High Performance A Low Price

How many times have you heard the salesman say, "This is an excellent product at a low price?" only to discover after the purchase that it was a "little" lie? This is definitely not the case with this frame by Besten. Though not a familiar name with inline skaters, Besten is a company that deals with semiconductor-related equipment and a proud company with some of the best technology in the field.
Then made this company suddenly decide to make inline skate frames? That's the fun part of the whole story. The president of Besten was looking to buy his son a pair of inline skates when he was shocked at the high prices and decided to try making his own equipment. He used his free time to work little by little on the equipment in his factory, and the rest is history.
Let's take a look at the product made by one man's "fun" project.

1. BORA frame

As you can tell, this is a compound frame is put together with "flat board" aluminum, screws, and bolts. Most skaters would not even think of using a frame built like this. Why? This is the type of frames you would see on the low price, low quality "beginner" skates. I must admit that I was thinking the same thing when I first received this frame. However, the more time I spent with, the more I became more attracted to it.

Product Characteristics

Preconception 1. A compound frame can never be better than a one-piece frame.
This frame is made with the strongest AL7075 T651 aluminum. This already sets it apart from some of the cheaper one-piece aluminum frames.
Manufacturing AL7075 aluminum by an extruded process was supposed to be impossible. Simply, extruded processing is to take something and make it into any desired form. However, it is not so easy with strong aluminum. They become brittle and break or lose their special qualities in the process.
Therefore, the typical method of using 7075 aluminum is to take a block of it an cut it for many hours until you get the shape and form you want. Long cutting hours translate into high manufacturing costs. Since all you really need is a sidewall and lattice, a lot of the material is wastefully thrown away.
The BORA frame is manufactured from a flat sheet of aluminum, cutting down on waste. It is forged aluminum, so we can expect the frame to be equally dense and high in strength. This is Besten's "know-how" in making this high performance, low price frame.

Preconception 2. Compound-type frame connection points are weak and not very durable.
No matter how strong a material the frame maybe made of, if the connection points are weak, they will not be very durable and become deformed.

Besten minimized this problem by utilizing a method used in building a traditional Korean house. We call it a "screw-fit" form.

2. Connection types (BORA's shown on right)

While most "flat board" type frames joined together by a simple screw system, the BORA frame was manufactured to have strong durability by going through another process to make it like a "one-piece" system, as seen in diagram 2.

3. Connection of support braces

4. Mount platform and sidewall connection

Preconception 3. "Flat-board" aluminum is easy to process.
I am not an expert in aluminum processing. However I know that it is easier to cut a desired piece from a "flat-board" aluminum than a single block of aluminum. Therefore, the processing time for the "flat-board" is much shorter. However the actual process is much more difficult because of the deformation tendency of aluminum.

If you look at the inside of the BORA frames, you will notice that the aluminum frames is not a simple "flat-board" with varying thickness (diagram 5). This variation is to compensate for needed strength in stress areas (which testifies to the difficulty in manufacturing). The front and rear areas which receive a concentration of stress are in an arch form for strength (diagram 6). In addition, elasticity (tension) can be expected with this this type structure.

5. Sidewall interior

6. Arch type structure

Test ride
I tested the BORA frames on Miller MX boots and with Looka 90mm wheels and Looka bearings.
I am able to do both front and rear setting with this frame, however, I chose to do a front setting. My very first feeling with the skates on was that the frames felt long. The addition of 10 wheels and bearings on top of the 206g frame made the setup feel a bit on the heavy side.