We moved to Tucson!
Current mood: dirty
Category: Travel and Places

We did it - we left Las Vegas, and not in body bags.  We'll miss our first little blue shop, our amazing awesome team & teammates, all the fun of a one-team-interleague-only league, and our kick-ass little house.  But we're really excited to try out for Tucson Roller Derby, and loving our new, much larger (mostly) white shop and our kick-ass weird 1911 orange house - and WE'RE STOKED ABOUT TUCSON. 

Come visit our new shop - if you can find us!  If you made your way to our Vegas store at the intersection of Highland Dr and Highland Ave, at the tail end of two dead end one-way streets behind the infamous Cheetah's (see: "Showgirls"  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showgirls) strip joint - well, you won't have any trouble finding us here at all.  We're wedged between the Tucson train yard (which cuts the whole town in half to all but bicycle traffic) and a couple washes, but that's nothing!

940 S. Warren Ave. 135, Tucson, Arizona 85719
MAP: http://...com/25eree

520-884-4362

We're running a special for all of DECEMBER (at least).  Figure out how to get to our store and we'll give you AT LEAST a 10% discount on anything you buy.  We keep 265 Wickeds & Vandals in every size, all day long, plus common sizes of Rebels, R3s, Rocks, 122s, 125s, 595s & 695s and lots of 195s and more - at all times.  Get fitted by people who know skates and skating!

http://sincityskates.com
100% DERBY OWNED & OPERATED

WE GIVE A FUCK!

Currently listening : Hot Rocks 1964-1971 [DSD Remastered] By The Rolling Stones Release date: 27 August, 2002

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RollerCon & Eastern Regionals a week apart - what it means for you & me
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Sports

Every national event means lots of panicky last minute orders for us at Sin City.  I just want to encourage everyone to please PLAN AHEAD this time. 

Please help me spread the word that with the Eastern Regionals and RollerCon a week apart, it will be difficult and maybe impossible for us to get you the very last minute, day-of-bout express delivery of (whatever) you have to have (like we normally love to do).  We'll still be catching up from RC and may not even see your desperate plea for (whatever) the day before you need it.  And we don't want you to be screwed or go somewhere else.

Please plan ahead and order now! 

Please encourage those last-minute girls on your team to do the same!

If you DO place a last-minute order, MAKE SURE YOU TALK TO US and get confirmation that we know its there!  Please don't just order 3-day and assume.  We'd hate to let you down.

This has been a public service announcement from your friendly sales clerk at Sin City Skates.  WE GIVE A FUCK!!!

Currently listening : Nagg By Nagg Release date: 19 July, 2004

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Leather or Vinyl?
Current mood: Pissed at USARS
Category: Pissed at USARS Sports

Vinyl vs. Leather - What Makes a Better Roller Derby Boot?

All of the boots we recommend for derby are either leather or vinyl.  Generally speaking, high-end leather skates are superior in most ways, besides the ethical ones for those that prefer cows still mooing.  But in the lower price ranges, that's not so much the case - in many ways, vinyl boots are superior to similarly priced leather - especially for rookie derby skaters.   Of course, not all vinyl boot-wearers are rookies.  We're often asked to help skaters find vegan (non-leather) skates that are appropriate for what we do.   And actually, vinyl skates do have some features that make them an attractive choice.

FIT

Vinyl is flexible and forgiving - especially compared to leather skates in the same price range.  If you're not absolutely sure about what size you wear, vinyl can be a good compromise.  Vinyl skates don't break in - they are not going to mold to your feet like leather will.  The truth is that by the time your feet start changing the fit of those skates, the vinyl is breaking down.  Depending on how hard you skate in them, and how often, once the vinyl starts to break down, you may have from a few weeks to a few months left in them.  But the good news is that while you do have them (usually about a season), they're good skates; usually comfy, usually inexpensive, usually a very good buy.  And vinyl skates in the beginning price ranges tend to run medium width (Boxers, R3s, Pacers), while most of  the similarly priced leather skates veer towards narrow (Torq, Carerra) or very wide (Rock).   So your odds of getting a comfortable fit in them - especially ordering mail-order - are considerably higher in vinyl boots.

DURABILITY

The fact is, vinyl is not durable - not like quality leather.  But the reason we recommend vinyl boots over the leather ones in the same price range is pretty simple.   $100 skates aren't made of quality leather.   The only way manufacturers can afford to produce leather boots at that price point is to use lower quality leather and overseas workmanship.  And that lower quality leather typically has a stiffening agent added to it to help it last longer.  The boot may theoretically last longer due to the stiffening agent - the jury is out on that one.  My experience was that my first two pairs of lower-quality leather skates (both made overseas) were no more durable than vinyl.  Neither lasted longer than a season, either.  But the same stiffener that is meant to make the leather more durable also makes it, well - stiffer.  Similar-quality leather boots are harder to break in, far less forgiving in slightly wrong sizes (read: blisters & callouses in loose boots, foot pain & worse in tight boots - sometimes both if you're really unlucky).   The comparison of vinyl boots to really well-made, high-end leather boots stacks up a lot higher for the latter, though.  When you start comparing the counters - the ankle, arch & foot support - in vinyl vs. best-quality leather boots (like 265s, 595s, 695s), then it's a whole new ball game.   The 265s and better are a lot more durable in many ways.

