I'm very stoked to have gotten new toe stops from the Derby 4 All booth at Uproar, as well as few other things that I will talk about later. Now's as good a time as any to give you a quick rundown of toe stops, though.
Counterskatewise:
- NEW to me, Snyder Round - I've wanted for a long time to try Snyder Rounds; the ball shape is supposed to give you some bounce, whereas a flat round stop supposedly makes you stick to the floor. Looking forward to giving them a try, but I've also heard that there are some issues with this stop's durability. Stay tuned.
- Sure-Grip Web - This has been my favorite stop almost since I started skating. I prefer big toe stops because there's more surface area to do everything— starting, stopping, or running— for more stability and more agility.
- PowerDyne Round - This is the stop that came with my Vandals. It's okay. It's better than the Midi Gripper, it doesn't unscrew itself at least.
- PowerDyne Midi Gripper - This is the stop that came with my R3s. I don't like this stop at all, it's too small. And unlike a round, the wedge actually has to be correctly positioned, and also because of the wedge shape, it's more prone to turn out of position. Mine were almost always out of position and pretty frequently unscrewed themselves.
Toe stops are mostly interchangeable (but ask), and you can use the toe stop hardware that came with your skates. Basic toe stop hardware for R3s, Vandals, and the like looks like this.
