It’s not every day that a new skate manufacturer lands on the scene, so when one does it’s a pretty big deal. Standard Skate Company just released their first product, the Omni, and people have been excited for another option when choosing which skates to purchase.

Ostensibly part of the Fifty-50 and Balance Distribution ecosystem, Standard owner Lawrence Ingram has a lengthy background in product development and appears to have been patient with the skate design and release, seemingly intent on providing an elevated experience. So as skates hit feet for the first time it comes as no surprise that initial reactions to the Omni have been positive.

One of those early adopters is Minnesota’s own Mike French, well-known for his prolific skate collection and insistence on traveling with multiple pairs of blades. Aware of Mike’s deep history with different skates, we realized his perspective could offer nearly an unprecedented reaction to the latest hard boot to hit the market.

So on a mild February Sunday in Minneapolis, Mike teamed up with photographer Mike Lufholm to hit a spot and put the skates to the test. Here’s his first (or, rather, his “French”) impression of the new Standard Omni skate.

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From the moment I unboxed these things, my first reaction was that the skates were aesthetically pleasing. Everything seemed very solid—the materials did not seem cheaply made. Additionally, I was thrilled I only had to place the frames on the skate because the wheels were already loaded into the frames! I’m not sure if that was Long from OakCity Skateshop or Lawrence who made that super easy, but it was great.

Putting them on my feet the first time they felt snug. I’m a kind of wide 10.5, so I got the Large size skates. Even with a stubbed toe from skating with Rachard for One Trick A Day I was very comfortable cruising around. They fit true to size and weren’t narrow like an M12 or skates similar to it. I used the original Standard liner but anything else should work, too. I believe the liner Law has included with the skate may be the best option compared to the Intuition or Prime liners I swapped out because of their height differences.

One thing I think about with hard boot skates is weight. But the Standard were surprisingly light and easy to skate. I’d say they were similar if not lighter than an Them or Razors of the same size.

Most bladers don’t ride a stock skate, but I was riding the Omni right out of the box with the Standard frames and wheels. I did add some Phlebo Corp Buffers in between the frame and the skate because I am always looking for more cushion. Though normally you have to use longer frame bolts to accommodate this mod, the Standard stock bolts worked perfectly. I will swap out some different frames for my next session, but there are a number of options that should work really well for these skates.

Being a veteran blader, I’ve put my ankles through some serious trauma which I was reminded of by some pressure I felt on the inside of my ankle when getting low on alley-top topsides and front favs. But honestly that would probably be a factor in any hard boot skate. Besides that pressure, the cuff height is actually perfect, allowing the right amount of flexibility and stability on tricks and landings.

Of key importance to a lot of skaters, the royale grove lines up really well and they slide well on rails ad metal ledges, especially on H-block tricks. When grinding or landing they sound like a solid skate. The negative space looks pretty big too, though I can’t really speak on it specifically because I couldn’t do a negative trick if my life depended on it.

While skating and filming they looked as great as they felt. Being a skater, the view looking down at my skates is very important to me. Glancing down at these Standards, they were stylish and almost seemed like they were a size smaller. Especially compared with other brands where a big 10-12 size shell feels like wearing clown shoes.

Wrapping up my thoughts, for a first run of skates where bugs are pretty normal, and problems seem to arise from defects due lack of thought being put into a product, I believe these may be some of the most well thought-out and efficient first run of skates I have used in a while.

Even though I’m usually not a hard boot fan unless it’s an old school Classic Throne from USD, in my opinion these are some stellar skates. In fact, I just ordered a pair of black ones because I kind of scratched up these white ones up skating today! And yes, I 100% have a problem!

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Mike French photos by Mike Lufholm