Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have owned my Cardiff S1 skates for over six months so as I write this review it is from the perspective of using those skates almost everyday during that time frame. First my wife bought me these skates as a part of my 65th birthday celebration. We had seen an ad on tv and I was really impressed as I wanted to start skating again and was afraid to move to blades due to weak ankles. One of the first things I learned after not skating for the past 45 years was that skating unlike bicycling which you never forget, has to be relearned. As this implies that means one can count on falling a few times. Based on my experience I strongly suggest the purchase of protective guards and a helmet to minimize the trips to the local ER. So far I've not had to make any of these trips. Once I started using the skates I discovered just how stable they really are. When one starts to go forward the initial thrusts are much like regular quad skates. Once moving however the rear wheels can pretty much remain in contact with the ground at all times. This includes turning which only requires lifting up the front wheel of one skate, pointing it in the direction you want to go and letting momentum and centrifugal force take care of the rest. The other area of learning included what kind of shoes to wear. I included the accessory ankle strap with the S1's. With that in place I've worn everything from slip on deck shoes to running Nike's, leather oxfords and in one case even a set of sandals that had a strap that tightened behind the ankle (not recommended as you can easily get a blister). Without the accessory strap I've found that a good set lace up skate boarding shoes such as Van's, Converse, PF Flyer's etc. do well. It's important to chose a pair that has a stiff insole to keep your foot in the skate when using just the front strap of the skates. As I said earlier, once you get going the skates are pretty much on the ground most of the time and having a skate come off is really not a big issue. When I first started skating again I put on quite a few miles just learning how to skate in parking lots, on skate and bike trails etc. Once I got the hang of it I started using my skates almost everyday to go across our subdivision to the cluster box to pick up the mail. The round trip is .37 of a mile so over 6 months I put on just about 50 miles getting the mail. This past Saturday I was just taking off to do that when my skates broke right behind the left wheel. I was pretty upset so I got on the computer and sent an email with a picture and a scanned copy of the receipt for my skates to Cardiff Skate Company. I was shocked when within 24 hours I received an apology from Cardiff for the product failure and information that a new set of skates was on it's way to my house. They also included a prepaid return label to send my current skates back to the company. My new skates should be here in a couple days. There were no questions asked, there was just the apology and statement of how they valued me as a customer. I was pleasantly shocked. If this behavior on the part of Cardiff Skate Company is there to instill customer loyalty let me tell you it works. I've had to deal with so many companies who put their shareholders ahead of their customers that to find one like this was pure joy. So if you are considering getting a set of these skates please do not hesitate. This is a good product by a good company that stands behind that product and supports their customer base.