It wasn’t that I needed a fourth pair of skates at all.
This fourth conversion kind of just… happened.

I already have my die-hard GH artistic skates that I practically live in. Then there are my Roces hockey boot conversions for street skating. And in my defence, my third pair —Slades — were a birthday gift from my mum.

So, about this fourth conversion…

Another skater I know, Jack — who’s well-versed in carpentry and big DIY projects — was thinking about having a go at taking on his first roller skate conversion. After hearing him mention it a few times, I remembered I had an old pair of Rookie skate plates knocking around in a drawer somewhere [they’d been sitting there, gathering dust for at least two years now].

I offered to lend them to him so he could play about with them and get his first conversion under his belt.

Then, not long after I'd handed the plates over to Jack, my first pair of Doc Martens [that I'd ordered the previous week], arrived in the post. I tried them on and loved them. And of course, the thought occurred to me that they'd look nice mounted on some eights! My excitement began to grow. And so, I felt compelled to do it.

Jack was up for the challenge and got started on the conversions. It didn’t take long for him to realise the flexible rubber soles needed reinforcement for them to operate well as skates. That would ensure my weight transfers through the trucks properly — instead of getting lost in the bendy rubber soles — and so he made a custom steel plate for the inner sole.

He cut the steel to fit perfectly inside each boot, then mounted the skate plate onto the base of the boot, securing it in place through the steel inner sole. Now, those classic soft DMs had a rock-solid foundation, ready to roll.

He even carved a neat recess into the thick tread, then put a custom plate within the recess, so the plates could sit flush against the underside of the boot. The finish? Absolutely beautiful.

When I got them back, all I had to do was play around with different wheel hardness, sizes and colours to finish the build. I also added a 2 cm heel lift under the insole, so they'd match the height of my GH skates — so switching between pairs wouldn’t feel as extreme in their differences. It improved my ability to balance and control these boots more effectively. 

It’s taken me a couple of sessions to get used to skating in them [and I'm still not 100% there, but its still early days]— mostly because the DMs are soft leather, which is in complete contrast to my super stiff GH boots. But honestly, every time I tweak the set up [trucks, heel height, lace tightness, even my sock thickness] and skate around in them, they feel that bit better. I've worn them three times so far, and I can almost do everything I can do in my regular skates, although the edging isn't as responsiveness, but this is to be expected with a much softer boot. 

I really love them. despite the differences. They're pretty fun.

So yes, I now own four pairs of skates. But hey — I’m an avid skater. That’s just how it goes, right? And, I know I’m not alone in this.

If you're after a unique custom build [using a pair of soft or rubber soled shoes or boots, you can contact:

➡️ Jack on Instagram @jigsysk8s

He’ll hook you up with a made to measure steel sole [so they'll be fully functional as skates]. Trust me, there’s no shoe that can’t be converted… so go ahead, be as creative as you dare!