I had a chance to try the Tour 800 skate today and I was pleasantly surprised.
I skated a 5 mile outdoor loop on a blacktop road.
The reason I was surprised was the ease and length of the double push I could do.
It was like they had a double push automatic pilot in them.
(below is a close-up picture of the skate)
I did some standing sprints and the boot felt good here.
(see below)
Crossovers also felt stronger than they ever have.
It seemed this boot allowed me to get my weight back onto my heels which helped the double push and crossovers.
(see below)
I did have trouble with my inside ankle bones, I tried heat molding the boot with absolutely no luck.
Heating an area on a Verducci Corsa boot with a heat gun for 1 minute I can completely manipulate the area.
With the Tour boot I held the gun on the area for 10 minutes and still couldn't manipulate the area.
I do believe these boots are not heat moldable.
If you do get blisters with this boot you will need to go through a cycle of getting a blister and letting it heal before getting back on to the boot.
If you have the patience to do that a few times the boot will perform very well for you.
You may want to order some neoprene ankle protectors when you order this boot.
The boot is quite heavy at 20 ozs.
The average boot weight is 14 to 16 ozs and the Verducci Corsa is 12 ozs so that makes the 20 ozs of the Tour 800 feel quite heavy.
I'm really surprised how well it performs for how heavy it is though.
I've found if you use Ninja Mini Miser bearings in this setup it evens out the extra weight of the boot.
The frame felt a little stiff but it felt good because then I knew I wouldn't loose any push to the frame bending.
The good thing about this boot is it is one of the better performing boots I've skated on.
After 3 years of building customs one thing I've learned is a boot that performs isn't always comfortable and a boot that is comfortable doesn't always perform.
