Seba FRX FR1 Boot Review

Here's the short review of the Seba FRX boot

(long review below)

I tried the SEBA FRX boot and found it to be the most fun, most comfortable skate I've skated on in the last 10 years.

My skating passion has been rejuvenated and will be skating more this summer then in the past 10 summers.

I will be skating exclusively on this FRX boot.

On a scale from1 to 10 I now grade all my past skating boots as a 2 and this new FRX boot as a 10.

If your having trouble with blisters, loosing your double push, pronating on your low cut boot with big wheels.

Feel like skating is becoming more like work then fun, give this FRX boot a try as soon as possible so you can start enjoying your skating summer.

Here's the long review of the Seba FRX boot:

I haven't done a review in a while because I haven't been excited about anything to review.

Well now I'm excited.

I got to try a Seba FRX boot.

Thinking I was going to put it on, not be able to bend my ankle anywhere, skate on it for 10 minutes and change back to my low cut boot.

That didn't turn out to be the case.

Because of the hinge in the upper cuff I was able to get an extreme knee bend.

This was already unlike the higher cuff boots of old in which the upper cuff moved nowhere.

The stability was incredible without loosing what I would like to see in a speed skate stroke.

I ended up skating the rest of the day (2 hours) on the FRX boot.

There was no need to go back to get my lower cut boot.

In fact I kinda dreaded thinking about having to go back to the instable lower cut boot after skating on that comfortable, felt like my foot was floating on air, stable, but didn't restrict my skate stroke boot.

Now I had my 5x80 frame on the FRX boot for this trial.

But, seeing how stable the FRX boot was over my lower cut boot, I then started questioning what a 100mm, 110mm or even a 125mm wheel would feel like under this stable FRX boot.

Is this what I need to be able to skate outdoor distance on the larger diameter wheels?

I'm sure it's not a secret that I haven't enjoyed skating on the larger diameter wheels for outdoor distance on lower cut boots.

My form simply fails to quickly for distance skating on a low cut boot with the bigger wheels.

And from what I see out there I'm not the only one.

I see people pronating from the first step of the day to the last step of the day the majority of the time.

If they only knew how much more fun they could be having using proper form by simply moving to a smaller wheel or to a higher cut boot.

So I know it's not just me having trouble with big wheels on low cut boots and distance skating.

I'm just one of the few honest enough to say I do.

Now if you can skate with proper form, being able to hit the outside edge from the start to the finish of your skate then there's no question you should be on a low cut boot with big wheels.

But, not everyone depending on the body they were born into, their fitness level and their age can skate distance at race pace and hold an outside edge on a low cut boot with big wheels.

Now the question is, will the FRX boot have enough stability to skate on the big wheels for distance skating without loosing the double push and outside edge.

Well, a week after the the first skate on the boot with the 5x80 frame I put a 3x110 9.75" frame on the FRX boot.

I know, that's an extremely short frame, but with the stability of the FRX boot, a shorter frame is now controllable.

I was checking to see if 110mm wheels would be to much leverage on the ankle, and this 110mm frame would be enough to tell me.

It took me 10 minutes to get used to the short 9.75" frame length but once I did it was the most fun skating I had in years.

I hammered a huge looping double push, huge outside edge, from the start to the finish of the 2 hour skate.

Because of the shorter frame I was able to steer quickly into and out of the double push, and do it endlessly.

There is no way I could have done that on my low cut boot with 110mm wheels for 2 hours much less 10 minutes.

Again, I will not skate on a wheel size larger then I can handle where I loose my double push and outside edge before the end of the skate.

So, the FRX boot allowed me to huge double push on 110mm wheels for 2 hours straight.

This was a first for me.

The reason for this review is, if your starting to pronate before the end of your distance and still want to use your big wheels this boot may be what your looking for.

Frames I tried:

I went on to try a 5x80 12.8", 3x110 9.75", 4x90 11.5", 4x100 12.0" and 4x110 13.2" against each other.

I tried them on a short 3 minute course just to get an idea of what I was going to be looking at.

The times below are in minutes and seconds.

