It breaks my heart to see great old skates being thrown away. This is what was about to happen to these Roces LAX (Los Angeles) skates when their owner decided to buy new ones in September 2009. Because of their above-average potential, and also because they were my size, I just couldn’t let that happen and decided to give them a second chance.
The skates were in relatively good condition, just a lot of scratches on the front and sides, but no real damage. The liners were completely worn and the wheels turning to dust. The spoilers lacked stiffness, like they all did back in the days if you ask me, and their weird green colour wasn’t entirely to my taste, so that also needed taking care of.
- Roces LAX (Los Angeles) skates size 43
- Seba FR liners size 43 (40€)
- Rollerblade TRS/Twister cuffs (25€) with bucles (20€)
- Rollerblade bucles (20€)
- Seba High sliders size S (9€)
- USD cuff screws (5€)
- Matter Freeride wheels 80mm (80€)
- BSB Swiss bearings (45€)
- Aluminium 6MM spacers (8€)
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- Complete!
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- Front view, Seba High slider
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- The small Seba High slider fits perfectly!
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- The new buckle, USD cuff bolts
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- The in side of the new buckle
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- ROCES repainted silver
So the total cost for this customization is 252€ and only took a couple of hours. I really like the result. It’s an original and retro looking skate, and although it doesn’t match any of today’s good freeride skates, it delivers a very decent skating experience. The skates take 4x80mm without modification, which is quite rare for skates from those times, and the 80mm can even be rockered after minor changes to keep the front wheel from touching the plastic above it.
Hello Thias,
I’m the owner of a pair of Roces LAX size 10,5 (bought back in ’96). I’ve used them for about 14 years until the left boot cracked on me while doing a brake-twist.
I would like to replace the boots and keep the frames, bearings and wheels, since those are still working fine (Changed the bearings/wheels not so long ago, and I like my old “Tartaruga” frames).
I know today’s skates are made with UFS measures, and I’m pretty sure the LAX are pre-UFS. Any ideas about where to get the boots and how to replace them?
Thank you!
Joe.
Hola Joe,
I happen to now also own another pair of LAX, one which came with Tartaruga frames. All I can tell you is that finding a pair to replace yours won’t be easy, though your best chance is watching eBay (Germany and Italy have Roces skates occasionally). If one of the boots is cracked, then you’ve lost the best part of the skate : The tartaruga frames are very heavy and made of plastic, the original cuffs aren’t very rigid, and the wheels/bearings can be reused on any skate anyway…
One other thing you could try is to “fix” the boot with some kind of fiberglass or special plastic. If it can be done on the inside and in a place where it would not bother the foot, it might work.
As a last note : Twister 243 frames fit nicely the LAX models which have Tartaruga frames, since those are mounted with screws (unlike the one here where the plastic frames are riveted). So if you manage to save your shells and want to upgrade your skates, it’s a good and not too expensive option. If you can’t save them and you liked them a lot, complete Rollerblade Twisters would definitely be skates you’d feel comfortable with : Shells even harder, cuffs even stiffer and aluminium frames.
HTH,
Matthias
Hi Matthias,
I’ll definitely keep an eye on eBay for those shells, which unfortunately are way beyond repair (the crack goes from one side to the other).
You’re right about the Tartarugas, they’re heavy and plastic-made; however, I would like to try to “save” them as well as the rest of the parts that are still working.
I’ve noticed that the shells and the frames are connected by using some “spacers” which are attached to the shells by using rivets. The spacers have all the necessary holes and pins to attach the Tartaruga frames, so I was wondering if you know where to get some basic shells to which I could adapt the spacers and then just screw the frames to them. Adapting the spacers seems pretty straightforward, since it only involves some perforations and putting some new rivets. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the back of the LAX shell (and also the Tartaruga frame) is higher than the front (I think the Twister 243 are also like that, judging by some photos).
Thank you!
Jose.
P.S. You can see the spacers here:
http://tinypic.com/r/2j5mhkz/7
http://tinypic.com/r/24lvcdk/7
If you’re ready to drill and rivet those spacer plates into some shells, pretty much any “standard” shells should do (about 1cm height difference between the front and the back). Still, I really don’t think that the Tartaruga frames are worth that effort, as just about any shells will already have better frames than those ;-)
Hi again,
What about these shells?
http://www.aggressivemall.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=USD-SHELL-CLASSIC
They seem to have exactly the space/shape to hold the LAX spacers, can you confirm please?
Since I’m sensing that may be you too live in Europe, any idea where to get those inside Europe?
Thanks,
Jose.
I don’t think these would be an easy fit. The Classic Thrones are very uniquely shaped, which maybe doesn’t show enough on the photos : The heel part needs a big large sole plate in order to be complete (read: “to not leave the rear sides ugly because of missing plastic”), the front is nearly the same, and the cuff holes won’t match as the Throne cuffs are very wide, whereas the LAX are much more narrow.
Hello Thias
I own a pair of Roces STO Stockholm inline skates, they have the Tartaruga frames and came with a 72mm wheel and abec3 bearings. I was kind of hoping to upgrade both wheels and bearings but I am not too sure if these frames can take a bigger size wheel. I would really appreciate if you could tell me if these frames are capable of the kind of upgrade I was thinking of (76-78mm wheels and perhaps abec5-7 bearings.
Thanks
Jaytee
I’d have to check on the ones I have to be sure what the maximum wheel size is for the Tartaruga frames, but I’m quite sure it’ll be 72 or 76mm, no more. And 78mm wheels are quite hard to find anyway, at least decent quality ones.
Hello Thias
Thank you for your swift response. Spoke to a fellow skater who advised me that the type of frame I have doesn’t support rockering the wheels. Would this help any? Sorry for the time it took to reply.
Thanks
Jaytee
Rockering doesn’t help at all, unless you want to skate with a rockered setup, usually for slalom. If you just want to skate around in a typical “fitness” way, then a normal flat setup is best anyway.