K2 mach 100 BOA review

[dsa0224]

these are my second pair of skates after my rollerblade crossfire 90 MX 2010 version.

i bought my K2 Mach 100 BOA from inlinewarehouse.com got it in 3 business day shipping via UPS. Price: $299.00 USD


Pro's: Very agile, very fast, big difference in comfort compared to my rollerblade crossfire 90 MX. High-low setup . 2 X 90 MM in the front with 2 X100MM wheels in the back. you get the best of both worlds , stability of 90 MM with speed of 100 MM wheels in the back. make sure you arch you foot so you can benefit from the wheels. very soft boot, assuming i have skating stamina/ AKA Im fit, you can skate for hours on end. has ILQ 9 bearings. but i replaced them with Bones Ceramic Reds bearings. smooth riding since then. my wheels are a bit faster than my crossfires.

the two good things of the high low set up are: stability since you are not that high off the ground. smaller wheels give you better center of gravity thanks to the 90mm in the front. the other is that the boot and the wheel configuration makes your foot arch, bending your foot a bit forward into an aggressive skating position.

the cuff is really stable but the stability is a bit weak above the ankle area. i have soo much room above the ankle area that i can fit my cell phone in it. i guess its good for articulation so that my ankle can move around.

lastly the BOA lacing system is phenominal.. say good bye to pressure points. its tight enough to stabillize your foot but loose enough to allow a decent amount of movement and comfort. just push the dial, turn until your wire laces are decently tight. pull on the knob to release the mechanism to allow you to loosen your skates from your foot. putting your foot into the skate is soo darn easy. the strap is okey for the most part. the ankle buckle provides the most support. the BOA lacing system is far from perfect. it allows you to be comfortable but the stability is a bit weak compared to reg. laces.

frames are good size, if it was the k2 radical 100, longer frames makes maneuverability a bit crappy.

ilq 9 bearings: they are what they are..

the cons: not much but the soft boot causes your foot at times to slide around during skating. make sure you tighten up the BOA laces to minimize this.. there is lots of comfort in these skates, but the stability is a bit lacking.
the K2 softboot is like wearing socks. there is very little ventilation compared to my 90 MX's. and there black so that means on a hot day, there is a lot of heat build up. wheels can be too tight and may not spin as what you like.. just make sure you have a tool to loosen the screws a bit so you get the maximum amount of spin.

these are fast as hell skates but maneuverability can be a problem.. doing crossovers is not that bad with these.i guess thats the price for getting all that speed



FINAL WORDS: they are really awesome intermediate skates: if you need that speed with some decent stability, these are for you.. these skates are little brother of the k2 radical pro.. the k2 radical pro has a high low setup 2 X 100 frontal wheels with 2 X 110 in the back. speed is very impressive.. stability is there when you need it, but need more of it.. but the selling point of these skates is COMFORT.. no pressure points, no blisters after 2+ miles. easy to put in ( takes about 5 seconds) and easy to take out and put into a bag. those 100 MM wheels make a difference. even though 4 X 100 mm wheels from the radical 100 are faster than these skates, this K2 mach 100 BOA has more stability thanks to low center of gravity and the frame not being too long.



dsa0224' overall score: 92/100

[EngineerSauron]

I have the K2 Moto 80's

And I like em, pretty much exactly as you said, only I think the comfort and stability inside the boot are perfect; since its the Moto 80's I max on 80's but still go fast, I do 15 miles a day and my avg 1 mile split is from 5:30-6:45, not busting my butt but keeping up my pace. I control wise its hard to stop once going that speed, but hey the more I skate with these the more I learn how to control them, cross-overs at least for me are hard, just started to be able to do a sharp turn around. (instant 180).

Other than that I like these, but can not compare these are my first skates since I used the hand me downs of my parents, which I believe were some sort of Rollerblades.

[Sk8Lily]

Thanks for the review! Covered all of the important points very well, too bad I'm a Rollerblade girl and that Boa is patented! But who knows, I have a couple of more years on these Marathon Carbons left probably, so I might try a K2 down the road as that Boa system is sweet and the Soft boot sounds very appealing

[alvag]

Originally Posted by Sk8Lily

Covered all of the important points very well, too bad I'm a Rollerblade girl and that Boa is patented!

May be I'm wrong, but I see nothing revolutionary in BOA. Rollerblade has had a very similar system for years now... even Salomon had such a lacing system.