5x80 12.8" - 2:50
3x110 9.75" - 2:55
4x90 11.5" - 2:50
3x110 11.5" - 2:50
4x100 12.0" - 2:50
4x110 13.2" - 2:60

The only reason I tried the shorter 3 wheel frames is because the FRX boot came with a Seba 4x80 9.5" frame.

Never thinking of trying such a short frame on my low cut boot due to lack stability, I thought I would give the 4x80 9.5" a try on the higher cut more stable FRX boot.

To my amazement the 4x80 9.5" frame was actually skateable.

If that was all I had to skate on for the day, on the higher cut FRX boot, I would have had a great time.

Now if I tried to put a 4x80 9.5" frame on my low cut boot, I would have fell and busted my butt due to the instability of the lower cut boot.

So due to the extreme stability of the higher cut FRX boot, I was now going to be able to skate on shorter length frames, but feel like the same stability as a longer frame on a lower cut boot.

So back to the time trials.

I enjoyed the 5x80 frame.

I enjoyed the 3x110 9.75" frame (but being so short it was a bit unstable).

I enjoyed the 4x90 11.5" frame.

I enjoyed the 3x110 11.5" frame.

I enjoyed the 4x100 12.0" frame.

Now the 4x110 13.2" frame surprised me.

Thinking it was going to be the fastest and most fun it turned out to be the slowest and least fun.

I like to double push.

If a wheel height or frame length hampers my double push, my fun is gone.

So the 110mm wheel height of the 4x110 frame was not messing me up, as the fun level and double push were just fine on the 3x110 11.5" frame.

So it had to be the 4x110 13.2" frame length causing the problem.

Doing the double push, I push a little in, and push a little out, rather then a classic long outside push.

If you have 2 people, one you have stand more upright with a little knee bend and the other stand with a deep knee bend, who will last the longest before they tire out.

Obviously, the more upright person will last the longest.

The muscle of the more bent knee person is using more oxygen to hold them at that lower position.

I can feel oxygen deprivation come on sooner, the lower the knee position I'm in.

I like to stand more upright and get a little push in and a little push out rather then having to be lower to get that one long push to the outside.

So I had no problem standing more upright on the 5x80 12.8", 3x110 9.75", 4x90 11.5", 3x110 11.5" and 4x100 12.0" frames.

It was the 4x110 13.2" frame that gave me the trouble.

Obviously, when you double push you have to cross your skates in back and run the risk of clipping wheels when crossing.

The longer the frames and the bigger the wheels the more chance of clipping wheels and going down.

With the 4x110 frame I had to get really low to clear the wheels to be able to do the double push which messed up my double push, messed up my timing, oxygen deprivation started sooner and the fun was greatly decreased.

Back to the 5x80, 3x110, 4x90 and 4x100 frames.

I could stand more upright, the timing was there, double push was effortless and endless, the fun was back.

Again, with the greater stability of the higher cut FRX boot, it allows you to run shorter frames and still feel stable.

With the shorter frame now being stable on the FRX boot, you can stand more upright, waste less oxygen, and not have to worry about double push wheel clipping.

This seemingly allows you to double push (outside edge) endlessly.

No Laces:

The boot comes with laces but I used no laces at all in the boot.

I used the lower velcro strap that pulled my foot back and down in the boot and the upper buckle on the top of the cuff.

I barely tighten the upper buckle.

These are so easy to get in and out of, it's literally 5 seconds to get in or out of a boot.

Part of the work I was talking about was on my low cut boots it's a chore to get in and out of the boots.

Unlace the laces 4 eyelets down, struggle to get your foot in, relace the boot, now my legs are starting to cramp, get the cramp worked out, continue tieing the boot, now start on the next boot.

The FRX boot goes on like a slipper.

No laces, I slip my foot in (2 seconds) and 3 seconds to do the lower velcro and upper buckle.

Done.

And if I have to get out of the boot on the trail for an emergency, I can be out out in 10 seconds to help someone.

If I had my low cut boots on they would die before I got to them.

