We are really excited to have tried the Chaya Melrose roller skates in dusty pink. These skates are, by far, some of the nicest skates the writer has used. We talk about comfort, price, aesthetics, ease of use and suitability for beginners. These skates provide very good value for money and are extremely good for the beginner skater, in the writer’s opinion. Although not very expensive compared to some other brands, they are possibly the writer’s favourite pair of skates…More below! The skates are given a best roller skates rating – more below!
First Impressions
The Chaya Melrose Elite skates come in a variety of colours and the styles differ slightly. The skate pictured above is in dusty pink. The wheels on the pair above are called ‘Mellow wheels’ and have a lovely marble effect. The outer edges of the wheels are also quite curved compared to some other skates, giving them great agility and this seemed to help with turns and sticky skating (see our sticky skating blog). The boot is heeled and when tried on, they feel like a pair of boots you would wear to walk in. They are the best skates for comfort the writer has tried – you could believe you were wearing trainers. The laces are not too slippery which is another bonus compared to some other brands – they do not constantly slip open. The writer has never needed to retie the laces on these Chaya Melrose Elite skates.
The lining of the skates is plain but soft and comfortable. The skates are also vegan and cruelty free.
Chaya Melrose skates are not too heavy with a nylon plate, but they do seem of a good quality. A really nice touch is that the plates are ‘pink’.
The dusty pink skates shown above also come with pink toe stops. The colour of the marble effect mellow wheels compliments the pink of the boot and the toe stop. They look really nice and don’t feel like they are slightly too big and bulky like some other brands of skates.
Our best roller skates testing of this product
The writer has done a significant amount of skating in these Chaya Melrose dusty pink skates. It was noted that the wheels roll slightly slower than some other brands (like the Moxi Lolly – see our review – to follow), or the Moxi Beach Bunny (see our review here: Product Review: Moxi Beach Bunny roller skates (sophiablogs.co.uk). However, the bearings can be upgraded if it is felt this is necessary.
The skates provide quite a nice level of balance, but it is noted they do have a shorter wheel base than, say, the Moxi Beach Bunny. The wheels are a large size meaning they roll over cracks and bumps quite easily, at 62mm. The hardness is 78A. They are ‘almost’ as large as the Moxi Gummy wheels (65mm). They were a very comfortable ride! See close up of the wheels below:
Even after skating for a significant amount of time, the skates still look really nice and did not become very ‘scuffed’, although the writer has not yet taken them to the skate park. The Chaya Melrose dusty pink skates seem to be quite waterproof – there is an ‘almost shiny’ coating on the outer layer and they would not absorb water very easily. For this reason they would make excellent skates for people skating in England or anywhere with adverse weather conditions.
The skates felt relatively smooth and there were no issues using them. As noted, the bearings could be upgraded as they didn’t seem, in the writer’s opinion, to be as good as the bearings on the Moxi brand of skates. The Moxi skate wheels spin for a significantly longer length of time meaning less effort is required when skating Moxi skates.
Best roller skates rating – Pros and Cons
Pros
- Extremely comfortable for beginners – the best skates for comfort. They were a pleasure to skate in
- At circa £100, the price is extremely reasonable.
- Chaya Melrose make a few different colours to choose from for this line – they are all very nice
- They seem to come out with new versions/colour variations continuously. Some of the options have got smaller wheels. Asthetically, they look very dainty and have the grace of ice skates They are the writer’s favourite pair in terms of how they look on the feet
- They can be taken to the skate park
- The stiffness of the boot helps with balance and control and provides stability
- The wheels roll over cracks relatively easily and the mellow wheels are of a good size for street skating
- They are very durable for all weathers
- They are vegan and cruelty free
Cons
- The bearings could do with an upgrade to make the effort of skating, a littler easier
- The shorter wheel base may mean they are harder to maintain balance in for a beginner, when compared to a line like the Moxi Beach Bunny. (See review here: http://www.sophiablogs.co.uk/post/template-product-review ).
- The skates are not suitable for aggressive skating due to the nylon plate.
The Final Verdict
These skates are possibly the writer’s favourite skates to use, and they also were the cheapest – which is remarkable. We would give the skates a best skates rating of 8 out of 10, with 10 being excellent. With an upgrade to the wheel bearings, we would probably rate them as a best skates rating of 9 or 10 out of 10.
Anyone interested in purchasing a pair of Chaya Melrose Elite skates can find them linked below:
We would love to hear your experiences of using the Chaya Melrose Elite skates or your thoughts or concerns about purchasing them. Please comment below if you would like to share anything.
