I'm in the Nacogdoches Roller Girl League and I own and skate in the Riedell 122S. In the beginning these boots will tear up your ankles. It is straight up stiff leather and will bring a tear to your eyes when you first start to skate in them. In order to fix the pain I bought ankle supports from the local Walgreens, which protected my ankle bones from being rubbed until bloody. Now that I have skated in these boots for quite a while and broken them in now I don't have to wear the ankle supports to protect my ankles and the boots feel nice. My skates have been pretty sturdy and have done well for me while skating hard and rough in them. The Riedells have taken as much abuse as my body has and so far so good. I would recommend these skates to other derby girls. Also, these boots are nice since they lace almost down to the toe. If you have wide feet this is a nice option since some skates are pretty narrow. I have wide feet and can make accomodations for that since these boots lace down to the toe. Also, I would highly recommend that with purchase of skates that toe guards are a must too. If you don't get toe guards and continue to practice falls you will rub away the leather on your toes and also will go through shoe laces very quickly.

I found these skates very comfortable (even the first time I put them on) and I love them. The lack of a collar at the ankle makes them very comfortable for me. However, I miss the ankle strap. I laced a separate pair of short laces through the heel strap, tightening them more than the regular laces - that helps a lot. Overall a really nice derby skate.