Needless to say, taking 10 seconds to be ready to skate is a plus.

Sizing:

I wear a size 9.5 Nike running shoe and tried a size 10 and 11 in this FRX boot. Both sizes fit me but the size 10 was firm (not uncomfortable) and the size 11 was not firm (you could say loose).

In the time trials they both came back with the same times.

But, I liked the roomier size 11 boot better.

It seemed to allow my foot to spread out more which gave me better edge control and stability.

The boot was noticeably loose but with the higher ankle support, stability was not an issue.

I've found while building custom boots years ago, the higher the cuff got the looser the lower end of the boot needed to be.

So with this cuff height being high, I can see why I liked the loose toe and heel of the bigger size 11 boot.

The size 11 boot was much more fun to skate on over the size 10 for my size 9.5 Nike running shoe size.

Now if you were skating cones, bombing hills, or using them for other applications, you may need a tighter fit.

The FRX boot compared to my low cut boot:

So from the day I did the first FRX boot test (a month ago) I had not looked back at my lower cut boot.

I figured it was time to test the FRX boot against my low cut boot.

Now the low cut boot I'm currently in is my favorite low cut boot after trying low cut boots on for the past 20 years.

Each 5 years or so boots will get better from the prior 5 years.

So the late 90's boots were better then the early 90's boots and the early 2000's boots were better then the late 90's boots and so on up to 2015.

So I've been through allot of low cut boots to get to my favorite low cut boot I'm currently in.

Each boot I used in the last 20 years got progressively better.

So the boot I tested against the FRX boot was my favorite boot of the last 20 years combining comfort and speed as the deciding factor.

I again did the short 3 minute test course multiple times with both the FRX, and low cut boot. I used the frame I was used to on my low cut boot for the test which is the 5x80 12.8" frame.

So I put the 5x80 frame on the FRX boot and low cut boot and did the test.

The times were consistent test after test. I couldn't believe what I saw. 3:20 for my low cut boot and 2:30 for the FRX high cut boot.

What?

Did I screw up on the timing?

No, I did the test multiple times going back and fourth.

That's a ridiculous difference in times.

So the incredible fun I was having on the FRX boot was equating to incredible speed.

On the start of the test with the FRX, being so stable, I was able to run like I was in my running shoes to get up to speed.

In the few corners on the course, I was able to cross over with abandon due to the incredible stability of the FRX boot, which I could not do with the lower cut boot.

On the straights I was able to double push crazily with the FRX boot because of it's stability that I couldn't do with the lower cut boot.

So, I'm going to say because of the FRX stability everything was faster and just as important more fun then the lower cut boot.

Skating ability:

Now if it was my job to skate and I was being paid to skate in a low cut boot I could do it.

If I was being paid to skate I would now have all day to strengthen my ankles and do the drills.

Skating is not my job, I work in an office 8 hours a day and do paperwork at night and weekends like most non paid skaters out there.

There is also being born with world class ability which I and most were not.

Do low cut boots with 100mm and 110mm wheels have a place out there?

Absolutely they do, but not for most people with 9 to 5 jobs and those not born with world class ability.

The key to lower cut boots and big wheels is outside edge ankle strength.

When I don't have time to skate or weather is not permitting, I'm on the treadmill or stationary bike.

So my quads are always strong but that does not train my outside edge ankle muscles.

Training outside edge ankle muscles I can only do while skating on my low cut boots.

And I have to skate every other day for weeks and months to get proficient.

And not skip a week or weeks at a time or I'm starting over.

When I was in my 30's I could do that, now that I'm in my 50's I have more responsibility and don't have the time to do that anymore.

So with the higher cut FRX boot I don't have to train my outside edge muscles.

The boot stabilizes the ankle in that direction.

So at any time I can step directly from a month of treadmill and bike trainer strong quads and hammer outside edge and double push proficiently on the higher cut FRX boot.

4x110mm frame on the FRX boot:

As far as me putting the 195mm 4x110 frame on the FRX boot for the test.

The FRX boot has a 165mm mount on it. It does not have a 195mm mount on it.

