle freedom as well as skates that bend more on tricks.

The outer skin material have decent level of rigidity and is pretty resistant to damage. There are additional reinforcements, too – a rubber material strip protecting the toe area and replaceable slider on the outer side of the skate. The padding is comfortable, anatomically shaped and helps securing the foot in place, providing a snug fit. As these are aggressive skates, their toe box is wide to prevent toes injuries. Underneath the foot resides a comfortable insole and shock-absorber.

You can lace the boot to the very top and this does a great job at keeping your foot in place. To eliminate the heel lift completely, skate comes with a 45 degree velcro strap. The composite cuff closed with a buckle stabilizes the ankle without limiting front to back movement range.

Even though Seba CJ2 80 are categorized as urban skates, they still come with soulplates. They are made out of fast sliding material and allow us to convert our pair of skates to aggressive ones simply by swapping frames. Out of the box, we can use the skates for soul-based grinds (preferably on copings and rails, as frames are naked aluminum) or stalls, having freeskating frames on. Soulplates are the same width for the whole length of the skate – which is important for many users and makes it easier to lock on a grind. Backslide groove is shallow but well shaped and will work perfect until you’ll work in the deeper groove on tricks. The boot is UFS compatible.

The frame made in extrusion process measures 243 mm. It isn’t complex when it comes to design, but really solid and have smooth walls, which makes it more suitable for skatepark. The classic 4x80 setup is agile, offers low center of balance and gives us plenty of speed. Hyper concrete wheels may not be as fashionable as 10 years ago, but they are still good pick for urban skating. Their wide profile makes them stable on landings.

Seba CJ2 80 come highly recommended to all skaters who seek a lightweight boot suitable for both freeskating and aggressive inline, allowing them to try both or even mix these styles.