I tried to read up on these reviews for a while with little luck. I finally bought these and used them tonight for initial break-in. I went down to size 9.0 instead of a 9.5. I usually buy skates and blades one size or half size too large. These are pretty solid with good bearings, and balance. Since I am using them to work on my stride, I also bought outdoor wheels which seem to be a good fit. The blades seem to be a little narrow but should stretch a bit.