COST

Vinyl boots are cheaper than US-made, high-quality leather boots.  They're also usually a little cheaper than similar price-point leather boots, as well.  For about $100, an average rookie skater can get vinyl boots that will last her about a season, less if she skates hard and practice constantly - longer if she's mellow, still learning to skate, or just skates more recreationally. 

However, you can't talk about cost without talking about durability again - how much did you spend and how long will that last you before you have to buy skates again?  If you do skate really hard, you're likely to tear through really high-end skates quickly, as well.  In the durability bit above, we talked about vinyl vs. cheap leather.  For my money, I'd choose vinyl every time.  But how does vinyl do against high-end, quality leather boots? 

Not so good.  High-end boots still wear out in our sport.  It won't be as fast, and good skates made of good quality materials by hand by little old ladies in a factory filled with pictures of their grandkids will be better crafted, more comfortable, better-fitting, better engineered for our sport, and have more support and features you will love - and NEED, once you're out of the rookie stages.  But at the rate I'm going, personally, I'm still tearing through great (expensive) skates at the rate of about one pair per season, as well.  Maybe less than a season.  To compare, I sincerely doubt I'd even get a solid month out of a pair of stock vinyl boots.  I guarantee that my well-made, relatively expensive leather boots are better in a thousand ways than any pair of vinyl boots.  But while they are far more durable, especially, like I mentioned before, when you factor in the counters - the fact remains that derby beats the shit out of more than just our bodies.   

So basically, to compare cost and durability, you end up with an equation that is made up of your experience level, how aggressive you skate, what type of surface you're on (concrete eats skates) - and how much you're willing to spend, how often.  My favorite track skates are high quality leather with upgrades - 265s.  They're 6 months old and look like I backed my conversion van over them - repeatedly.  Outfitted the way they are, they would have cost me $447 if I bought them as is at my shop.  I think I could get at least another 3-5 quality, comfortable months out of them if I tried (and could switch a lot of the hardware out to new boots, so that's not money lost).  But I skate on concrete, I'm all over the track, I practice 4 days a week and play a game every weekend - I'm guessing I'm probably about as hard on skates as rollergirl could be.  Vinyl boots wouldn't last me a minute. 

ETHICS

All skates - without exception - in that $100 or so price range, are made in China - and all skates, at this moment, that aren't made in China, are made of leather.  For those with strong ethical reasons for choosing vinyl, that may be a consideration.  Is choosing a non-animal product ultimately better from an ethical perspective than choosing a product made in far-lower-than-US-standards of factory working conditions?  Since all mass-produced skates made in the United States are made of leather, the only way to get US-made vinyl boots is to have them special ordered.  The problem is that to have them made in vinyl would be expensive, prohibitively so for a material not likely to last longer than a season.   So I don't have a solution for that, unfortunately.  We've been asking manufacturers to make a US boot with all synthetic materials (vinyl on the outside, cambrill or equivalent lining) for over a year, and we don't have anything yet.  But if enough people ask for it, I bet they'll come around!

About the Author

Ivanna S. Pankin owns and operates the Sin City Skates roller derby gear shop and skates for the Sin City Rollergirls in Fabulous Las Vegas.  She founded Arizona Roller Derby in 2003, skated in the first ever inter-league game against Texas Rollergirls in 2004, and moved to Las Vegas in 2005 to more easily plan RollerCon, the annual roller derby convention her new league hosts every summer.  She's not an expert, but she has quite a bit of experience and she won't bullshit you!

**

This was written for publication in a derby magazine, and the editor asked for that last bit.  I left it in for comic relief so that you guys that know me could get a giggle out of it.  xox ivanna

Currently listening : Hot Cars and Spent Contraceptives By Turbonegro Release date: 22 March, 2006

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Combating the Dreaded **Pad Stink**
Category: Sports

Pad stink: the bane of many glamorous rollergirls. 
You may look hot when you're sweaty and flushed... but let's face it: we spend a lot of hours in our gear. The ugly truth is that while a sheen of sweat looks great in photos, the resulting olefactory ramifications are not usually described as great.  Especially after you chuck your gear in your bag after every practice and then let it fester in your trunk until the next one!  But don't throw your pads away yet.  There are a few things you can do to fight the stench.

Step One: AVOID THE STINK. Sweating is healthy and necessary, especially for athletes.  So if you can't avoid sweating, you can at least avoid stinking up gear that's hard to wash by putting in a layer that is:

PAD CONDOMS - aka arm socks / knee gaskets, etc
Its funny, I got into roller derby in the first place because I was painting a picture of a roller derby queen when I decided to start a team.  In the picture, my queen is standing, in pads & skates, holding her helmet.  And since I'd just seen Tank Girl, she's wearing tube socks under her elbow guards.  Too bad it was almost a year later before it occured to me to cut up some tube socks and wear them under *my* pads!!!