[dsa0224]

Originally Posted by alvag

May be I'm wrong, but I see nothing revolutionary in BOA. Rollerblade has had a very similar system for years now... even Salomon had such a lacing system.

well dude i can say this, my feet dont hurt anymore after a mile of skating. my rollerblade crossifire 90MX are still good skates, just they gave me a minor blister both feet and pressure points. many people dont agree with the K2 high low set up, or the soft boot. but i got to admit, they like having pillows on your feet.

[Sk8Lily]

Your right Alvag, Rollerblade did offer a "similar" lacing system with the TFS but for some reason they have discontinued that a couple of years ago now. And Salomon did have a "Speed Lace" system which was fairly user friendly but this Boa is crazy simple. I have it on my K2 snowboard boots and it's not like those other ones mentioned. The knob pushes in or out and spins to either loosen or tighten. K2 put a TON of development into it and it's been on their snowboard gear for awhile now. But again, I've skated on Rollerblade skates since the early nineties and even though I like K2 snowboarding stuff I'm not ready to give up my RB's just yet, lol

[vyper005]

I just picked up a pair of the K2 Mach 90's (non boa) pretty awesome so far

[dsa0224]

Originally Posted by vyper005

I just picked up a pair of the K2 Mach 90's (non boa) pretty awesome so far

k2 mach 90's are good bro. in a way i wish i got those instead of the k2 mach 100 BOA.. save money in the process..

besides going up hill with 90 MM wheels is alot easier.

[jaro]

You should avoid BOA lacing system on inline skates if you want long skate life and tight fit. The skate isn't protected well against the steel cable, its just matter of time before the cable starts cutting the skate. You can tighten classic laces much better than BOA without any damage.

Your foot shouldn't be sliding in the skate, you either got a skate that is too big or the skate isn't tightened properly. In either case your push eficiency drops. You can check your fit by inserting your foot into the skate, and pushing it as forward as you can so that toes touch the boot. If the space after heel is more than 1cm, your skate it too big. Ideally there should be less than 5mm after heel.

I would definitely recommend the K2 Mach 100, but with classic laces.

[topcarbon]

what did you not like about the bearings?

I find my ILQ 9 pros last a lot longer than my Bones Swiss.

[Banzai]

Do these have the famous K2 flip axle insert in the plate?
(It's kinda looks like a hex nut w/an offset hole for the axle)
If it does you can roll all 100's or all 90mm if you turn them all the same way.

My old moto 84's had this (80,80 84,84 set up w/ flip nuts) and I went to a 80mm hockey wheel. still my most comfortable skates.

Thanks for your insights =)

[Merfe]

Do these have the famous K2 flip axle insert in the plate?
(It's kinda looks like a hex nut w/an offset hole for the axle)
If it does you can roll all 100's or all 90mm if you turn them all the same way.

No, they don't. There is no way to mount 4x100 on the Mach 100. I have a pair and they're great. I even like them better than the Radical 100, which I tried and found that they don't wrap tightly enough around my narrow feet.

[dcop]

I just got a pair Mach 100 Boa's, the boot is like a slipper, very comfortable. Bought them from Londo Mondo and ended up with the BOA's for 212 USD because the ones with laces were out of stock, so got the same price. I do 24 or 36 miles a day and the 100mm's wear out fast! I rotate almost daily but still. First skated on them July 28 and today the core was showing. ugh, could get expensive. I'll be putting on K2 radical's 85a, hope they last a little longer. The 90's in the front are still ok. Any suggestions on longer lasting wheel for this Hi-Lo setup?

[theDonnybrook]

dcop, don't use the K2 wheels. In my experience they wear very fast. The Bont G4 mint green wheels seem to wear well but I don't have personal experience with them yet. I find the Atom One (now the Matrix) wheels wear very well, also. You can usually find decent road wheels in 100mm around $10 USD each. The bigger wheels are more expensive, though. There was a comment in the speed forum that talks about there not being very many good options for 90mm wheels. I liked the MPC Street Fights for road. They are heavy because they have a small core, but if you are just using them for training, you can't beat Inline Warehouse's price of about $8 per wheel.

[dcop]

Good suggestions, looking for some now. Thanks donnybrook.

[Heldergaspar]

If anyone lives in Canada Sportchek is selling K2 Radical 100 for 229, RB Tempest 100 for 279, and tempest 110 for 349. Huge discounts since the season began, tempest 110 was going for 499.