Arizona Derby Dames ~ View topic

Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 1824 Location: THE 602, BITCHES!

Got this from a roller derby coach group I belong to, just thought I'd share:

I am NOT in the skates business.

Skaters tend to shop carefully for pads, which is great. For skates, they tend to buy whatever their friends buy. Package skates, pretty much. The truth be told, most derby skaters really don't know much about their skates, how they work, what they could have gotten, nor how to upgrade them (besides bearings and wheels). I hear horror stories about travel team skaters on old R3s or Carreras that you can see and hear falling apart as they skate.

Package skates are designed to be useful for the largest numbers of skaters. Lower-end package skates tend to share a few things in common. The boots are made in large production runs which because the manufacturers, distributors and shops want to keep inventories from getting too large are only made in full sizes.

The plates are generally going to be DA10 (dual-action 10°) with cushions/bushings that are on the stiff side, and die-cast trucks that may break down mid-bout. They're mounted from the front of the boots to the heel with a really long (and stable) wheel-base. The average rink skater doesn't want or need skates that are more agile than that. More often than not they are mounted on nylon plates, which will compress during push-offs (costing speed), particularly with heavier skaters.

Odds are pretty good that the wheels have nylon hubs, which aren't really bad, but not useful for EVERYONE (particularly the aforementioned heavier skaters). Nylon wheels also compress, but the side effect to that is more surface area contacting the wheel, and greater grip (and slower rolling).

Larger/heavier skaters may want to think about aluminum plates (or magnesium, if they can score Magnum Whites or Super-Whites). A jammer probably wants something aluminum if they don't want to lose push-off to compression. If their wheels are too grippy, they may want to think about aluminum hubs as opposed to just focusing on durometer ratings.

Skaters COULD get the boots they want with the plates (in the length and mounting that they want), bearings and wheels they want at a decent price. But even the ones who can afford to pay more still tend to stick with packages. Either because they don't know their gear or they just wan't 'em fast and easy to return.

By the time a skater upgrades a pair of Torqs, R3s, or Carreras into a workable skate (replacing the wheels, bearings and getting urethane cushions) they've probably have spent more on synthetic skates that'll fall apart sooner than if they'd have bought a $155 pair of Rebels with Probes and Fugitives. If they bought the newer "Custom package" they'd have the same leather Rebel boot on aluminum DA45 (dual-action 45°) Invader plates with Fugitives and Qube Juice bearings for less than $200 bucks. The pair I just ordered come with color boots and were a good bit lower than that, ~$175.

$200 (or less) as a price point for a "starter skate" that includes leather boots, a decent quality plate that is actually designed to TURN and is mounted short-front (Aussie speed-style) so as to be more agile. Not for nothing, but I'm thinking this could revolutionize modern derby. Imagine if their competition starts selling standard packages with plates aimed at derby? Plates that turn more like a sports car than a 1973 paneled station wagon...

Check 'em out.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=165808&id=121870534512105

*~[Grand Poobah
Roc City Roller Derby

Joined: 05 Jan 2009 Posts: 488 Location: Phoenix

I brought up this skate package in the skate class yesterday. The guy who came up with this set up built a pair of my skates. Short forward da45 is the way to go for derby!

Joined: 03 May 2010 Posts: 354

where did you order that skate?
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Vicious Kitten #619

Coffin Dragger 2012

Joined: 05 Jan 2009 Posts: 488 Location: Phoenix

You can order the Sure-grip skate package from a distributer who sells their products.

Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 3722 Location: queentuckey

this sounds awesome!
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Dolly de los Muertos
#1112
Brutal Beauty
you suck