Now every time I wear out a pair of skate socks, they get the toes cut out and a hole cut for my thumb, and they become arm socks.  Please believe this makes a huge difference in the heat of summer in the desert!  And the bonus is that damp pads may not dry overnight if you practice days in a row like we do - but if you have a fresh pair of arm socks, you're in good shape. 

You can buy fancy arm socks at places like Hot Topic or Claire's - but they're like $10 and that's just ridiculous.  I made little wristies out of 2/99c bootie socks that I found at a discount clothing store just by cutting a thumb hole in the heel and chopping the toe off.  They are not as "cool" as Hot Topic patterned arm socks, but hey - they're 50 cents a pair and I don't care when I lose one.  So it works out for me.  Peachy does the same with those ladies knee-high panty hose because her pads are snug and that works great, too. It only takes a shred of material in between!

I tried cut tube socks under my knee pads with less luck - because I have big ole derby thighs.  If you're slim, that might workfor you.  But what I like better is shirt sleeves - every time I cut the sleeves off a shirt in the summer, the sleeves make their way to my skate bag and eventually under my knee pads. 

The beauty is that I rarely, if ever have to wash my pads because I always wear gaskets, so they don't stink in the first place.  The socks do!  But socks are easy to wash.

Same goes for my skates; I use 2oz miracle insoles and change them out about every other month or so. And Dish wears a hanky on her head so her helmet doesn't get sweaty, too.  I have a lot of hair so I don't bother... my helmet hasn't stunk yet, fortunately.

Step Two: CLEANING YOUR PADS

The VINEGAR AND WATER METHOD
Let's say your pads already smell horrible.  I have heard lots of remedies including cat-pee deodorizers and febreeze - but what always worked for me in my pre-sock year was to soak them in the kitchen sink with half water and half white vinegar, then put them on a rack outside to dry.  The other stuff might also work, but this worked great for me, and as a bonus, you can buy vinegar in big jugs at the grocery store for dirt cheap.  Don't worry, after they were dry, I never really noticed the vinegar smell, either.

I never put my pads in the washer because the spin cycle breaks down the protective foam inside and tends to fray the canvas outside - so you'll get a lot less wear out of them, and if you're spending money on good pads, that's definitely a consideration.   

Other common sense ways to fight the stink:
* air out your bag after skating
* don't leave your shit in the trunk of your car after practice
* put an air freshener in your skate bag

Anyone else have good advice to share with the rest of us sweaty bitches?

Currently listening : This Island By Le Tigre Release date: 19 October, 2004

7:46 PM - 10 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Protect Your Knees
Category: Sports

I just saw a post on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/roller_girls/ (#17148) asking about the importance of practicing knee falls and mentioning skaters wearing small pads. I had no idea that there were still skaters out there NOT doing falling drills or leagues that don't require decent safety gear. But there are - so hopefully this will convince them otherwise. Knees don't grow back, and they don't heal easily. It just doesn't take much to really, really, fuck up your knees. And even minor injuries are painful and can be costly and require long recovery periods. Its not worth it. And if you're over 5'5" - you should really take this to heart. You tall bitches have the potential for even more problems with your knees than us midgets.

I have been very lucky so far - I haven't had any serious injuries. But I've seen enough to know its just a combination of about 90% dumb luck, and other 10% of the rest is really good, well-fitting top-end "vert" skateboarding pads, perhaps a million knee drops and falling drills, and maybe a tiny bit of skill that's prevented those injuries.

1. GET DECENT KNEE PADS
Do yourself a favor and save your allowance or whatever you have to do, but don't skimp on safety gear, especially not knee pads. If you don't know by now, don't learn the hard way that any fall can end your derby career. And your walking - and dancing - and bike-riding - career.

If I knew THEN, when I started skating, what I know NOW about knee injuries, I would have gotten $100 knee pads on day one. I have heard the arguments against: they're too bulky! They're too expensive! Pfft.

If you think good pads are too bulky, you probably need to bend your knees more when you skate. If you have good skating posture and a good stride, you are far less likely to notice big pads. I'm totally unaware of mine, and I wear the bulkiest I can find. If you don't have good skating posture, low to the ground with bent, flexible knees and a good stride - then you, more than anyone, really need good pads! They will not only protect you when your stiff knees or high stance gets the piss knocked out of you - they will also force you to learn how to bend your knees more, because all the really good vert pads have a bend kind of built into them.

Really good vert skateboarding and derby pads start at about $60 and go up to about $175 (maybe more). If you think that's too expensive, consider the alternative. I had one minor tendon injury in my knee once, early on. I was wearing street skating pads and hanging around talking to someone after practice and just whoomp! my skates went out from under me and somehow I strained a ligament on the outside of one knee. Don't snicker, bitch, it ain't that easy to knock me down, but yeah - I fall on my own all the time. Whatever. Anyway, that minor injury kept me off skates for 2 weeks and hurt like a m-f. I had full primary insurance at the time, so I paid $20 to my doc for a co-pay, then $25 4x a week for therapy. That's $220, if you're counting. And my knee still aches in the same place when its cold out, incidentally.

