A frame, deserved to be called a masterpiece : MST M10084 Type-R

Love-hate, it is an odd(and mixed) emotion. This is a feeling when one feels love. Love and hate is totally different feeling like both sides of a coin.

MST’s frames are the product that I feel love-hate. As a product, I feel “hate” against MST’s product, but as a masterpiece I feel love. It is an opposite concept of honorable treatment that I normally contribute for artisan and their work with the spirit.

Why I feel hate MST’s work as a product? Because it looks like a piece of work, not a product to be marketed and sold. In good sense, masterpiece looks good but its life is short as a product because one made the masterpiece will be suffered of poverty and one will give up making the masterpiece.

In the past, CEOs of Viper and FX-4 had worked with the spirit in the beginning of the business and that made me felt pity for it. As a good result, fortunately, customers acknowledged that the products are a masterpiece and the companies continues their business and their technology is acknowledged in the world market.

Nevertheless, MST is stepping the same path even though there are many companies foregoing. I hope MST also become successful. But I’m overcome with apprehensions. Although I fell, “It’s enough”, as time goes by, a new work of piece came, and I say again, “it’s enough”, and the other developed masterpiece came. At this moment I feel my love is changing to the feeling of hate because I’m afraid of MST will go down because of to much effort. That’s why I mentioned the love-hate.

It is appropriate to aim the perfect work. But, as many people know, there are companies succeed with treating customers as a beta tester like Microsoft. Microsoft is not a company with artisans but they know what is marketing. So they succeed and pay back to the customers sacrificed with the money they eared on reproach.

Anyway, though it’s absolutely enough to use what he made before, here comes new work of piece of Mr. Tae Sang Kim. I’m just appreciated of his maintenance of keeping the way of making masterpiece even though keeping advance without marketing is quite risky.

Again, a new masterpiece, deserved to be called not only a product but also a work of piece, it is MST M10084 Type-R.


- Click to see wide view of the frame.
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- Side view

At the first time the proto type of 845 frame of customer cooperative production, secondly straight 100mm frame was made, thirdly standard 845 MST frame was launched and finally, the second 100mm frame, 10084 (100/84/100/100mm) product is launched in the market.

I feel it's very odd because 10084 is a product created combining last two product cleverly, When I saw the second work of MST, I took fancy to it. For the third work (845), I was so impressed emotionally, and finally this 10084 make me surrender.



Well, I can't find anything to blame on this 10084, even though I'm kind of people like to blame.

10084 is made of aluminum Alloy 7075, the stiffest material among AL 7000 series. The frame is not made of extruded method but only with NC machining. It takes more than 5 hours to complete a set of frames.

Some people mentioned that the stiffest frame is not always good. I know it is partially true. But there are many skaters like stiff frames, so this is the best product ever for them.



In spite of T6 treatment, surface constructions, affecting general strength of a frame, is hard coated up to 120 when that of existing frame is normally 50. Material is the stiffest and the surface construction is also the stiffest. We can say this frame is invincible.


- Cross braces, a circle pipe inside and hexagon post outside


- Front


- Again, cross brace, front


- mounting slots of backward


- The color of surface is very odd, not gray and not khaki. Smoothly worked.


- Axle is tighten like the picture.

It's not easy to find big differences. But it's different. See carefully inside, the shoulder and its inside.



Close up photo of the part. Is there something different? Look carefully and you can find there's no screw thread on top of it. This is bolt guidance method to prevent damage of axle's screw thread. By mistake, the screw thread can be broken if it's not inserted properly. Normally, the thread is carved up to the thickness of frame's wall, but to prevent thread broken by accident, the length of the thread is shorten. So the part of hall without thread is working like a guidance of an axle. Quite elaborate consideration, isn't it?




See the picture above. Can you find something different? Usually axle's head is not well hidden on the wall like the picture. In this case, the axle is well hidden by calculating accurate length of each part of the axle. Can you see what the benefit is? The shoulder is stuck strongly to the axle. So the axle is not loosened easily and prevent over-tight and able to protect spacer. The material of the axle is AL 2024 with T6 treatment.


- Upside down.

The weight of the frame is 210g. MST's straight 100 (100mm x 4) was 260g, which is too heavy, and 845 was 230g. The weight of 10084 is very attractive. Now, the straight 100 is being remanufactured in 220g. Anyway 10084's weight is quite appropriate. When I saw the straight 100 in 260g, I can't find answer of the heavy weight in spite of stiffness of the material, AL 7075. (Afterward, Mr. Kim, the CEO of MST said, the weight was increased by mistake in the construction process.) In fact, with the material, even 160g is sufficient to gain the stiffness and strength demanded. But to satisfy what the manufacture told, "it can be broken because of extreme strength but must not bend." So it's strongly constructed. Perhaps, there is no stiffer frame than MST's in the world.



An aluminum bar weigh 3.8kg is carved into a frame of 210g with NC machining. Even though the work is what the machine does, the hardness of work is beyond our common sense. So I can't dare to say this is a product, but call it a piece of work.



The 10084's profile is 3mm higher than ordinary 1084 frames and 5mm lower that MST straight 100.

At the first look, this is the frame that I really don't want to skate on. This is an extremely gorgeous frame just to lay on the higher whatnot to see and feel so good. I often think that I would go out to skating link to make my strongest frame to battle with other's(in other words, hitting other frames with my own to find out the consequences).

Well. I think I mentioned a lot of strength of this frame. Now this is time to say the weakness of it. Usually, weakness is part of strength. Extreme stiffness can be also one of weakness. Rebound of soft frame can't be expected because of ultra stiffness, moreover, this frame is made to expect delivering accurate power from a skater and receiving reaction from the ground. In actual skating, it's easy to find what is a real rebound is.

And the second weakness is the price. J Even though many good frames are getting cheaper than that in the past, the price of MST's products are much more expensive, or the most expensive. (I don't like to mention the price.)

A single mounting slot can be also a weakness, but I don't think it's not so big deal. There are a lot of boots equipped with several mounting holes or sliding block.

Finally, what I like to mention before finishing this article is… Sometimes I expressed the frame a piece of work or a product. I think it's better to change every expression to a piece of work. J

I guess If we will found a hall of fame for inline skate frame, this 10084 can be one of the piece able to be named on it like below.

Name of Artist: Tae Sang Kim
Name of the work: MST M10084 Type-R
Year : 2004년

This artisan is still alive. :) If you call 016-779-0701 you can hear his voice, too. :)
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