Sure-Grip Boardwalk Unisex Outdoor Roller Skates - Retro Boots with Suede Leather & Rubber - ABEC 3 Bearings & Aluminum Trucks - Boardwalk 82A Outdoor Wheels

I’m a beginner adult skater (43 yo male) with wide flat feet, and after reading a lot of independent reviews, I tested this skate along side the Riedell Wave. I chose these two skates to test because of the good reputations of the two brands and because they were in the same budget-friendly price range.THE BOOTIn shoes, I typically wear a men’s 8 1/2. I bought the Boardwalk men’s size 8. I love the Boardwalk boot so much more than the Riedell Wave boot. The Boardwalk suede is conforming to my feet perfectly, kind of like how a baseball glove conforms to your hand, giving you that perfect fit sensation. In contrast, the vinyl material used in the Riedell Wave boot is stiff and will likely never conform to your feet, no matter how much you tighten the laces.I was searching everywhere for a suede or real leather (not fake leather) skate at a reasonable price. Don’t bother searching, because I’ve already done it for you. You won’t find a cheaper suede or leather boot. This is the only thing out there. If you’re wanting an all real (not fake) leather boot, I would get the Riedell Crew skate if you don’t mind the $250 price tag.But if you’re price conscious, like I am, I recommend that you get these skates for only $110 and dye them whatever color you want. That’s the nice thing about natural suede.Riedell makes suede and leather boots, but at a significantly higher price than the Boardwalk. My brother owns a beautiful pair of tan Riedell suede skates, but be prepared to pay upwards of $300, which I was not. The Riedell Wave is the brand’s budget-friendly entry level skate, and it shows.A lot of independent reviewers recommended that beginners use a vinyl high top boot, because the stiffness of vinyl provides ankle support. The Boardwalks feel perfectly supportive. And I would rather have that “fits like a glove” feel over having additional ankle support. But again, the Boardwalks are plenty supportive.PRICEI wanted the black or tan Boardwalks, but they were $250. The sky blue ones were available open box for $110, so that was a no-brainer to get the blue ones. I’ve also seen the lime green ones available open box for under $100. Just keep checking the open box prices and snag them when they’re $99 and labeled “like new.” These were probably returned to Amazon, but they were clearly never used.I bought one bottle of Albertis navy blue dye for $10 and dyed everything except the tongue and the back of the state. If you want to dye the entire skate, I suggest you buy at least two bottles. I’m really pleased with how they look after having been dyed.TRUCKMinor adjustments to the Boardwalk truck results in big changes to the skates supportiveness and responsiveness. No matter how much I tightened or loosened the trucks on the Riedell Wave, the responsiveness did not change. These changes are important because they affect the ease in turning corners and performing bubbles/scissors.WHEELSI used the 65mm outdoor Boardwalk wheels (not shown in my pictures) because I already had them. I can do bubbles and scissors almost effortlessly relative to the Riedells. Doing bubbles and scissors on the Riedells just wasn’t as satisfying. For a beginner, the easier it is to get your skates to do what you want, the more likely you will fall in love with skating. The harder it is to make your skates glide, or do bubbles, the more likely you will give up on skating and miss out on feeling the love. And that would be a shame.Here’s the other thing you should know about the wheels: the outdoor Boardwalk wheels are a dream to use indoors at the skating rink. Many independent wheel reviewers consider outdoor wheels to be a terrible option for indoor skating, but I find that these wheels glide nicely indoors, are not “sticky,” and absorb a lot of the unevenness and imperfections in the hardwood floor of the roller rink. So for a beginner, these wheels serve as a great hybrid (indoor/outdoor) wheel. This way, you can practice both inside and outside and you won’t have to swap out your wheels.Since the time of purchase, I have graduated to using a harder wheel more appropriate for indoor skating. But if you’re a beginner skater skating indoors, you’re not going to need to upgrade the wheels for a while. And when you do need to upgrade, you’re going to know it, which is a great thing, because it means that you’ve become a better skater.If you’re curious, I upgraded to the Rollerbones Team wheels (for indoor skating), Bones Reds Bearings, both of which I love. I also swapped out the bushings for the Suregrip super cushions in purple. As soon as I swapped out the cushions I felt an immediate improvement in the skates responsiveness, meaning that when I shift my weight to turn, I turn with less effort, and can make sharper turns. Just buy the cushions in the color that corresponds to your body weight.CONCLUSIONIt’s because of the Boardwalks that I’m completely obsessed with skating. To be fair to the Riedell Wave, I used those skates first so fell in love with skating while using the Riedells. But after a few skate sessions, I transitioned to the Boardwalks and discovered the difference was night and day. The two skates are in two different leagues.If you are a beginner skater, then do yourself a favor and splurge on the Boardwalks. You will be giving yourself a chance to fall in love with skating. My friends have used less expensive beginner skates and the skates available for rent at the roller rink, and they have not fallen in love with skating like I have. They like it, but they’re not obsessed. I am now at the rink 3-4 days per week for hours at a time. I’m completely obsessed with skating, and I credit that obsession to the Boardwalks.I don’t think that I will be outgrowing the Boardwalks for a while. Meaning that as I become a more advanced skater, these will continue to serve me.To all you beginner skaters reading this: May you discover the pleasure and bliss of roller skating, no matter which skates you choose to buy.Oh and one more thing: Do yourself the favor of watching Dirty Deborah Harry of The Dirty School of Skate before you go out to the rink. She teaches the fundamentals beautifully. Everything I’ve learned about how to skate, I learned from her. She’s fabulous.Update 8/15/23: Six months into my addiction, my feet are numb and my baby toes hurt. While I still love the Boardwalks, I wanted to find something with more padding. I ordered the Riedell Crew skate, but they’re too narrow for my feet. If you have wide feet, don't buy the Riedell Crew. I settled on the Suregrip Fame. I really like the skate. I like the comfortable padding. I like the wheels. I’ve only skated on them for one day, so once I break them in, I’ll come back to write a more thorough comparison between the Suregrip Boardwalk and the Suregrip Fame.The Suregrip Fames are recommended for beginners for good reason. Because beginners generally don't have the ankle strength necessary for excellent balance and stability, the stiffness of the boot provides the support in lieu of ankle strength. The padding is very comfortable. The wheels provide just the right amount of grip necessary to learn fundamental skills. You won't go very fast, but as a beginner, you shouldn't be aiming for speed. Aim instead for control and precision of movement. Learning things like transitions will be easier using the stock Fame wheels rather than the Rollerbones Teams wheels I've been learning on.