I don't know for sure that my knee pads could have protected me from that particular jackass fall. But I do know that that kind of injury is extremely common among derby skaters, and that pads CAN help. If there's any chance that spending $100 on pads now can save me the pain, money and recovery time - then its worth it to me. And now that I just have USARS and any real injury is actually a $2500 deductible - its a no-brainer.

Another potential way to guard against ligament injury could be knee gaskets. My sports doc said that he recommended against braces for people that didn't already have injuries - because he thought that it could prevent you from building up the strength you need to ward off injuries on your own. We'll come back to that idea. But in the meantime, knee gaskets for skateboarders (like the TSG gaskets here) have flexible steel inserts on the sides that are like extra support for your ligaments. And if you already have an injury to a knee or need a brace - maybe those could help prevent re-injuring your knees.

2. TRAIN TO PREVENT INJURIES
I'm a trainer for my team, and I'm very, very interested in ways that skaters can build strength and muscle around delicate joints to protect them. We're experimenting with strength training off skates that is specifically engineered for that. If nothing else, exercises on and off skates will build our strength and conditioning in general to make us better players. It certainly can't hurt, and definitely could help.

The most important exercise I think a skater can do to protect her knees is falling drills and knee drops. Both are also incredibly useful to you to become a better player - but equally important is that they teach your body how to fall right. The key is proper form.

Falling drills - first a definition in case you're not already doing them. In practice, its basically having someone blow a whistle every few seconds - everyone falls and comes to a complete stop, then gets up in a sprint to the next whistle. There's lots of variations - switching knees, must get up in 3 seconds, etc - but the basic is: whistle blows, everyone falls. We do them for at least 4 minutes every practice. Our refs love blowing the whistle more rather than less often in an effort to get us to complain (we're working hard on never bitching. Try it - it ain't easy). Critically important to this whole thing is PROPER FORM. Falling drills performed wrong are dangerous and WILL injure you. A good fall is a slide, preferably on pads (skin doesn't take it as well). There is no "thock" noise when your knee touches down if you're sliding.

3. SKATE A LOT
The more you skate, the more control you have over your skates. That can save you some pretty nasty falls, right there.

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Orange Fugitive Pusher Wheels!

HOME    Skates    Pads    Parts    Wheels    Stuff    Souvenirs    About Us    Contact    Sponsored Leagues    Rookie Deals    Blog    Shipping    Returns    Sizing
	$59.00     $29.50 Sure-Grip Fugitive wheels Mfg's suggested: $71 Our Price: $59 / 8 pack Nylon hub, 62mm, 92A-95A durometer Choose color/hardnessBlue 92A (extra grippy)Lime Green 93A (very grippy)Hot Pink 94A (grippy)Red 95A (grippy) FUGI BLUES: The favorite wheels of the Sin City Rollergirls! New! Sure-Grip Fugitive PUSHER wheels SIN CITY INVENTED 'EM & WE'RE SHARING Our Price: $29.50 ** 4-pack ** Orange More info below! ABOUT THE NEW ORANGE FUGITIVE PUSHER WHEELS: Sin City Rollergirls skate on the slippiest surfaces known to derbykind. So since we had such good luck when we asked Sure Grip to make blue Fugitives, we figured we'd push it even further. So we asked if it was possible to make an *even grippier* special softie Fugitive "Pusher" wheel to put on the left two wheels of each skate (that's left when you're wearing them, looking down). Sure Grip came through again and now we have them! Because they're meant for pusher wheels, they're sold in 4-packs. And cause we invented them, they come in our favorite color - our team color: ORANGE. Use with firmer wheels on the outside for extra grip on the turns without slowing you down... or with blue fugis on the outside for super grip on slipperiest surfaces without giving up a lot of speed. Approximate durometer 88-90A, fugitive Poly-BD urethane compound. Ivanna got the first prototypes and she says: "THEY ARE AMAZING!!! Every girl on our team is getting a set." **** ABOUT SURE GRIP BLUE FUGITIVES: We loved the red Fugitives - everything about them; the nylon hubs that flex to give more grip, the grabby urethane formula, how long it took to wear them out... So Sin City Skates asked Sure Grip if it was possible to get wheels even grippier made from the same formula with the same design - and so 92A Blue Fugitives were born. They were the very first wheels actually made for roller derby with input from roller derby skaters. From Trish the Dish, Neander Dolls / SCRG: "They [the blues] are about as grippy as you can get without slowing you down too much for jamming, and they're cheap and durable. Works great on our dirty Sport Court track and our slippery outdoor cement hockey rink." From Jett Girl, Hamilton Harlots / Canada: "Love them (the blues). The Fugitives don't slide on the turns which is awesome. You're [Sin City] totally right when you said they are grippier without slowin ya down. "

Currently listening : Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage By Killer Pussy Release date: 24 October, 2006

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Wheels; Grippiness & Durometer - Bullshit or no?
Current mood: hungry
Category: Sports

I was recently talking to a skater who sent an email titled "The Never Ending Dilemma I Call Wheels" which is a genius header - that's what I really wanted to title this blog but I didn't want to bite her too hard.  But we get a lot of questions about durometers and so we ASK a lot of questions to the manufacturers and we keep asking until the often seemingly contradictory things they tell us start to agree - or at least make sense.  Here's kind of a summary of some of what I've figured out from Radar, Sure Grip, my own experience and from talking to girls all day long about wheels - and reading posts on the 10,000 !@#$ yahoo groups we're all on.

