My new rollerskates!

September 2009.
With my first pair of skates

Once upon a time... back on Black Friday 2011...I took the bus to NYC for an important purchase: new roller skates!

I got my first pair of derby roller skates in September 2009. Riedell 122 boots, dynapro plates, and Atom Queen B wheels.  This was one of the basic new skater packages recommended by the Hellions.  Moderately priced, decent gear, but not fancy.  Queen Bs are now discontinued, which is a shame because I actually really liked them. I've already had them re-grooved once by the local rink.  But I have since upgraded.  Actually, I am probably one of the only Hellions that does not own a set of Atom Omegas. You might even call it the Official Wheel of the Hellions of Troy?

Hellions of Troy Atom Omegas commercial! (kinda not really but kinda).
Pork Slap (orange wheels) has since upgraded to Omegas.

I'm not usually one for Black Friday shopping, but since I had the day off from work, and I like adventures, especially as related to roller derby, I headed on an early bus to NYC which dropped me off in midtown Manhatten.  I was easily able to navigate myself to the Subway (I'm a big girl now!) and   soon found myself in Brooklyn a few blocks away from Five Stride Skate Shop.

Five Stride is owned and operated by Bonnie Thunders and OMG WTF of NYC's Gotham Girls Roller Derby. The Hellions traveled to NYC/LI at one point last year in March and we made a pit stop at Five Stride. Here's a picture of Kitty getting fitted for her new skates by Bonnie.

The rest of the Hellions, including myself, may or may not have been star struck, but we really really tried hard to play it cool.  Except me and Knockout Kid more or less failed.

Anyway, back to my new skates!!!

The set up:
Riedell 495 boots in red, using the Riedell Color Lab
PowerDyne Revenge Aluminum plates
Atom Juke wheels (93A)
Moonwalker toe stops

Here is one new skate next to one old skate:

I will say - breaking in new skates sucks! I have a blister on the inside of my right foot.  You can't really tell from the picture, but my new boots are slightly higher cut then my old ones, so it's rubbing a part of my foot that's not used to making contact with the boot.

Moonwalker toe stops are also a new-ish product. Everyone's really into Gumball toe stops, but I haven't tried them yet.  I do enjoy the Moonwalkers so far.

This past weekend while skating on a difference surface than our practice space (less grippy), I also had some pain on the outside of my right foot.  But that's all part of breaking in new skates.  Tonight I skated at the Armory with the Capital District Trauma Authority I didn't have much trouble though.

Overall my new skates are comfortable - and they fit perfectly!  When I got my feet measured, it turned out that one foot is slightly different sized than the other. My left is a 3.5 and my right is a 4. I decided to special order two different sizes and I'm glad I did.

So that's it!  These are my skates - there are many like them but this pair is mine.

I broke my truck

Well, one of the trucks of my skate. During practice. I thought I was doomed to skate in rentals for the next couple weeks, but then Massacre happened to have an extra truck. Tossing it at me, he said, undo the bolt, take off the truck, and put the new one on the same way.

Wut?

Check out this diagram of a skate that I found at quadskating.com.  Lets just say that 24 hours ago, I did not know anything about parts 2 - 6.  Not many numbers, but really - look at all those parts!

After removing the broken truck (simply taking a skate took to bolt #2) it was actually very easy to switch it out.

Why did my truck break? I suspect because it's been over two years since I got my skates, and apparently trucks matched for this plate are notorious for breaking.  Anyway - no matter really...because I'm in the process of ordering new skates!  But that's another blog for another day.

Lesson: don't fear your skates! Don't be afraid to take them apart if something is wrong.  I even waited over a year before changing my wheels for the first time... sheesh! No worries.  As Miranda Wrights says: Roller skates, the friends beneath your feet.

Happy skating!