There is a 195mm dimple in the heel area of the FRX boot but it's not drilled or tapped to accept a bolt.

To test the 4x110 frame, I drilled the boot 195mm dimple, slipped a t-nut in from the inside to create a 195mm mount on the boot.

I also had to use aluminum washers as stand off's as the wheels would run into the boot by quite a bit which only thick aluminum spacers would accomplish.

Then I had to use longer screws due to the spacers-washers.

Needless to say I would not suggest doing this unless your mechanically inclined because of the amount of moving parts used.

And the importance of the frame staying firmly underneath you at 30 miles per hour.

I'm glad the test showed a degradation of speed and fun with the 4x110 frames so I wouldn't have to worry about trying to fit it onto the boot.

Now the Luigino Striker 4x90 and 3x110 frames fit directly on to the FRX boot with no alterations.

These are the frames I'm suggesting to put on the FRX boot.

FRX boot only:

If you already have a 165mm mount frame laying around, you can get an FRX Boot for only $159.00 and put the frame you already have on it.

Do give us a call before you order to make sure the frames you have will fit.

Remember, with the incredible stability of the FRX boot you can now run a shorter frame and be completely stable unlike your lower cut instable boots.

Again, if you are hammering your outside edge endlessly on your low cut boot with big wheels, you do not need to try this higher cut boot.

But, I believe, more then like to admit, are not hammering their outside edge endlessly with their low cut boots on big wheels.

If your not going to be honest with yourself your not going to find out what your missing.

Owner of Seba:

Sebastien Laffargue, the namesake of the SEBA brand, is a freestyle skater that did not like any of the higher cut boots on the market.

So he decided to design a new boot from the ground up.

Is that why this Seba FRX boot is working so well, and different from other boots on the market?

I wouldn't be surprised.

I've seen more then one "unhappy skater" design his own boots in the last 20 years and blow away the large skate company's.

All I can say is, this new boot design has rejuvenated my excitement in skating.

Frame length:

What I found when trying to figure out how long I could go with the frame before I had trouble double pushing and wheel clipping.

Or having to get lower to stop wheel clipping, which was less efficient and less fun.

I found it wasn't the frame length that I need to look at, it was the distance from the front of the front wheel to the back of the back wheel.

That distance may be exactly the same on a long frame with small wheels or a short frame with big wheels.

Here are a few front of front wheel to back of back wheel measurements:

3x110 9.75" 357mm
3x110 10.5" 376mm
3x125 10.0" 379mm
4x90 11.5" 382mm
3x110 11.6" 404mm
4x100 12.0" 404mm
3x125 11.0" 404mm
5x80 12.8" 405mm
4x100 12.8" 425mm
3x125 12.2" 434mm
3x125 12.6" 445mm
4x110 13.2" 447mm
3x125 13.0" 455mm
3x125 13.2" 460mm

The 404mm from the front of the front wheel to the back of the back wheel for me seems to be the sweet spot.

Shorter measurement setups cause stability issues for me and longer measurement setups cause wheel clipping issues for me.

Anything longer then 404mm I need to sit lower to clear wheels which screws up my stroke timing (double push).

What setup measurement works for each person may be different depending on their height.

The taller you are the further you can move the skates apart from front to back without lowering your knee bend.

So the taller person could go up in front to back wheel length without any problems.

Same with a shorter person, the shorter you are the less clearance you will have front to back so you would need a shorter front to back wheel measurement or be ready to sit lower to clear the wheels.

Addition:

I have since moved over to the Striker 4x90 11.5" 382mm frame and am seeing great results.

Being a bit shorter it allows me to steer into the double push for longer distances then the 404mm frames.

High speed Down hill no stroke frames:

Now if my only concern was down hill 50 mph high speed stability, I would use a 4x110 or 5x90 frame with no problem.

But, I'm not doing 50 mph downhills, I'm worried about 26 mile, point A to point B, mostly flat skating.

What makes me the most efficient is to be as relaxed as possible, not worrying about clipping wheels (my own wheels) and the most ease of double push stroke, which will starve off pronation.