DUROMETER - what the hell is it?
Durometer is a measure of the hardness of urethane in wheels and its only ONE factor in how grippy wheels might be.  An actual *durometer* (at least the one I saw) is a little hand-held meter with a tiny retractable metal tip on the end and a gauge on the other end.  If you have a sheet of urethane (dried or cured or whatever), you roll the tip over it and the gauge tells you the durometer reading of that slab of urethane.  Its easy to fuck that up, though, because its a hand held gauge and you can make your reading inaccurate by too much pressure, too little, etc. And its even harder to get an accurate reading on a wheel shape because its round, so the curve of the wheel and the grooves can make it even harder to get right.

Anyway, other factors in how grippy a wheel is in actuality can include:

1. The formula of the urethane they're made of.  For track skating purposes, most "experts" - and skaters, who are the real experts - seem to agree that Poly BD urethane is the shit for us; funny story about Poly BD later.  Other urethane formulas include TDI, MDI and outdoor formulas, all with different properties and characteristics that make them suitable for some things better than others, but all of which have allegedly accurate durometer readings.  Then there are also clay, wood, and pretty much any other material you can make into wheels... never tried any of those, though, so I'm gonna stick to talking about urethane here.

2. The hub material & shape.  Some skaters swear by aluminum hubs, others by nylon.   Nylon hubs have flex to them when you're rolling and pushing - so that flex translates into more grippiness if you were to put the exact same urethane in the exact same shape on the same size/shape hub (one nylon, one aluminum), as well.  I prefer nylon for that reason.  Nylon hubs with holes might be even more flexi than solid - not sure on that one but it seems logical to me.  If there's a difference its probably negligable, though.  Aluminum hubs are supposed to be lighter, but I am not 100% sure on that one.  Nylon *plates* tend to be lighter than the inexpensive aluminum plates, so there are more factors in the metal hubs that have to be considered to say one or the other is lighter.

3.  Wheel/urethane shape and ratio of urethane to hub.  Another factor in shape is how much urethane there is to how much hub - ie low profile tires like race cars.  For example:
Power wheels: http://www.sincityskates.com/2nd/wheels/sg-power.html
Power PLUS wheels: http://www.sincityskates.com/2nd/wheels/sg-powerplus.html
The Plus wheels have less urethane and more hub - which is supposed to be better. I asked Sure Grip why and I remember the explanation had to do with the shape of the edge on the wheel, the amount of urethane on it, weight and a whole bunch of other stuff, but dammit, neither Trish or I can recall the exact explanation of WHY all that made Power PLUS wheels better - or more expensive (though I suspect the price is more about the polished aluminum hubs rather than the Power's treated, smaller hubs). But if anyone knows about car wheels and why racers like wide, low profile tires on aluminum wheels - I bet its the same reason- better traction.   Doh.  Sorry - at least I admit when I don't know something though, so hopefully that's charming or something.

4. The Universe.  Meaning - the weather.  The humidity.  How dirty your floor is.  What type of floor your venue has - etc etc etc.  All the obvious stuff.  So a girl skating in a humid, hot wooden rink with a grippy urethane coating in the South in the summer without A/C is going to HATE super grippy wheels and will prefer something firm.  But my team, outside at night in the cold, dry air of winter in the desert on a slippery cement outdoor track that's usually coated in dust will be physically unable to hold corners in wheels the Southern girl loves.  Meaning what's right for someone else ain't necessarily right for you.  So before you ask on a messageboard what wheels are best, ask the veterans on your team!!  The girls who've tried different wheels on your floor will probably be a lot more helpful than anyone else. 

Side note (intentional digression, in other words) - I've noticed more and more of the girls have lots of wheels depending on what they're doing - including me.  I prefer orange Tuners on grippy floors, blue Fugitives on everything else for bouting, pink Tuners for practice, and I have two sets of outdoor wheels depending on the surface (Pures if its practice and I have to sprint at a park or something, Aerobics for f-ing around).  I also have a set of hard-as-hell shitty, cheap wheels called vapor lites that I love for the skate park.

and finally, back to factors in wheels re: grippiness:
5. Durometer

So what's the real difference between 92s and 95s?  What's the difference between, say, blue fugitives - the grippiest, and reds - the firmest Fugis we carry?  That will depend on the +/- factor for that particular wheel (like maybe your blue fugitives that you think are 92s are actually 91 or 93 - and the red fugis you're comparing that are supposed to be 95s are actually 93s also), and all kinds of factors in your venue, as well, like temp, humidity, dirtiness of the floor, your skill as a skater, etc.   

