Seba Marathon 110 - Black Inline Skates

Why did Seba brand, famous for their freestyle and freeride skates, have created a semi-race skate?

We can only guess. Maybe out of sheer ambition, maybe it was an experiment, madness, even? Whatever it was, the end result is rather good – stands out among the crowd of similar skates and is worth to pick up even if you do not consider yourself a Seba fan. Meet Seba Marathon skate.

Those who know their way around skating gear will surely spot the striking similarity to Trix freeskate. Marathon, at a fist glance, indeed may look like Trix, but with a speedskating frame. As it’s often the case with Seba skates, there’s more to them than what meets the eye. The boot, already lightweigth, rigid and responsive with superb energy transfer, has been tuned for requirements of speedskating.

Skate is based on a shell made out of carbon and glass fibres, as it’s often the case in skates of this type. It’s not as light as full carbon shell, but still pretty light – meanwhile, the overall rigidity of the skate is still high, making for a „snappy” skating experience. The integrated padding gives great, snug fit, further contributing to excellent amount of control over every push. The heel is locked in place just like one would expect from a skate derived from freestyle slalom model. Premium insole is shaped to provide a solid arch support.

The outer skin is virtually the same as on Trix skates – it’s pretty rigid and of course, durable. Describing these skates as softboots would be doing them a huge disservice. The lacing alone holds the foot firmly in place and you can tighten the skates further using toe strap and two micrometric buckles. It’s worth to note that the boot of the skate is lower than on Trix boot – making it more suitable for speedskating.

A big highlight of the skate is the triangle cuff. This has proven to be an excellent solution in freestyle slalom models like Trix and KSJ, freeing up the ankle movement much more than traditional cuff, and gives the same benefit here. The lateral support is excellent, but you can get really low in these as the boot follows your body movement.

It comes as no surprise that boot is now equipped with 195 mm mount spacing. As most of the high end Seba skates, there are metal plates embeeded in the boot, serving as frame attachment points. Each of them comes with 7 holes for a bolt, making the skate rich in frame adjustment options and compatible with wide range of 195 mm mount spacing frames.

The frame is extruded and CNC machined, with lateral bridges (hollow tubes) adding to the rigidity. It fits four 110 mm diameter wheels. You can go really fast with this frame, but as every 4x110 setup, it takes some experience and skill to use it to its full potential. The wheels are Seba Speed model with 85A hardness. They can be considered as solid training wheels, but there’s no denying that no one will be breaking the records on these. Still, we recommend giving them a go – they should serve well until you’ll replace them with speedskating wheels of your choice. The Twincam ILQ9 bearings, on the other hand, aren’t as disposable – they are among one of the best stainless steel made bearings available and will serve well while going fast.

One last notable thing – the skates are compatible with Seba Trix custom kits. You can customise your skates with 6 different cuff colours!

Seba Marathon come highly recommended for skaters who are not considering speedskating as a competition, but seek pure fun in it. Those who don’t need a low-cut boot, but would want to have more ankle freedom than what most semi-race skates offer. People finding themselves in different situation: wanting a low cut boot, however not being able to skate one for various reasons, should also strongly consider getting these.

Seba won’t conquer the speedskating market, that’s given. This doesn’t mean, however, that they cannot make a unique and well-designed skate in this field. Marathons are just that, and they have their place among other semi-race skates out there.