New Gumball and Superball Stoppers Toe Stops From Grn Mnstr

Revamped Gumball and newly introduced Superball toe stops have arrived, but are they worth trying out?

The original Gumball toe stops were the first stops developed specifically for Roller Derby and they were amazing compared to the other options available; but they had two annoying flaws.

• They needed to be broken in which usually involved a lot of turn around toe stops on a rough surface; and
• They wore down rather quickly.

Let's take a look at the new Gumballs.  

The packaging is almost the same as the old style, retail at $20/pair, and they are available in two stem lengths; Standard 30mm and Short 17mm.  However, this is where the similarities end.  Grn Mnstr listened to skaters when developing the revamped Gumball stops, which now feature:

• More material;
• Better durability;
• A pre-molded flat spot for more usable surface area; and 
• Fancy new multi-colored stems: Blue, Green, Magenta, Red.

When I first received these new toe stops, I was skeptical.  The material felt the same to me as the old ones and I thought I'd have to do a bunch of turn around toe stops to break them in; however, that wasn't the case.  They performed well right out of the package.  

One of my teammates also tried them and had this to say;

"The new ones break in a lot easier! I didn't have to go outside to wear a flat spot, which was nice considering the snow ruined that plan! The transition wasn't weird at all, I played in a game right after putting them on with no issues. I also like the pretty colors!"  -Purrenrage, Rage City Rollergirls

Both the new Gumball and Superball stops come with 4 different colored stems, which are randomly placed in packages so skaters don't know which colors are included until the package is opened.  The stems are unmatched, which makes my OCD twitch a little, but the 12 year old girl in me secretly likes that every package contains two different colored stems.




The Superball toe stops come packaged in an interesting cube box which features illustrations of a caped, roller skate wearing super hero stopping a train and bounding over tall buildings.

There is also a window which shows off the most unique aspect of these stops...they are the first dual durometer (dual hardness) toe stops.  The majority of the Superball Toe Stops is comprised of classic natural Gumball rubber for ultimate grip and traction; however, for better durability, eight slightly harder pods that run through the stop were added.

Dime for Scale (sorry, out of bananas)

The packaging is much larger than any other toe stops I've come across, but after opening the box the reason becomes clear.  Superball toe stops are HUGE!  At 60mm wide (2.36"), these are the largest toe stops I've heard of.  They are 3mm larger than the Big Bloc toe stops and just over half an inch smaller than a regulation size hockey puck.  (see image to the left for scale).




The stops are shaped in a way to prevent wheel bite (when wheels grind against toe stops) and I found this to be essential due to their size.  They also feature hollow stems which makes them lighter than they look (see image to the right).

Grn Mnstr states that this combination of dual compounds and oversized stopping surface insures the best in stopping power and stability, and I must agree.  I am often skating backwards, bracing my teammates as a jammer attempts to break through our wall.  With other toe stops, I would find myself sliding a bit but with these I was able to keep the wall stationary.  The grip and stability really are incredible.  Here is what another teammate of mine thought about them:

"Pros- Super stable & solid and good to go right out of the box.
Cons- Aesthetics. They're comically, almost obscenely large and goofy looking.
Looks aside, I really like them and am looking forward to seeing how they wear."
 -Cybil Shephurt, Rage City Rollergirls

Superball toe stops retail for $32/pair, but considering they all the features they offer and their performance so far, I think they are worth it.

If you are interested in purchasing either of these stops, here are links to the 2N1 Skate Shoppe pages for each of them:

Gumballs
Superballs

Until we skate again! Shocker

How Could You Be So Heartless?

You say that like being Heartless is a bad thing!  If you're talking about Heartless wheels, it's definitely a good thing.

Heartless wheels are made by GRN MNSTR, maker of B'zerk, Reckless and Envy wheels, Spyder, MG2 and AR1 Antik boots, Gumball toe stops, Moto bearings and Astro Nuts.

Heartless Wheels in Order of Hardness

As you can see, Heartless wheels come in a wide variety of colors, with each color equating to a specific hardness.  In the photo above, the softest wheel is the purple one on the bottom at 86a and the hardest is the white one at 96a.  They are available inbetween these durometers in intervals of 2, which means there is a hardness for pretty much any type of floor.

At 35mm wide, Heartless wheels are some of the most narrow wheels on the market.  Being more narrow makes it easier to cut accross the track and juke around pesky blockers and they are light enough to notice a difference when jumping the apex.

Quite a few skaters on my league love to skate on a combination of green and yellow (90a and 92a) Heartless wheels with the green ones on the left side when looking down at your skates when you are wearing them.  Personally, I like to skate on purple and yellow (86a and 92a) which gives me a little more grip for when I have to quickly push off with one foot in order to close the door on the jammer.

There were only 2 downsides that I could find to the Heartless wheels.  The first is that they tend to go bald quickly; however, after they are regrooved, the new grooves stick around for quite a while.  The second drawback is that these wheels can feel slicker than wider wheels with the same durometer.  This is due to having less surface area to grip the track.  This can be adjusted by going down a durometer than what you would usually use. 

In summary, here is a list of pros and cons...

Pros:

• Less hitting of other skaters' wheels
• Easier to juke
• Weighs less than standard wheels
• Regrooves easily
• Grooves last a long time when regrooved
• Wide variety of durometers; there is something for all types of surfaces

Cons:

• Go bald quickly before they are regrooved
• Can feel slicker than other wheels with the same durometer

We will be giving away a set of Heartless wheels in the near future, so stay tuned to the G Spot!

Atom Backpack

Speaking of giveaways, right now 2N1 Skate Shoppe is having a contest and will give away an Atom Backpack to one lucky fan.  All you have to do to enter the contest is post a picture of you showing your 2N1 pride on the 2N1 Skate Shoppe's FaceBook page.  They are giving away a backpack to the most kooky, crazy, silly, nutty, or screwy 2N1 enthusiast during the last week of March so you have a little time to post something...shocking.


Until we skate again,
Shocker