talkmagic.co.uk

Hey guys. I'm just about to start blading, and I'm wondering if anywhere here does it? Inline skating?

If you do, I have a couple of questions to ask, just to make it easier for meself.

hope you do lol!

cheers in advance!

Are we to start calling you blading beard ?

i wonder if i can still remember what a Makio is.
i used to be alright at blading, i gave up a while back, sometimes wish i hadn't

I'm actually quite proficient in inline skating...

I actually used to play a lot of roller-hockey (basically hockey with inline skates and slightly modified rules) before all those leagues shut down in my area.

What would you like to know?

First off, do you generally get half a size to a whole size bigger skate than your normal "walking" shoe size? e.g, in shoes I am a size 9, would i get a 9.5 or a size 10 in blades?

Secondly, I literally havn't attempted this since I was about 6 years of age. I want to have it perfected in 2 years, e.g. being able to go pretty quickly, jumping or even (dare I say it) grinding rails - mainly for getting aroudn Uni. I'm just wondering that, because it is literally my first time, if there are any specific blades you should get? or any features that you need? also, any extra advice would be very helpful.

And finally, I just want to say thanks in advance!

cheers!

As far as the size goes, it's pretty much different among the different manufacturers. Usually it's aout 1 size lower than your normal shoe size - but again - different manufacturers have different sizing norms. A "RollerBlade" size 10 might not be the same as a "CCM" size 10.

You then have to decide what kind of skates you want - fitness, leisure, extreme, hockey, etc.

It all depends what you want to do with the skates. The diffrent genres are made of different materials/methids of construction, and the WHEELS are different. If you're starting out but want to eventually do some serious skating, stunts, and other fun things I suggest you go with a harder boot. The fitness and leisure skates will have a softer boot, that, while being more comfortable, has less lateral support and rigidity necessary in tight turns and stunt manoevers. Laces offer the most control of pressure points around the foot - you can make it tight where you want, and looser where you need. However laces are usually reserved for the extreme "stunt" skates and hockey skates.

The other major factor is the wheels and the bearings. THe higher the number of the bearings (ABEC 5,6,7 etc), the easier the wheels will turn (less effort required to spin the wheels) and the faster you will go. Also, the bigger the wheels are (78-82mm are "big") the faster you will go in a straight line and the less effort is required to go a given distance. For leisure and fitness skating the wheels are usually big with bearings with a high ABEC rating. For stunt and hockey skating, however (where you want to stop, go, and make tight turns continuously), smaller wheels (72-76mm) and lower ABEC-rating bearings (3,4) are the norm.

The one other thing to consider is the wheel composition or "hardness". High numbers (82A and above) are harder wheels that will take more abuse, last longer, but have less grip. Softer compound wheels (72A) have more grip, but will wear out much faster and will break under extreme use (sliding sideways, sliding along rails, etc).

Disclaimer: technology continuously evolves with these items, so while all of the above holds true for a few years ago when I was more actively involved in the sport, I don't know what changes have been made in the past few years.

Hope this helps! Have fun.

thanks very much! I got me some skates today - grind pads, small wheels, laces, with clips at the top. £99, though I got them through my shop at material cost for £50. let's see how I go eh?

Happy blading!

As a former skaterboarder I'm duty bound to interject here with my favourite joke;

What's the hardest thing about taking up roller blading?

Telling your parents you're gay.

Good luck and have fun!

And there was me thinking this thread was for Sheffield United fans...

...or half-human, half-demon vampire killers.

bronz wrote:Telling your parents you're gay.

ha ha ha....

...but that's not the case for either roller HOCKEY players (like myself) or aspiring extreme skaters (like Blapsing_Beard) who bought a very non-gay pair of skates. So ... we're safe!!

good luck with it. I used to blade when I was about 14, it's great fun haven't done it for years though. I wasn't very good though, spent most of my time sprawled in a hedge (but that's a different story )

bronz wrote:As a former skaterboarder I'm duty bound to interject here with my favourite joke;

What's the hardest thing about taking up roller blading?

Telling your parents you're gay.

Good luck and have fun!

Funny Stuff!!

I also skateboarded for about six years, and took it upon myself to belittle my eight wheeled companions (in the nicest possible way!).

Still skate myself [skateboard] Just recovering from an injury actually, I jarred my leg whilst running off a poor rock fakie Could walk on it for a while.