The longer frames are neither relaxing nor easier to double push on for me, both of which give me less efficent skating and slower times.

I'm not using the higher ankle cuff to lock up my ankles:

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting if your pronating to get this boot to lock up your ankles with it's higher cuff and not work on your edges.

What this boot gives me, that my lower cut boot does not, is a stop at the end of the outside edge ankle throw.

I'm not just relying on the cuff to stop me from pronating.

With the FRX I can throw my ankle to the outside edge with force and have the boot catch me at the end of that throw.

Now if I was on my lower cut boot, I would have went to the ground when throwing my ankle to the outside edge with that amount of abandon.

On the FRX I can throw my ankle to the outside edge with force, even when my ankle muscle is exhausted, as the upper cuff will catch me when it goes to far.

On my low cut boot I have to lessen and or stop that outside edge throw (pronate) much sooner or I will go off the outside edge of the boot and go to the ground.

The higher cuff allows me to throw my ankle to the outside edge endlessly, as the cuff never gets weak like your ankles eventually will.

It's like training wheels on a bike, it goes only so far and then stops you from falling off the edge, when there is no outside edge muscle left.

Again, this would not be a problem for me if I could skate every day or every other day and if I was in my 30's again and not in my 50's.

Forward cuff flex:

.

The FRX boot upper cuff is hinged so it will give you the easy and smooth forward knee bend you need.

Most rec boots I've tried in the past would not let you bend anywhere which simply would not work for speed skating.

Now the boot cuff does bend quite far forward, but stops at a 90 degree angle when trying to push it back.

This would hinder a hawk skate forward position at a finish line.

Now I wasn't worried about hawking at a finish line. But, at times you may want to move the skate forward in your stroke and keep all the wheels on the ground. A cuff that stops at a 90 degree back angle would not let you do that.

Well, I ground the back of the cuff stop down to get a 30 to 45 degree angle back movement on the cuff and tested the greater movement.

I skated a good amount of time with the cut cuff forcing my foot forward to get used to it being there.

I then time trialled the boot with the cut cuff and the uncut cuff, doing a 3 minute test over and over.

Actually the uncut cuff was 2 seconds faster then the cut cuff.

I'm going to say they ended up the same for time but for myself at this point I can see I'm not loosing out having the cuff stop at a 90 degree angle as far as backward movement.

Cuff Height:

I just checked to see how much higher the FRX cuff was over my lower cut boot.

The FRX boot cuff is 3 inches higher then my lower cut boot.

But, at the same time I checked the forward flex angle of both boots and I was actually able to flex my leg further forward on the FRX boot then on my lower cut boot.

Because of the hinge in the FRX cuff, it's a smooth forward flex with no front of leg pressure.

Where on my lower cut boot there was pressure on the front of the leg, even though the cuff height is quite low.

Actually I didn't realize I could get more forward ankle flex and no front of leg pressure on the FRX then on my low cut boot.

Wouldn't have expected that, but those same words seem to keep coming up over and over while reviewing this boot.

Socks to use:

I screwed up on my first skate with the FRX boot.

Any boot I've skated on in the last 20 years with my just over the ankle bone socks are all I needed for socks.

Well, with this boot being 3" higher, my ankle bone height socks did not reach over the top of the FRX cuff.

Even though the FRX upper cuff is like a soft pillow on your ankles, after 2 hours of rubbing back and forth even a soft pillow will cause irritation.

It wasn't a blister but I could see a red mark on both sides of both legs around the upper cuff.

The red marks took a few days to go away.

If I would have had a higher sock on the first day there would have been no red marks.

I couldn't find a sock that stopped just above the FRX cuff.

Socks were either quite a bit below the cuff or quite a bit above the cuff.

I ended up with the higher sock and just pulled it down doubling it over it's self which allowed me to set the upper sock height where ever I wanted.

Addition:

I found that doubling the sock over in the calf area caused the calf muscle to cramp.

Because the sock was doubled over in the calf area it doubled the elastic pressure in the calf area.