So when you take all that into account, that is why wheel manufacturers are reluctant to put the durometer on the wheels, because its more like a target they aim for than a set measurement of that particular wheel.  For real, we have to trick them into telling us what it is, half the time.  Sure Grip qualifies their durometer listing with the +/- explanation, and Radar is opting out entirely lately, using terms like "tite" to describe their wheels and not letting us pin them down with durometers at all.

But factor in all that... and the smart skater will basically use the durometer as ONE way to compare wheels, rather than as a set measurement of which one will be grippier than another.

An example of how durometer can be an unreliable comparison (if taken totally out of context): 95A red Fugitives vs 95A Radar Cayman wheels.  Both wheels are on nylon hubs, similar size and shape.  But the Fugis are Poly BD - and the Caymans are either TDI or MDI (not sure which).  So the same durometer of wheels is the same but in actuality, the red Fugis are much grippier.

Which means, if you think that one step further, that durometer ratings are a good way to compare wheels of the SAME MODEL.  A lower durometer rating will be grippier than a higher durometer when you're talking about Fugitives - usually (taking into account the +/-).  But if you're comparing apples to oranges - or Fugis to Tuners, its less reliable.  And if you're comparing apples to cumquats ::snickers::,  like V-Drives to Flat Outs... well, then durometer is even less reliable because there are so many other factors to take into consideration.   

And grippier is becoming universally accepted as better in our little subculture, but that's not really always the case, either, in my opinion.  For example, I prefer firmer wheels for practice because grippier wheels wear out faster.  I know, I know - "experts" say that the grooves don't make them grippier, but I can tell when my wheels are bald because I do 8-wheel slides in the sweet spot turns!!  So no matter how many times I'm told grooves don't matter, they matter to me.  And softer Poly BD wheels lose their grooves faster than firmer Poly BD wheels - and firmer Poly BD wheels loose THEIR grooves faster than shitty, harder urethane like MDI or TDI.  So its a trade off. 

And then also, skaters call us all the time to ask for grippy wheels that won't slow them down.   Ugh...?  Well, the truth is that grippy wheels are bound to be slower in a sense - they're gripping, after all.  But what are you trying to achieve?  If you slip on every push, can you get going as fast?  If you slide out on turns or have to coast to hang on, you are probably slowing your overall lap speed.  On the other hand, when I first switched to blue fugitives, I got a lap and a half less than usual on a timed 5-minute sprint.  I was pissed.  And I was more tired, because I was pushing harder - the grippiness slowed me down.  BUT - the next week I was back up to where I was because I was accustomed to the grippiness and pushed accordingly and probably got a little stronger just from sheer stubborness and a refusal to get less laps than I was shooting for.  And in a PACK situation, I loved the Fugis right away, because I could bob and weave without sliding, taking harder hits, etc - so even though I might have been a hair slower, I was getting through the pack faster.  And that's what really counts, for me.

* One idea I see a lot of skaters (including me) interested in these days is switching wheels in certain spots.  By now everyone knows which are their "pusher" wheels, right?  If not, I babbled in an earlier blog about rotating pusher wheels so I am too lazy to do it all again.  But more and more I'm seeing skaters with grippy wheels in the pusher positions, and firmer wheels on the rest of their skates.   Its becoming more and more common and it is a really good way to solve the problem of how to get more grip without giving up speed.   I'm sure you'll see more blogs on this one as more of us try it and talk about it.  So far I love it, but for bouts on slippery surfaces (which is all we've done lately), I just make sure I have new, grooviest blue Fugitives on my pusher wheels and servicable blues on the rest.

Coming back (as promised) to the Poly BD.  I heard a funny story from Jim Ball at Sure Grip Sunday.  We were talking about wheels and fugitives and whatever, and he told us that when Poly BD wheels were first manufactured way back when, that they were stinky.  The formula smelled bad - but they were soft, so speed skaters loved them.  He said they even left a bit of a film on the track, so later heats of speed skaters were skating on the urethane the first skaters left on the track, and had even better grip.  He was telling us it got so that speed skaters would actually request the "stinky" wheels, because the smell was directly associated with that particular formula!  Manufacturers figured out how to get the stink out, but then they were forced to add it back in because the customers distrusted the non-smelly Poly BD wheels.  So they added in some extra stink to the manufacturing process!!  Heh.

Of course, while we were listening, Trish and I immediately picked up Fugitives sitting on the desk to smell them and $100 says that half of you just did the same.  Heh.  We didn't think they were smelly at all and Jim explained that they stopped putting the stink in Fugis.  But I kind of wish they'd put it back because that is FUNNY SHIT.

If I were clever, I'd write a haiku to immortalize stinky wheels right now.  But poetry is not my forte.  Sorry.

Currently listening : Euphoria, Confusion, Anger and Remorse By The Humpers Release date: 21 April, 1998

4:53 PM - 12 Comments - 11 Kudos - Add Comment

Truck angles - need 45 degree angles???
Current mood: excited

We've been getting requests lately for trucks with a 45 degree turning radius, and I don't know enough about that, so I asked some experts about it - what do they mean?  What plates have that, etc?

