Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A Rollergirl's Beginning Guide To Gear: Toe Stops and Toe Guards

But wait, let me tell you a little something about toe stops:

5a. Toe Stops, probably Sure Grip Web Stops
Orbit Skate Center, 615 S Consumers Ave, Palatine

R3s come with a mini wedge toe stop that I think is better replaced. What somebody told me, and which checks out with me, is that the wedge shape tends to turn around —i.e., unscrew— when it's pushed. Then it falls off at inopportune times. Not good. I got nice big round toe stops from Orbit Skate Center, where I used to skate often and miss very much. I've also seen these at Sin City Skates. I think these are the Sure Grip Web Stops, not that I knew a toe stop from a toe guard when I got them.

Vandals come with a smallish round toe stop that's fine for now, though you might want to get something bigger, later on, when you start to do toe runs. When I got my Vandals, I took put the big toe stops on them and put the Vandal toe stops on my R3s.

5b. Toe Guards, none

If you don't know what a toe guard is, it's a piece of leather that you fasten to your toe stop and your skate laces, and it protects the toe of your skate from too much wear. Mainly your toe gets wear, I think, from doing one-knee falls and stuff like that. Which you'll probably do a lot for regular derby and not as much as we possibly should for recreational derby, anyway, I've never had them.

I should probably also tell you about skate tools...