When you look for a sock look for a Mid Crew sock and it will come just over the top of the FRX cuff.

That sock took care of the calf cramping problem.

New:

I'm finding the frames I'm putting on the FRX boot are sitting a bit forward on the boot.

This is good for skating on the front wheel of a skate for cone slalom skating but not for speed skating.

I like a frame to be positioned 50/50 front to back on a boot.

I prefer 50/50, but, if the frame has to sit a bit out the front of a boot, or a bit out the back of a boot, I prefer the frame sitting a bit out the back of the boot.

If I can get a 50/50 frame position I prefer the frame out the back because for speed skating your weight should be over your heels and not over your toes.

When they say bend your knees they mean sit back into a chair (weight over your heels), not bend your knees forward (weight over your toes).

If the frame is sticking out the front of the boot, when I sit in the chair there is no frame back there to catch me.

If the frame is 50/50 or out the back a bit there's enough frame out the back for me to lean on and not fall off the back of the skate.

If the frame is out the front of the boot and I move my weight back, I will go right to the ground as there is no frame back there to put my weight on to.

With that being said, the FRX has a single 165mm mount on the boot.

You cannot move the frame forward or backward on the FRX boot.

Now the FR1 boot has multiple front to back frame positions to mount to.

Here's what I found:

On the FRX boot:

Luigino Striker 4x90 11.6" - Frame sits 10mm forward

Luigino Striker 3x110 11.5" - Frame sits 10mm forward

Seba 4x90 10.8" - Frame sits 10mm forward

Seba 4x100 12.0" - Frame sits 10mm forward

Mogema 5x80 12.8"- 0mm (50/50)

Now with the FR1 boot I checked the back mounting hole and 2nd from back mounting hole.

The other 3 forward holes pushed the frames further and further forward which does us no good.

On the FR1 boot back mounting hole:

Luigino Striker 4x90 11.6" - Frame sits 5mm back

Luigino Striker 3x110 11.5" - Frame sits 5mm back

Seba 4x90 10.8" - Frame sits 5mm back

Seba 4x100 12.0" - Frame sits 5mm back

Mogema 5x80 12.8"- 0mm (50/50)

On the FR1 boot 2nd from back mounting hole:

Luigino Striker 4x90 11.6" - Frame sits 5mm forward

Luigino Striker 3x110 11.5" - Frame sits 5mm forward

Seba 4x90 10.8" - Frame sits 5mm forward

Seba 4x100 12.0" - Frame sits 5mm forward

So with the FRX boot the frame will sit 10mm out the front of the boot. With the FR1 boot you have the choice of 5mm out the front or 5mm out the back.

My first choice would be to have the frames sitting 5mm out the back of the boot, 2nd choice, the frame sitting 5mm out the front of the boot and 3rd choice, the frames sitting 10mm out the front of the boot.

Now if you're ok with the frames sitting 10mm off the front of the boot you will have no problem with getting the FRX boot with any of the Luigino or Seba frames listed above.

If you want to be back 5mm or forward 5mm you will need to get the FR1 boot.

Now if you want to use a 5x80 frame, it fits 50/50 perfectly on the FRX boot.

Because the Mogema 5x80 frames have 2 165mm mounts on it, it also fits 50/50 on the FR1 boot.

But, being that the 5x80 already fits 50/50 on the FRX there is no need to get the more expensive FR1 boot if you are ok with a 5x80 frame.

New:

Doing more frame position testing, the 5mm out the back frame position really is the position to be in.

I again skated on the FRX 10mm frame forward position.

It felt like when I put my skate on the ground the skate alignment wanted to stay in one direction and one direction only.

I ended up classic pushing most of the distance.

I couldn't turn the skate to the inside to do the double push at all.

There was nothing fun about it.

I was just setting the skate down and pushing to the outside.

I then changed to the FR1 5mm to the back frame position boot.

Wow, what a difference.

The fun level went from a 2 to a 10.

I could snap steer the frame into an extreme inside double push endlessly.

I was able to pivot around the front wheel that was much closer to my foot as opposed to not being able to pivot around the front wheel that was quite far from my foot.