Here's the reply I got:

"turning radius" has nothing to do with the 45 degree or 15 degree or 10 degree "angles" on the trucks. 

The "turning radius" is ADJUSTABLE because the trucks can be loosened for a wide arch or tightened for a tight arch each delivered by the skater themselves. The "turning radius" is NOT mechanical performed by the plates/trucks themselves. The "turning radius" is peformed by the motion of the skater.

45 degree:
all there was in the beginning because all the plates were single-action. 

15 degree:
popular as the first double-action plates in the 50's, but it gave way to the 10 degree angle in the 60's

10 degree:
the most popular and most common today because it offers the greatest range of motion (thus "turning radius") which is performed by the skater.

Triple Adjustment
on top end Artistic skates there is a "Pivot Adjustment" that you can actually set the "turning radius" on your plates after YOU get accustomed to the action adjustment and your own weight distribution, etc. This "Pivot Adjustment" was used specifically for Figures (figure - 8) which was dropped from Artistic roller skating about the same time it was dropped from the ice world. Figures are now merely a training method and not a competition in both roller and ice because they were so darn boring to watch and even judge.

98% of the plates out there today are 10 degree with an action nut adjustment to loosen or tighten the trucks, thus adjusting the amount of weight or distribution of weight a skater must use to change their own "turning radius".

So (that was all from the expert, but this is me, Ivanna, talking again):

So in other words, people telling you to get 45 degree angled plates are telling you you need something like this old style:
http://www.sincityskates.com/images/merch/parts/plates/SG-XK4.jpg where the trucks come out at an extreme angle, vs

This(more common now and sturdier according to the experts because you're not putting all your weight and momentum on an angle and stressing out the trucks):
http://www.sincityskates.com/images/merch/parts/plates/PD-reactor-aluminum.jpg where the trucks come out at an almost perpendicular angle to the plates..

Currently listening : Group Sex By The Circle Jerks Release date: 13 March, 2001

5:06 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Crossfires, Fuel Wheels, Riedell 195 skates...

Hey, we just got new Radar wheels called "Fuel" that I think you Crossfire girls are going to love.  They're 78A, so super grippy, but also narrower & taller than typical indoor wheels at 66mm (rather than 62) so they're quick.  They also have aluminum hubs... I just got them on 195s and they're pretty awesome.  Not too cheap, though.  I haven't tried crossfires, so I can't compare them directly, but from what I've know of crossfires they seem like a higher-quality wheel with the same features.

About the 195 boots, they're more like low cut sneakers than boots, like converse made out of high quality leather... they're super beautiful and really comfy.  I'm having a little balance trouble in them because they have no heel at all, and I keep feeling like I'm rolling over backwards on my heels - so they might take some getting used to if you currently have speed skates.  But they're totally, unbelievably comfy.  They seem a little wider in the toe than speed skates, though I'm guessing that has more to do with how the lace eyelets are spaced, because I think all the Riedell skates are made on the same foot models (called "lasts").  They have a super low cut ankles and smaller counters, though mine feel like they still have great arch support.  But the lower ankle & counters (meant for advanced jam skaters) adds to how totally agile they are.  They're really goddamn cool... can't wait to try them out in a scrimmage...

We'll have pictures and buttons up to buy the 195s in about an hour (its 2:30p PST on Wed as I write this).  The link will be:

http://www.sincityskates.com/2nd/195.html

... and the fuel wheels will be:

http://www.sincityskates.com/2nd/wheels/r-fuel.html

but give me and hour to get the pix up! VERY GODDAMN COOL STUFF!

2:22 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

New Skates - Choosing them, Breaking Them In, ETC.
Category: Music

(In the Music catagory because my last blog, accidentally catagorized as "Writing and Poetry" inspired haiku responses!  Anyone want to write a song in reply to this one?)

Breaking in New Skates - and Choosing Them in the First Place

First of all, if you are considering vinyl skates, they're not going to break in much - vinyl is very flexible and is usually pretty comfy right off the bat.  If they're NOT comfy, you probably have the wrong size!  The problem is, rather than breaking in, they pretty much just break down.  They're great, but don't last long.  You should know this if you choose vinyl. 

If you are considering leather skates, just know that there's a big difference in US-made vs Chinese-manufactured leather skates.  I guess they don't have a lot of cows in China???  At any rate, the reason skates are made in China in the first place is so that they will be inexpensive.  One way they're kept inexpensive is that they aren't made with the same quality of materials and workmanship as US-made skates.  This should come as no surprise to anyone.  What this means is that you get your money's worth.  And if you spend $100 on skates, you get $100 worth of skates. 