I've been wanting to get back into skating and after looking into what skates would be the best, I decided on boardwalk! I bought from Amazon as the overall price was cheaper, the only difference from the listing on the Sure-Grip website was that these ones said they had Abec 3 bearings instead of Abec 7, which I didn't mind. However, after getting the skates, I found they do have Abec 7 bearings!Onto the details.The skates themselves are very well made. The boot is a nice fabric and very comfortable!It took me very little time to break them in, probably around an hour?I usually wear a size 8 US women's, or 39 EU and I got a size 6 in men's (7 in womens) and they fit perfectly! If you prefer a slightly looser fit I would get a size bigger, as they are a little snug.The wheels roll very well, they glide over old hardwood floors, and when I finally took them outside I could barely feel any bumps in the ground! They're also really fast! The only thing I had to do after getting them was loosen the back wheels a little as they were too tight. Overall, I'm in love with these skates, they're beautiful and comfortable and great for outdoors!

So to start, I see everywhere online within the rollerskating community that you should have very snug skates and that the suede will break in so much the skates will grow two sizes in size. I hemmed and hawed over what size to order for weeks. For reference, I am always a size 8.5/39 in womens. Always. My feet are 24.5 cm long and quite narrow. I originally was going to order the mens 7, but after seeing all kinds of posts everywhere, including one person who said they had 25.5 cm feet and the 6s fit perfectly, I decided to go for the 6. When they arrived it felt like my toes were being crushed. They didn't even reach the end of the boot, the toe box was just so small/short vertically. I took out the insoles and measured them against the insoles in my actual suede boots and they were identical, so it was purely just way too little room in the toe box, especially with the massive seam where the tongue is sewn in. I couldn't wiggle my toes even a little. I went to reddit to ask whether this was normal, and most every response said their boardwalks required almost no breaking in and fit great right out of the box. A few people told me to add suede conditioner and just skate around to break them in, but then I wouldn't have been able to exchange them and I was just not convinced that would help. I exchanged them for the 7s and they are PERFECT. They fit so comfortably and are just the right amount of snug. My feet don't slide around or anything, and it feels like if the suede broke in a lot (I am not convinced at all it will break in a whole size up. That has never happened in any suede shoe I have ever owned) I could just wear cushier socks to mitigate that.All that being said, everything else about them is perfect. All I had to do out of the box was loosen the trucks and I was ready to go. The wheels and laces are great. At this price, this is a substantially better deal than Moxi Beach Bunnies, which are vinyl and need the wheels replaced out of the box. The boardwalks are gonna last forever. I like the nylon plate, actually. It's sturdy but lightweight and can be replaced eventually if I want. I got the light purple color. It's a pretty color but I also consider it a bonus that I could redye these eventually once they're dirty because the purple is so light and neutral. I could go for a nice deep green or black or even a rich brown. Really pleased with these. I like that the wheel spacing is closer together because it will make them ideal for certain tricks, but coming from rollerblades it's a funny change in balance, but certainly isn't slowing me down at all.Overall, super recommend these. And hey, they're actually available to buy, unlike most skates!