I would quit skating if I had to skate in the 10mm forward frame position.

It took me 15 minutes to do the distance with the 10mm forward frame position and it took me 13 minutes to do the distance with the 5mm back frame position.

That's a full 2 minutes off of a 15 minute time.

That's allot.

With the frame in the back position I could see it moved my center of gravity more over my heels where in the frame forward position it moved my weight over my toes.

If we've learned anything over the years, it's that we want our weight over our heels.

The frame forward position makes that hard if not impossible.

So needless to say, if you have the frame sitting off the front of the boot, your really missing out on the boots fun and speed.

The FR1 boot will allow a frame back position out of the box. The FRX will not.

New:

I have now re-tested the Mogema 5x80 12.8" frames against the Striker 4x90 11.6" frames.

Since I have been skating on the 4x90 frames for a while now and have gotten used to the shorter 11.6" frames the longer 12.8" frames did not allow me to steer into the double push as proficiently.

Putting the 5x80 frame in the 50/50 boot position reminded me of putting the 4x90 frame in the 10mm forward position.

When you set the longer 5x80 skate down it wants to keep that same path and does not want to stray from it.

With the shorter 4x90 frame I was able to steering endlessly into the double push, with the 5x80 frame steering into the double push became fatiguing quickly.

On a 15 minute course the 4x90 frame was 2 minutes faster then the 5x80 frames.

It looks like I'll be getting rid of my favorite frames for the past 15 years, my 5x80 frames.

Taking all the above information into account I am currently suggesting you get the FR1 boot due to it's out of the box ability to mount the Striker frames in the 5mm back position.

Then couple that boot with either the Luigino Striker 4x90 or 3x110 frames.

I am currently skating on the FR1 boot with the 4x90 Striker frames.

New:

I cannot get the amount of torque I would like on the bigger bolts the FR1 boot uses with the wrench that comes with the FR1 boot.

The wrench I've found to be able to get the amount of torque I would like on the larger FR1 boot bolts is the Bondhus 45210 3/16" Hex Tip T-Handle 6".

If you search on Google or Ebay for "Bondhus 45210" a 3/16" yellow T-Handled 6" wrench should come up.

They are $10 to $15.

I tried 5 different wrenches before I found this wrench that I liked.

New:

Comments from a happy FR1 owner:

Did you write the "Seba FRX Boot Review" article?

What a fantastic piece of work!

I had never tried Sebas until I read that article.

Although I have a half-dozen pair of low cut boots (customized to my different-sized feet), I doubt I'll ever use them much again except maybe for racing.

The FR1s are great, as you know.

Jon D.

New:

Comments from another happy FR1 owner:

Hi Rich - just a quick note to let you know I skated on my new Seba's (4x90mm) yesterday.

I did ten miles on them and had a blast.

I haven't skated in 2 years because my low cut boots and big wheels (110) became too unstable for me.

You were right about the stability and mid calf support of the Seba's, it was the difference between wearing high heeled boots and sneakers.

Terrific!

The Swiss bearings were great and I will be upgrading to the faster wheels soon.

Thanks for taking the time to review the skates and the time the other day on the assembly of them.

I couldn't be happier with the skates and being able to skate comfortably again.

John T.

New:

Comments from another happy FR1 owner:

Hey Richard, Good call on the new FR1 setup, thanks for helping put that together.

It's odd, they don't "feel" or "look" like speed skates, but the extra stability and the control fixed that the first time I put them on.

It's odd skating on a short frame, I thought I would feel very unbalanced but that turned out to not be true at all.

I was able to hop right on them and speed off with no issues.

The boots seem very bulky compared to the boots that I am used to, but the looks are deceiving, they are much more comfortable and once you get going they don't seem bulky at all.

The shorter frame is also so much more maneuverable but also seems to work in the straight away just like my longer frames.

Eric E.

My testing has just begun with the Seba boot line so I will be continuing to add to this review as I know more.

Please call with questions: 1-800-668-5280

See the Seba FR1 Striker Complete Skate Here.