This isn't a bad thing.  Sin City recommends that new skaters start with good vinyl, inexpensive skates for a couple reasons:

1. odds are, sadly, most new skaters find that derby is a very time-intensive sport.  Not all women have the 6-20+ hours a week it can take to make attendence requirements and really excell in this sport. 
2. Another good reason is that vinyl skates are, like I said earlier, usually very comfy right off the bat. 
3. They're also set up for new skaters - longer plates for stability, mounted more center for a girl just getting her feet under her.  This can be very helpful when you're learning the basics of skating skill. 
4. They also give you a season or so to figure out what YOU like.  What kind of skates best suit you, what wheels you like, what position you're gonna play, etc.
5. And finally, they make great outdoor skates when you're ready to upgrade to good ones.  Slap some softie wheels on them and you're ready to go.

However, we also let girls know when they order $100 skates that they can't count on longer than a year / season out of them.  Less depending on how hard they are on them. We have a cub in our league who wanted on the team so bad she skated every single day - and wore out a pair of GT-40s in 2 months.  That's unusual, and she's a big girl skating very hard on them.  But its not outside the realm of possibility. 

But just know, that's the deal.  Cheap skates are cheap for a reason.  Get them fitting right from day one because they don't usually get MORE comfortable.  Ask questions about the fit - tell the person you're ordering from if you have wide feet or narrow, high arches, weird toes, whatever.  Try on other girls skates (keeping in mind that they are bound to be busted out if they've been skating in them for awhile).  Ask your teammates questions about their skates.  Check out the roller_girls database for even more info on skates:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/roller_girls/database

No matter what you get, its worth doing some research before you buy skates.  A couple years ago you were screwed... a rollergirl had maybe a handful of people they could ask, and who knows if they'd get reliable advice.  Now you have thousands of rollergirls who will be happy to offer advice and opinions on everything from new skates to the state of the bathrooms in Sudanese cafes.  Take advantage of it!

FIT: If your toes are curling, they're too small.   If your foot moves in the toe box, you got them too big and/or wide.  In both cases, you don't need to break them in - you need to get properly fitting skates.  Both too big and too small can cause painful foot cramps, blisters and WORSE, including permanent damage to your sweet, delicate little tooties.  Have you never spent $100 on stupid shoes you never wore?  Almost everyone has made that mistake at one time or another.  Well, shoes are one thing - most of us have more than one pair and can choose not to wear uncomfy ones.  With skates, few of us are lucky enough to have a closet full of them.  So make sure you get the right size and if you didn't, suck it up, sell them on ebay or something, and try again!

We have some more info on getting a good fit here to help:
http://www.sincityskates.com/2nd/about/sizing.html

Now that you know what size you want, let's just say you can afford US-made leather skates, and you're not interested in waiting a year to determine what you want.  There are several really good models that work well for derby.  But if you are a BEGINNING skater, there's something you should know about getting good skates: they're engineered for advanced skaters. 

By that I mean, they were engineered to support you for miles on a track, going fast and turning left.  They have extra interior support, looking down on the skates while standing up, on the left side of each skate, where you're leaning to the left and forward, pushing and stressing that leather and the connection between the leather and the sole.  Its called a counter, and the counter in US-made Riedell skates is actually a really cool piece of engineering.  If you know anyone with 122/125, 265s or 685/595 skates, ask them to let you feel them up.  That stiff piece from about the inside ankle around the back to the other side (different on the best skates from right to left skate) is the counter.

The counter is a piece of perforated support between the inner and outer soles of leather on the skates.  It allows the in- and out-soles to be made with very high quality, soft leather - and prevents the boots from losing their shape when they get broken in.  It supports your foot, arch, and heel, and prevents your heel from rolling out. 

It also prevents rookie skaters from comfortably skating upright.  In my opinion, as a team captain and trainer, that's a good thing.  You've heard your coach say it 1000 times: "Bend your knees!" - and "Stay low!" - well, advanced skates are made for skaters who do bend their knees and stay low.  So if you DON'T bend your knees and skate low, not only will you
1. get knocked on your ass easier,
2. lose your balance easier,
3. drag more air when you're trying to sprint,
4. fall harder,
5. have more trouble handing out good hits
6. etc - this could be a very long list, but you get the picture...
Well, not only all the above, but your new skates will also poke you in the achilles tendon, and it will hurt.  That's because advanced skaters lean, and you aren't leaning! 

People ask us all the time how to break in their skates faster because they hurt their achilles tendon.  We try to be polite about it because we don't want to assume you're a rookie or you're skating tall.  But that is usually the case.  So here's how to make them stop hurting you:  BEND YOUR KNEES. 

If you are particularly stubborn about skating tall, or you are skating low and they still poke you, the next thing to try is leather conditioner - the stuff baseball players use to break in a new glove.  But don't just rub it in - bend the leather back and forth.  And if any part of the counter is bothering your ankle or foot, remember, its perforated.  The more you work it back and forth, the softer it will get and the less it will poke you.

If your skates are pinchy where your toes meet your foot, I've heard lots of advice for that, including putting a water bottle in them and leaving them in a hot car. You can also take them to a cobbler to stretch in the places they're tight.  Or you can put leather conditioner on and wear them. 

And now I must go... its dinner and I'm hungry.

6:33 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment