New Skates = Fucking Rad.

[spacebug]

They deserve the expletive.

Once I got all done swapping bearings and lacing and relacing and putting the toe guards on and re-tightening the toe stops and everything and finally got up to skate, that is.

I got halfway up and my feet came right out from under me- the plates/wheelbase are shorter, so they balance differently than my old skates- it's a similar sensation to having one's heels hanging off the end of a diving board at first. This also forces my stance to be more forward, so once I get more used to it, it should make me more stable instead of less. The bearings are smoother so they roll more easily. Faster! Yay! These things together when I wasn't quite prepared for it when I tried to stand up put me on right on my butt. "Whoa, yep. Different!" Faster/more responsive skates also means stopping feels a lot different- the first time I tried to stop from a decent pace I fell over. The shorter plates mean they're better suited for quick maneuvering on a derby track, and this is a huge difference. Once I started getting the hang of the new balance point, I found that going faster with less effort helps me have way more attention placed where it should be- on what's happening around me. I didn't realize how much of my attention was going to just keeping pace with the pack until I didn't have to worry about it as much. Gaining speed on corners and from crossovers is different. Easier.

The boots I got are crazy different, too- my old ones are kind of big and cushy and these are much more fitted and have laces all the way to the toe; they fit almost as close as climbing shoes would. I also had them made narrow for my skinny little feet. It's a lot easier to get them *really* tight and my feet were going numb after a short time, but it was much better once I loosened the laces a bit. My old boots are some of the widest ones made, so I was used to needing to tighten my laces as much as possible and still having wiggle room. A lot of girls with these boots have complained of lots of blisters and break-in pain, but I'm not doing badly. The only place they hurt my feet was the back part of the ankle. I didn't get any blisters anywhere else on my feet, though the muscles in my feet are working differently so they felt a little strangely fatigued afterwards.

I still want to get new wheels... the ones I have now are actually too short for the axle and they wiggle a little more than they should. I'm going to put a washer or two on there to fill the gap until I get new ones. New wheels will also likely be lighter, the wheels I run now are some of the heaviest.

Yay! New skates!

Comments

[spikenheimer.livejournal.com]

what do you mean too short for the axle?
you shoudl be able to tighten the nut to reduce wheel travel along the axle.

or are you sure the axles are not 7mm vs 8mm?

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

I mean I tighten the nut all the way down to the end of the thread and there's still play. The axles are 7mm. That doesn't have anything to do with the wheels, but it is why I needed new bearings.

[spikenheimer.livejournal.com]

cool.

actually thanks for reminding me. i need to order a spare set of 7mm bearings for when my new wheels come in.

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Aw, you don't want to spend 25 minutes swapping them every time? C'mon.

[nibblesonwords.livejournal.com]

makes me want to get new skates, except that i have no really good reason to get another pair. *wistful sigh*

[insomniacgrrl.livejournal.com]

Hey I heard some of the Rockits are coming to our practice tonight. You should come and show off your new skates. It'd be fun to skate together.

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Yup yup! I'll be there!

[fortunine.livejournal.com]

It's actually really interesting to listen to you geek out about skates. It sounds like a studied analysis and even though the concepts are foreign to me, I assimilated them readily through your discourse. How cool.