I’m not even trying to deny that I am a shopaholic, because I am! Not that you should be proud of something like that. But it’s better to be honest about it. So my new out of control “hobby” called Inline Skating, stimulated my senses to spend money again. And now for real: I didn’t got any gear……so I had to.
(Pssst, secretly I still had very old inline skates, but these were nibbled on by an unidentified critter, eww. 😶 So I threw them away, don’t tell my mom. Sorry mom, if you read this).
Back to the topic: what did I buy last year and am I happy with these items? And if I don’t like it, what are the negative points of this article?
Inline skates
The most important investment – obvious!! – if you want to go out and learn to skate! With this being said, I want to give you one strong advice: go to a real store, where inline skaters work, on a not busy time of day of week.
First timer? Do not buy your skates online.
Personal, thinking you can comprehend several skills better if you buy Inline Skates that fit your needs and goals. The internet does not listens quite as well to your wishes. A passionate and specialized person in a store does (at least, they should do). So do invest to find a store that you think fits your needs.
Last year I bought these inline skates: the powerslide phuzion 90 ⬇️
positive
- They fitted my budget. If you’re still unsure whether your new hobby is here to stay, it’s better not to spend too much money on it. But also: don’t buy too cheap ones, good chance really cheap stuff fits horrible and you will quit because of this. And that would be a shame. These pair of skates costed me €145.
- Comfortable. Yes, you have to wear them a couple of weeks for fitting nicely, but they don’t hurt my feet and never really did. And if your as stubborn as me, buying your rollerblades online. At least measure your feet. I bought a size larger then I usually buy my shoes.
- Stupid reason (but in a strange way this is important for women 🤷♀️): I think they look nice. And that is totally up to yourself!
negative
I don’t know why, but áfter I bought these Inline Skates and did some first time rides, I did some research about which inline skates to buy. I came across this website of @thisissoul. Which is in fact a specialized skate store in Amsterdam (The Netherlands. They pointed out what you should buy when you start out.
- Not enough wheels: before I bought my inlines somewhere I read that 3 wheels were better then 4 wheels concerning being more stable on uneven grounds. And with a terrible pavement and asphalt in my neighbourhood I thought it would be the best choice. Having to admit now, that 3 wheels do not feel very stable
- Large wheels: my pair of phuzion have 90 mm wheels. With smaller feet (like me) I should be better on 80 mm wheels. Larger wheels makes you tall from the ground and the techniques likes braking and stearing are a lot harder. However, big wheels are making you getting faster. So if that is what you are looking for, larger wheels are just right for you!
- Too flexible: the combination with a soft boot and velcro straps, makes that my skates are quite flexible. However that sounds better, this results in a less effective transfer of the desired movement to your skates.
Big advice: look at the video’s here below, I think they can help you with your choices.
Helmet
There are people who think helmets are stupid. But my brains are quite important to me, so therefore I bought this nice one below ⬇️
Positive
- It has a relative sleek frame and isn’t heavy. So it doesn’t make my head look and feel like a pumpkin
- This is very personal, but it fits me well. Important thing: if you buy your helmet online, measure the circumference of your head. What really is a plus, is that the helmet comes with two sizes of comfort pads. With this you can personalize the fit even better.
- Nothing to do with safety, but this helmet is available in different nice colours. Nice for customizing your looks 😎
Negative
Not that this is the best and only helmet, but for me there aren’t any downsides to this helmet. I’m happy with this one ✅
Protection gear
I’m sure I have mentioned it before but here’s the thing: you will fall somehow and someday with inline skating. Hopefully it will be a soft landing, but it can be unpredictable and a pretty hard one. To protect yourself for some damage: wear protection gear. Oh, and the thought that you don’t look cool with them? Don’t bother other people, they have all kinds of stupid things to say.
Staying a bit more safe, first I bought the set below. Why? It was the same brand as my inline skates (Power Slide) and other people gave good reviews.
The two things I wear always going out on my skates are my knee and wristguards. My experience is that I fall most on these two parts.
Positive
- Easy: until now they saved me from damage. The plastic is hard and thick enough to absorb hard impacts
- Like the helmet, measure the circumference of your arms, wrists, hand en legs to have a descent fitting of your protection wear. With this having done, these items stay where they should stay
One advice for the wrist guards: if you wear a (sport)watch, keep the circumference of your wrist wearing the watch in mind. Otherwise there is a risk the wrist has to little grip with the velcro.
Negative
Not a real problem, but they look a bit cheap (and they are not expensive, so that is probably the reason). And yes, the knee pads are a bit bulky. Anyway, we are not on a fashion runway. Not for this (or maybe a little bit 🤫) I bought another protection set ⬇️
The Ennui elbow en knee shock sleeves. The material on top is made from a kind of foam (MYFIT Shock Protection Cushion (SPC)) which is quite soft when you press it, but with impact it hardens and gives you a good protection.
Positive
- Easy to put on: no velcro streps. Just pull them up and there you go 🚀🛼
- The surface of the protection fabric is a bit larger than my other set. Especially in the summer this is a nice addition when wearing short sleeves and shorts
- I like that they are very light weight and flexible. Therefore they have a more comfortable feeling
Negative
However I’m really happy with my Ennui set, they have two downsides:
- You can’t wear them above leggings, and because I’m not a baggy wearing inline skater (you can wear them under you cargo pants): in the winter I’m switching to my powerslide knee pads
- There are silicon strip on the inner side, with this the knee sleeve stays in place. But this strip only on the upper side (above the knee). So the sleeve tends to roll up in my knee. Not uncomfortable, but a bit frumpy.
So the Powerslide set is my winterset and the Ennui set is my summer set ☀️. For the sort of inline skating I’m doing right now, they both meet my needs. But I’m sure there will be more sets in the future.
One thing for sure is that for the next inline skates I will get advice in a specialized store. There is “a risk” you’re paying more then a only online shop. But I’m convinced that the help with making the best choice with the skates, will make me and you easier progress and with this having more fun on our wheels!
This is it for this week, see you the next one 🙂