USD Shadow Aggressive Inline Skate Review

These are the USD Shadow. They cost around $250 boot only. These are the re-released version of the original Xsjado from the early 2000s. They feature a large soul and negative area, and are adjustable to fit all different foot lengths.

What makes the Shadow unique is the innovative boot system. Similar to a snowboard binding, the liner is attached to the skate with multiple buckles and straps. This allows you to walk around like normal shoes when you’re done with your session.

I took them to my local skate park to see how they perform. I was surprised at how easy it was to lock on my grinds, almost like cheating. The skates felt great, but looking down at them was distracting with buckles and straps everywhere.

After my first session, I decided to test the walkable liners. They felt a little weird to walk in, but nobody noticed I wasn’t wearing normal shoes.

Over the next month, I tried the skates with different setups. I really enjoyed grinding with them, but big wheel setups felt unstable.

The USD Shadow are an interesting skate. Most of the appeal of the old Xsjados were that you could bring your own shoes. So you could always find a fit that was right for you. Now that the liners are required, you don’t have as many options.

I really enjoyed using them for aggressive, but as soon as I switched to a big wheel setup I started to feel unstable. They are great for grinds and have a huge soul and negative, so if that’s something you’re interested in you might want to take a look. But there are plenty of other skates out there, for less money, that might offer the same experience.