Review: In-Line Come Lately

New companies enter the game, expanding your fitness-skate options
By Natalie Kurylko

Your biggest decision is whether to go with soft or hard boots. The trend is toward soft-boot construction: a single thickness of stitched materials with plastic reinforcements, providing a snug, conforming fit and inherent ankle flex. That's not to say it's for everyone. Some will always prefer the hard boot's combination of a plastic shell and foam liner for its ski-boot-like support. Either way, a good fitness skate lets you crouch low and execute long strokes, which imparts the best exercise benefits.

Beyond the boot, the distinctions betweena fitness skate and a similar-looking, lower-performance recreational skate are better bearings and a longer chassis, or frame. The longer it is, the larger the wheels it will accommodate, and the faster you can skate. For that performance you give up some of the quick-turning ability you'd want if you were skating in traffic. In any event, all ten of these skates are a dramatic step up from years past, designed to let you log miles with greater ease.

As you might expect from a hockey skate manufacturer, Bauer's X-ceed ($330) is exceedingly stiff. The lace-up soft boot extends fairly high, and ankle and cuff straps keep your foot cemented to the footbed. The only problem is that the footbed and the rest of the liner reflect an austere philosophy: cushioning would compromise performance. Bauer raises the heel slightly on the X-ceed, a women's model, to set you in a more forward stance, but not in its sibling X-ert ($350) for men.A longish wheelbase means you can cruise along at a daring clip. Perfect for the weekend roller who wants to graduate to a faster skate — or for the hockey player who wants to take to the streets.

Fila's Interval ($380) is most assuredly a fitness skate, with its conforming, lace-up soft boot, performance-length frame — made of titanium, no less — and big, 78-millimeterwheels. Yet thanks to formidable internal support, the Interval would be comfortable in the rough play of pickup hockey and unafraid to skate off a curb or two. Fila touts the ease with which you can rotate its wheels, suggesting that with an Allen wrench you can drop them out of the frame, axles and all, without taking them off. You'd have to be far along in yoga class to manage this maneuver, but the Interval's axle system is somewhat easier to maintain than that on most skates.

Aspiring racers hesitant about committing to the technically demanding rigidity of five-wheel leather speed skates will love the K2 Freedom ($500). Yes, it has a long, stiff, carbon-composite chassis with speedy 77.5-millimeter wheels, but the real story is the boot. With the lowest cuff of any of the skates we tested, the Freedom allows optimal ankle maneuverability — you can get low enough to limbo. The leather-and-mesh boot is light, breezy (it has vents at the toe and on the base), and stitched to hug your foot without creating pressure points. A moldable gel in the ankle provides a custom fit without putting pressure on the ankle bone — a common problem.

The lightweight Nike Air Tailwind ($230) draws from two schools of thought to serve novices and experts alike. The boot consists of an athletic-like shoe made of synthetic leather and mesh, plus a high nylon cuff that's hinged at the ankle. The cuff pivots forward but not back or to either side, encouraging you to go low while providing lateral stiffness and power. The only problem is a lack of ventilation for the toes, where you want it most. But considering the long carbon-fiber-reinforced nylon chassis outfitted with 76-millimeter wheels, the Tailwind may be the best value of the bunch.

If you've logged enough miles in rental skates to know what a T-stop is but don't feel bullish about investing in the equipment, consider Oxygen's Ozone 1 ($170). It's a straightforward, three-buckle hard-shell skate with enough ankle flexibility that you can easily work on perfecting your performance stride. In fact, if you have weak ankles, you might find the Ozone 1 too flexible: The low cuff pivots fore and aft, and a cutout in the shell above the forefoot means that some people's feet won't feel secure. Still, the cutout and a mesh liner provide a pleasantly ventilated ride, and you get 76-millimeter wheels and a fiberglass-reinforced plastic chassis for your meager outlay.

Lace up the polyurethane shell of the Roces Melbourne ($270), take a few strides, and the comfort and flexibility will have you swearing you're in a soft boot. The secret? Roces builds the shell with varying thicknesses of polyurethane to put the stiffness only where it's needed — mainly on the sides. The comfort comes in the ergonomically molded liner, which helps lock down your heel (and which is thoughtfully cut lower on the women's model). But while this skate's standout characteristic is supportive comfort, its ventilation is also exceptional: Numerous slots under and along the sole keep your foot cool.

Rollerblade offers novice skaters something they can be proud of in the Viablade HWY 7 ($160). It may not sparkle with the best hardware, but a contoured plastic cuff offers support without binding, the plastic frame absorbs some road vibration, and it isn't so long that it trips you up. If you should get the 74-millimeter wheels rolling uncomfortably fast, you'll appreciate Rollerblade's innovative new brake, the ABT2. It takes advantage of the beginner's instinct to lean back when frightened: Apply a little rearward pressure and a lever attached to the cuff presses the brake pad down, so you never have to lift the front wheels.

The Rossignol Descender ($449) is all about adding power to your stroke, but not through the traditional means of absolute stiffness. Rather, the Descender has a hinged aluminum frame designed to work a bit like thenew clap skates that are helping speed skaters beat so many records these days. When you initiate your stroke, the frame compresses; as you extend your leg to the side, it decompresses, keeping the wheels in contact with the ground as long as possible and thus getting more energy from your stroke. It feels a little awkward at first, but the plastic-booted Descender is superb at straight-ahead distance skating, which doesn't require abrupt stops or turns.

The Salomon TR 8 ($329) is a featherbed for your feet. Inside the conforming synthetic-leather upper are two kinds of padding to balance comfort and breathability — stiff, thick foam at the cuff and heel for support and open-cell foam at the toe vents for breathability. You can crank down the laces and be sure they won't slip once you start rolling, thanks to locking eyelets. Though the TR 8 is outfitted with big (77.5-millimeter) wheels and a light, stiff aluminum alloy frame, it's not quite as responsive as you'd otherwise expect from such a seemingly powerful combination. Still, it's great for long spins.

If you don't have silky ribbons of bike path at your disposal, consider Tecnica's CT 5 ($415), a skate that damps the jackhammer sting of rough asphalt. Tecnica's AntiVibration System, pioneered three years ago, is the best shock-absorption system available in a skate. It mutes vibration with 3-millimeter rubber inserts between the aluminum frame and boot, and a heel plate that rests on compressible rubber columns inside the boot. The tall, stiff cuff isn't ideal for shorter skaters, but it explains why the CT 5 is favored by skiers and those who log miles on rough, hilly terrain: It offers stability on high-speed descents or slalom courses.

Natalie Kurylko skates in Boulder, Colorado.

Photographs by Gary Hush