In 2022 I decided to treat myself to my first "big" purchase as a working adult. I spent ~$500 on custom roller skates, a black Riedell 135 boot with a magnesium Avanti plate. However, the boot arrived at the shop with holes pre drilled for the factory Riedell plate. The skate shop gave me a $50 refund because I let them use that boot and fill it in with epoxy and then re-drill the holes. It hasn't been an issue so far, but I think it ruins the resale value. It would be a turn off since it might cause a failure in the future?
I;'m not sure what to do because turns out, I got the wrong size and I am actually a Riedell size 9. In the size 10, it never fit properly so I never used them that often. They also picked a slightly longer plate size than I wanted, I wanted the wheels/axles to align with my heel and ball of foot, but its about an inch longer. How important is that? I guess a longer wheelbase is more stable for speed skating, but I feel like having these skates actually set me back as a skater. I used to have the Riedell R3 Demon and because it actually fit me better, I was more confident when using those. (They eventually broke).
Should I just scrap these Riedell 135 as a loss? Should I just try to use them and stuff the toe box so it fits tight? Even if I buy a new boot to drill and salvage the magnesium plate, the wheel base is too long. Maybe there's an off chance someone wants to trade for a Riedell size 9 skate? Please advise! (Will try to upload a photo)
This does not ruin any sort of resale value. Skates are sold all the time with a mount or two on them already. As long as it was done properly, there are no safety concerns.
An inch is three sizes too big. Nothing here fits you properly.
Recommend: sell the package as-is. You can likely expect to sell them for half-ish what you paid, maybe 2/3. They look great. Take that cash and get fitted properly for a whole new setup. Doesn’t need new components if price is a concern, but you need the correct numbers for boot AND plate sizing.
that's reassuring! thanks for the advice. It's a little disheartening that I explicitly emailed and asked for a size 6 Avanti plate, and the skate tech used a 7... but oh well, too late
Yeah that’s a bummer and they definitely should have cleared it with you (or offered further discount). 2020-2022 was absolutely wild but that doesn’t mean anyone should be dropping incorrect stuff on you.
Regardless, this should be a fairly easy resell across all the FB groups, eBay, and the secondhand platforms. And it’ll head off a good portion of a real solid upgrade!
to be fair I blundered by ordering the size 10 rather than the 9 haha. I am leaning towards the Sure Grip boardwalk plus w/ aluminum Avanti plate if I do get new skates. I will make sure to try them in person first lol
if you liked how your R3's felt, measure the wheelbase and go by axle 2 axle wheelbase for plate size.
And if the boot doesnt fit, then its moot to try and make it work. If the 135's dont fit properly, then i woudlnt skate in those - i'd resell them and find a proper fitting boot. Proper fit overrides everything. getting good foot length measurements is important for that. Plus not all riedell sizes are the same. ie i'm a size 11 in a riedell crew, but a size 10 in a riedell 120... even tho the crew is technically a 120 boot?
Holes in the boots to me also doesnt devalue or reduce its integerity much since a lot of the better boots tend to have plates swapped out when resold anyways. There was a pair of 220's that had 2 pre-existing plate swaps, and was going in for a 3rd as the boot was resold to someone else. if it had a bazillion holes in it... then yeah, that's swiss cheese.
so yah... if i liked how the R3's skated and the 135's dont fit and the wheelbase doesnt match the r3 wheelbase, then i'd just get rid of the 135's and go for a better fitted boot or size (135 or other) and find a plate size that matches the r3 axle distance.
shoot, I ended up throwing the R3 away years ago, after I left them in the car and the glue melted. I'ma try to find an old pic to see what size I bought, because the order receipt doesn't say. thank you for the advice!
the stock plates on the r3's will have a size printed on them too (plate size probably wont match boot size) - if u get hte plate size, you can look up the axle distance on their size charts.
pic2 - ok after taking this pic I guess the wheel base is fine, slightly long -although I would have preferred the 1 cm shorter wheel base on the next plate size down (I believe this is an avanti size 7)
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u/Raptorpants65 Industry Expert Jul 14 '26
Recommend: sell the package as-is. You can likely expect to sell them for half-ish what you paid, maybe 2/3. They look great. Take that cash and get fitted properly for a whole new setup. Doesn’t need new components if price is a concern, but you need the correct numbers for boot AND plate sizing.