These skates are built for speed and they are FAST! In my younger days I would probably put these on and immediately get up to full speed and figure out how to stop when I needed to. Now that I'm older, the first thing I realized is I better figure out how to control my speed in these things. I'm much more used to the curve in hockey in line skates, so these have a much different feel and it is much harder to do a quick stop by turning. If you aren't familiar with it yet, you'll have to learn how to t-stop. It is a much different feeling in maintaining your balance and control. I felt like my legs and core were working out even more in these than other inline hockey skates. In short, these are built for working out in an area where you have a long, flat path. I would NOT recommend these anywhere you have lots of hills or in an urban area where you have to worry about pedestrians and traffic. It can be very tough to stop on a dime, even if you are an "elite" skater.

The boot is very comfortable to wear, with a lot of padding so I didn't feel any one area rubbing. It is fastened with laces at the bottom and two ratcheting straps. It took me a little bit to figure out how to unlatch the lower strap, because I haven't seen this mechanism on any of my prior in line skates. Basically, you have to push down on the two outer plastic "wings" on the ratchet mechanism. Tightening it is intuitive, as you just pull up on the metal clip in the middle. It would have been nice if there was a little pamphlet or slip or something to explain that. The two straps also pivot down and out of the way for when you need to lace them up. The frame is a "hybrid series" aluminum and feels fairly light. After many uses, the wheels are holding up nicely with no excessive or unexpected wear.

Overall, these Roller Derby Elite Alpha skates are great for anyone who has long, flat, uninterrupted paths and want skates that can move them at high speeds. These are not for novice in line skaters or for skating in an urban area with lots of curbing and the possible need to stop suddenly.

Great mid-level 125mm skates!
Put about 150 miles on so far, the wheels still are holding up well.

These are some huge skates! They look really futuristic, i love it! They will take out some space, so you will need a place for them. They fit very well and they are extremely durable. The fit can be adjusted with many options and very secure too. Get ready to fly with these. Seriously, they are very fast and glide or slide well, very well! Three wheels is smart, and they are large. I recall having 5 smaller wheels on my old skates and stuff always got stuck in them or other issues happened with the wheels, etc. I do recommend these. Great workout on these around the house!

These Roller Derby Elite Alpha 125MM 3-wheel Inline Skates are probably the most comfortable and fastest inline skates I have ever had.

The shell on the boot is super protective but the padding is so well done that they are extremely comfortable - particularly at the ankle. I prefer a more protective shell and this one is the best I've had. It features two buckles and lacing for a perfect fit. This is unsex sizing and the manufacturer says to go down one size if you are a woman but I wear a size 10 in women's shoes and this size 10 fits very well with socks of average thickness. I like a bit of room in the toe anyway so if you do, too, maybe consider ordering your normal women's shoe size.

There are no instructions of any kind included, which is a mistake IMO. The two buckles have different ratcheting mechanisms and the bottom one is quite puzzling at first. The trick is to locate the two wings on either side of the buckle and push them downward. Then the buckle releases immediately with no problem.

Also note that there is no braking system so I would consider these to be better for experienced skaters. And even experienced skaters will have to expect to replace the wheels more frequently without a braking system. But the speeds achievable with these skates make it worth it.

I want to like these. I really do. It's just that after only a few uses, I'm already having trouble with the bottom buckle on one skate. As in it wouldn't come undone for about 5 minutes. Thought I was going to have to cut it off.

Yes, I've had these type of buckles before. No, they are NOT confusing. Tried to even tighten them a bit, to see if the clamp was just "off". It was. Wouldn't tighten either. Just slipped.

However, after getting stuck in them, and not even being able to slide my foot out, I'm afraid to put them on again.

They are super fast, comfortable, and smooth. Being used to smaller wheels, I'm finding them difficult to turn (about 30 years of roller blade experience), but I can already see how this will quickly improve with practice.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend these because of the buckle issue