Cheap rollerblades - bad idea?

[mat777]

Suddenly on a whim I have decided that mountain biking, and cycle commuting in a busy city arent dangerous enough.. and that I fancied getting a pair of rollerblades.
Now, I'm a student and therefore tight as a drum, so if I did give in to myself and get a pair, they would have to be cheap.

Ive just found a pair of these on ebay:






at first glance they look ideal and are under a tenner brand new! however i am slightly worried by the very low price, and that fact that unlike most skates i've seen, they are a soft shoe not a hard shell. in fact, they look like some trainers with a set of wheels glued to the bottom!
so, are they are a good bargain, or a shoddy product guaranteed to break and best avoided?

[Hoofy]

That brand is definitely the Argos end of the spectrum. However, I have a cheap pair for about £40 as well as a £300 pair of Roces. Without trying it, you won't really know. As for the trainer style, what will count is how supportive it is around the ankles. I've torn a ligament because a cheap pair wasn't supportive enough but that was on a vert ramp...

Wait.

I mean, gnarly, dude, that's like totally rad but if you wanna catch big air get some Roces.

<twitches>

Oh, get some wrist guards. If someone calls you gay for wearing them, ignore them as they're not likely to ferry you around while you're nursing broken wrists.

Edited by Hoofy on Monday 27th February 01:03

[mat777]

Well, I suppose I can give them a go indoors first so if i dont like them I can sell them on still in as new condition.
I wasnt intending on doing mad tricks with them (not yet, anyway), but was thinking of commuting into uni and going for a few laps of the road round the downs on them. Methinks I have been watching too many beach babes commuting by rollerblade on Miami Vice

[Hoofy]

mat777 said:

Well, I suppose I can give them a go indoors first so if i dont like them I can sell them on still in as new condition.
I wasnt intending on doing mad tricks with them (not yet, anyway), but was thinking of commuting into uni and going for a few laps of the road round the downs on them. Methinks I have been watching too many beach babes commuting by rollerblade on Miami Vice

Just do the straps up really tight so there is zero foot movement. Then see how much it supports you. If the skates are not an extension of your leg and are tapering outwards then they are too loose and you'd better work out where A&E is in advance.

[130R]

[mat777]

Hoofy said:

Just do the straps up really tight so there is zero foot movement. Then see how much it supports you. If the skates are not an extension of your leg and are tapering outwards then they are too loose and you'd better work out where A&E is in advance.

Thanks for the info. given that I'm a borderline 7/8 in trainers, does one normally go up or down sizewise for the fitment of skates?
Handily, I live less than a minute's walk from the local A&E and infirmary!

[Hoofy]

mat777 said:

Thanks for the info. given that I'm a borderline 7/8 in trainers, does one normally go up or down sizewise for the fitment of skates?
Handily, I live less than a minute's walk from the local A&E and infirmary!

I can't remember re sizing. I'm sure it goes down but it's been a while since I bought skates (like about 13 years!).

Well, at least you can crawl to A&E.

[Yiliterate]

Cheap rollerblades >>>

>>> You've Been Framed >>>

>>> £250 >>>

>>> 6 months' convalescence >>>

>>> Expensive rollerblades!

[croyde]

When the in-line craze started back in the 90s we bought a pair of expensive Bauers which we probably used 3 times before they ending up under the stairs.

I dusted then off in the mid 2000s and stuck them on eBay. Got £4.99 for each pair including wrist, elbow and knee protection. There were loads back then going very cheap on eBay so unless the craze is back shouldn't you be able to pick up a decent pair for peanuts?

I've got some expensive Bauer hockey ice skates, only used twice, if you fancy taking up ice skating

[Hoofy]

Yes, maybe it would be a wiser idea to get a decent pair of secondhand skates: Bauer, Roces, K2 all make decent skates.

Yiliterate said:

Cheap rollerblades >>>

>>> You've Been Framed >>>

>>> £250 >>>

>>> 6 months' convalescence >>>

>>> Expensive rollerblades!

[mat777]

croyde said:

When the in-line craze started back in the 90s we bought a pair of expensive Bauers which we probably used 3 times before they ending up under the stairs.

I dusted then off in the mid 2000s and stuck them on eBay. Got £4.99 for each pair including wrist, elbow and knee protection. There were loads back then going very cheap on eBay so unless the craze is back shouldn't you be able to pick up a decent pair for peanuts?

I've got some expensive Bauer hockey ice skates, only used twice, if you fancy taking up ice skating

This was the cheapest pair in my size:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251004477869?_trksid=p51...

...which should now be winging their way towards me. Yes, I've got a bed reserved in the hospital

[Hoofy]

I highly advise you to get some wrist guards! Elbow and knee pads and a helmet are optional (I only wore that st in a skate park). Of course, all the cool kids don't wear anything but have likely visited the hospital with wrists in unusual positions.

[mat777]

I have seen a pair of snowboarding wrist guards on ebay, they however seem to be made of neoprene and simply look like finglerless gloves. Ho do such things work?

[croyde]

Get the wrist guards that have a solid bit of metal/plastic that goes from your palm to a few inches past your wrist. They saved me some pain.

[Hoofy]

croyde said:

Get the wrist guards that have a solid bit of metal/plastic that goes from your palm to a few inches past your wrist. They saved me some pain.

I've fallen WITH wrist guards on and felt soreness in the wrists so can only imagine what would have happened had I not been wearing them.

They are dirt cheap... about £5 a pair in a normal sports shop so you could just go to one or something like Argos and try them on. They should make it very difficult to bend your wrist as the metal or plastic "splint" prevents wrist movement.

[matlee]

You get what you pay for.

I started out back in 1996 with a pair of £35 jobbies, ABEC1 bearings, horrific plastic wheels and hardly any support in them....I thought these were amazing though! that was until i tried a pair of Roces Rome. Saved up my newspaper round money and a few weeks later splashed £120 on a pair of Romes. I then got bitten by the aggressive skating bug and a few months later bought a pair of K2 fatties for iirc £260. These were in another league altogether, made the cheaper ones feel primitive. I think the last time i put on a pair was back in 2004, i did find myself browsing skates online a few weeks back, out of nostalgia, and they quality skates do seem a lot more affordable these days.

Nowt wrong with cheap skates to get you started.

[Hoofy]

matlee said:

K2 fatties

I remember them. They were the coolest as they looked like skate trainers with wheels.

[matlee]

Hoofy said:

I remember them. They were the coolest as they looked like skate trainers with wheels.

Over a decade on the Fatties for sale now are still pretty much identical to the originals. Of all the skates ive ever had they are the only ones ive kept, ive got a sentimental connection with them and just cant bring myself to get rid of them.



Someone mentioned the sizing, you up size. So if youre a size 8 you want to get a pair of 9's.

[castex]

You'll need to learn to t-stop - that's a tricky one. I didn't bother, just took the silly brakes off since I'm such a good skier and that...From which point it's all about choosing your lamp post and sticking to it.

[Hoofy]

castex said:

From which point it's all about choosing your lamp post and sticking to it.

It is by far the most effective way of stopping.