So… i’ve been kinda obsessed with watching aggressive inline skate videos with massively long grind combos. I think it’s SO cool. I used to do it back in the day. Could do a few grinds and i could do 540s. I got passed the basics. Been skateboarding heavy since '97 but my feet are done growing now so i wanna dip into the darkside and get a pair of skates again.
But my goodness there’s alot of brands these days. What’s good? Or rather, what should i avoid? Looking at these playlife reactors as they are decently cheap. USD sister company i think and USD seems pretty solid. Thoughts?
Yeah, to be honest, bomb rush cyberfunk sparked this for me. Lol then i started looking at long grind combos in real life lol. My friend is good at tagging too so i might pick that up as well haha
Jkjk Jetset Radio was siiiiick. My friend growing up had a set of K2s that fit me well for a while so I got into them for a bit, but was always more into Skateboarding and BMX. Always been into/ appreciated graf/tagging, but I will not go into detail on that other than I have never thrown up a large piece, and I may have some old hand cut stencils around, and Uni POSCO markers are sick
I swear we were brothers or next door neighbors in another universe.
Playlife Reactors are USD Sway’s with a bit cheaper material. USD and Playlife are sub companies of Powerslide. I’ve never gotten to try them, but I have a feeling they’re fine for a beginner.
When looking to buy new skates you also have to think about the wheels and wheel size. Think of it similar to skateboarding. Smaller wheels are on regular skateboards, big wheels are on cruisers/long boards. Same concept on rollerblades, the bigger the wheel, the faster you will go with less effort involved.
This is a good channel imo, this guy came back to blading about 7 years ago and does reviews. He’s elder gen x or something so it fits for us 25+ older folk getting back into it.
Personally, the only brand I could ever recommend is Xsjado because they’ve always been my favorite. They went under a while back, USD bought them out then took a few years to relaunch the brand under USD. They released some trash snowboard boot monstrosity, community responded by not buying them, they realized their mistake and went back to the OG formula with the Laintimer editions and people can now get their Xsjados again. The beautiful thing about these is that you could ultimately wear almost any low top sneaker with these. Sambas, Pumas, Vans, etc… Usually, the shoe itself that comes with the skate feels pretty good, they’re basically like comfy skateboard shoes.
Here’s a set I know you would dig, they made them for Chris Farmer’s last signature before they went under. Nintendo themed.
K2 only has Uptowns, which are a sort of aggressive looking inline skate.
If you’re someone who cares about who you support, I’d lean against Razors seeing as how you have so many options to choose from today.They were the cheap brand back in the day, got a bit better into modern times, but their management is horrendous. I will not say anything and let you hear it directly from their team to form your decision.
I totally understand. I am not that into the scene but I do follow a few youtube accounts and saw that video which made me a bit sad since I also have a lot of nostalgia for Razors.
I’ve got those exact Xsjados, they are pretty comfy - I’ve worn a few different shoes with them and love the ease of switching out the frames. Have run with 3x110 setup for longer rides, but have them setup with anti rockers currently.
I’ve also got the USD Aeons which are solid only thing is soul and frame is one piece so if you want to switch that up you’ll need a different pair of skates. These I run flat.
I’ve also got some rollerblade solos - but I grabbed them over 10 years ago and mainly because they were translucent boots haha.
I can’t say too much on the grind-ability of them as I was always to worried I’d injure myself and be unable to play lacrosse, but I’m sure whatever you chose these days will work good enough.
I seconded that Back to Blading is definitely a good info source as well.
Dang i was really leaning towards the razors. They just look cool and have have wider grind plates. I don’t care that much or at all about the drama. Lol plus the Shima 3s are but also found the TNEC are in budget and look sick. Many options. I’m in recovery for at least a couple months so i got a while to decide. But roller blades are going to be my reward to myself when i finish this. Lol i’m so hyped. I can’t wait to do a 540 again.
