PDA

View Full Version : Bont Alphas

flooritt
08-07-2008, 12:42 PM
Has anyone had any recent experience with these skates? I am looking for pros/cons and your personal opinions; especially comfort after heat moulding and how your foot feels after a couple of hrs of skating (ankle support?). What about the ABEC 5's - fast enough? I am skating on 7's now but don't have any experience with Bont bearings. Please let me know what type of skating you do as well. Thanks!
IW Staff
08-08-2008, 09:43 AM
The skates provide good support and fit wonderfully after molding to your feet. Hopefully others will get on to tell you their opinion. Bearings are fine as well and do not need changing in my opinion.

Stan @ IW
samus
10-01-2008, 11:32 PM
I'd like some opinions too if anyone has tried them? How does these compare with the K2 Radical Pro for example? My old skates which just crapped out had the heat molding and the fit is fantastic. I highly recommend, and want, the heat molding feature.
scottso
10-20-2008, 08:19 PM
I have been skating in the Bont Alpha for the last 6 months, and I love the skates.

They are virtually guaranteed to be comfortable after heat molding, because if they aren't, you just heat them up & do it again. You can repeat as many times as you want. I had one pressure point in a funny part of my foot that bothered me, so I heated them and pushed it out -- now they are very comfortable.

Ankle support in these babies is NOT a problem -- the material is quite stiff. As one of their reps pointed out to me, you don't need a high cuff for ankle support -- you just need a stiff boot. BTW, I am not a super-experienced skater, so if it's enough ankle support for me then it should be good for any intermediate or advanced level skater.

The ABEC5 bearings have been fine for me -- not an issue. I currently skate 10-12 miles at a time on 90mm wheels (Hyper Stripe, ordered from IW!) with the ABEC5 Bont bearings, and I average about 13 mph.

One difference between these and typical rec skates is that the Alphas are more difficult to put on. That's because the material is very stiff, and the fit is glove-like. It's well worth it.