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What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

entertainment.howstuffworks.com

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Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#161

Post by teekert »

hjfhjkh wrote: post #40
the_third_wave wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happened is that I moved to the Swedish countryside and as such was confronted with hills and unpaved roads. When I lived in the Netherlands I used skates for transport in lieu of a bicycle because they're far easier to take along on public transport. I skated to the station, skated into the train, skated off it after 1.5 hours and 150 km, skated to my job and repeated this on my way home. I was just as fast as…

Homophobia is the accepted term for this kind of thing in both Dutch and Swedish, so you shouldn't feign surprise that "fear" comes into the terminology. The Netherlands and Sweden are among the most LGBT-tolerant countries in the world. Not having to worry (much) about homophobia is a huge privilege. The way you are talking, it sounds like you are neither gay nor have you ever given much thought to the plight of gay…

To come to OPs defense, I also used the term gay a lot as a negative word growing up. I never knew any gay people, we just used it as an alternative for softy. My parents never explained what being gay meant, I had no openly gay relatives. I understand now it is painful for gay people and I probably did know some, they just laid low, partly because of using gay as a negative. Needless to say I don’t use the term like that anymore. But it was never consciously anti-homosexuals. Like Eminem who did a duet with Elton John to prove his point. Doesn’t make it right of course. I apologize for using the word. I also used to think nothing of black face, even defended the tradition, now I changed my mind.

Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#162

Post by cortesoft »

odessacubbage wrote: post #145
apgwoz wrote: post #51

The decline of (popularity) Aggressive Inline is talked about in this documentary “Barely Dead” ( https://youtu.be/DArRi_PooDc ). Spoiler alert: it has to do with being canceled by the X-Games, which reduced exposure, which reduced new kids coming on the scene. Really, it just went underground. There are still aggressive skates being produced by many companies, with a wide selection of wheels, frames, etc. There are…

another part of this that is important imo is that inline was in a large degree absorbed by its more successful analog: freeskiing.

What is freeskiing? I have never heard that term

Edit: googled it, and it appears to be a snow sport... not sure how that would be a competitor to rollerblading?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeskiing

Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#163

Post by toxik »

tellersid wrote: post #34
reidjs wrote: post #4

Not PC, but I love Bill Burrs take on rollerblading: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VmMAE0za2-w He connects the demise of rollerblading to homophobia

I use to rollerblade in the 90s. I never heard of this at the time I couldn't have possibly cared less if I had. IMO the problem is I rollerbladed for 3 years and I never learned to stop properly. I basically had to fall on grass or cruise. IMO it died because it wasn't a good hobby for the average person. A skateboard doesn't have a speed problem like rollerblades. A bike has nice easy breaking system. It was a gian…

I wonder if you could make some kind of handheld brake lever cable system for inlines. That’d be sweet.

Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#164

Post by noduerme »

the_third_wave wrote: post #150
noduerme wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was a 13 or so, in the early '90s, I took an "extreme rollerblading" class on the weekends. The class started by teaching various kinds of stops (T-stop where you drag one skate behind you sideways, spin stop ...no one ever used a brake), and then moved on to going down stairs, performing jumps, and so on. We were required to wear elbow, knee and wrist guards as well as helmets. But one thing they taught us ea…

I nearly entirely rely on the T-stop, most of my skates never had any brakes and I removed it from the ones which did since it is only in the way and of questionable efficacy. The disadvantage of dragging a skate is the enormous wear it puts on wheels but apart from that it serves me well. Knee protection might work for some but I never felt the need and just feel those things are in the way, the same goes for elbow…

My favorite were spin stops - I'd do that 90% of the time, or drag a T until I was slow enough to do one. The other problem with a T is your foot can catch if you're on a sidewalk. But playing hockey I would intentionally take a knee sometimes, so I think that would still be something I'd do automatically.

Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#165

Post by micro_cam »

See also windsurfing, snow blades, fat biking and a bunch of other sports that were briefly the next big thing.

Some of this is just the nature of fads but an interesting case can be made that, with the rise of the internet sports and decline of local shops the instruction infrastructure isn't there anymore: https://fredhasson.medium.com/how-the-internet-killed-windsu...

Obviously some sports are thriving but many of them have figured out a way to maintain a local presence despite online sales. Ie bike maintenance focused shops, the preference for locally shaped boards in surfing, ski and bike lift tickets, climbing gyms.

Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#166

Post by 1_2__5 »

This brings back memories of the Friday Night Skate in SF in the 90s (still going but not weekly I don’t think). Started out after the 89 earthquake on the closed sections of the freeways and continued as a skate through downtown. As a neat anecdote, it was regularly attended by Tsutomu Shimomura, the guy whose team caught Kevin Mitnick. A number of other folks from the hacker/phreaker scene were regular attendees too.

Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#167

Post by scrollaway »

the_third_wave wrote: post #152
scrollaway wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're looking for good gloves for rollerblading I recommend looking at motorbiking gloves. They're a bit expensive but they can be super comfortable and have a ton of protection around the wrist and knuckles.

Motorbike gloves do not include the essential part of wrist protectors, namely the hard plastic backbone which is meant to catch the fall and keep the wrist joint from overextending. If you want to wear them, fine, but make sure to use wrist protectors - with a rigid backbone - as well.

Not all of them do but as far as I can tell some of them definitely do. I don’t ride motorbikes so I’m not an expert in this but my friend who does showed me her gloves which do include wrist protectors. I’m in Europe if it makes a difference…

Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#168

Post by apgwoz »

cortesoft wrote: post #162
odessacubbage wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

another part of this that is important imo is that inline was in a large degree absorbed by its more successful analog: freeskiing.

What is freeskiing? I have never heard that term Edit: googled it, and it appears to be a snow sport... not sure how that would be a competitor to rollerblading? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeskiing

Maybe they meant “free skating”? Which is an aggressive style, but far less technical. Think Parkour on big (80-90mm) wheels and fast movement from point to point.

“Aggressive Inline,” alternatively, is normally going to involve “sessioning” a couple obstacles on the street, or a skate park. You might slide a hand rail 50 times trying a variety of tricks before moving to the next spot.

The free skater will just speed past, possibly “stair bashing” (riding down the stairs) or outright jumping over them.

Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#169

Post by hamburglar »

the_third_wave wrote: post #99
vanderZwan wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More likely twice a week: at the start of the weekend when going home to parents (and their washing machine), and at the end of it when going back to uni.

Nope, 5 days a week, left home around 07.00, came home around 21.00. I even had a washing machine all of my own together with a house to put it in. I actually had a washing machine as a student as well, it was old but it worked - until a house mate destroyed it, that is.

What did you teach that washing machine? :)

Re: What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)

#170

Post by hamburglar »

Supermancho wrote: post #141
foldr wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

‘Homophobia’ is the standard term in English for prejudice against gay people. It does not mean ‘fear of homosexuals’ (regardless of etymological considerations).

> It does not mean ‘fear of homosexuals’ (regardless of etymological considerations). It does mean "fear of being perceived as homosexual". There are backwards people. The stigma that some may ascribe, is rarely removed. If they are in a position of power, this can hurt you professionally or socially, despite modern moral standards.

Fear of being perceived as a homosexual is a type of homophobia, but homophobia is not necessarily a fear of being perceived as a homosexual.
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