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

Bounce!

I've tried several different toe stops throughout the past 5 years and have found quite a few that I liked; Gumballs, Big Blocs, Li'l Blocs, and Bionic Super Stoppers.  Until recently, I was using the Bionics and was quite pleased with them...then I tried some Crazy Bounce toe stops.

Crazy Bounce Toe Stops

My first practice on these started off with a bunch of suicides involving sprinting and turn around toe stops. The first thing I noticed about the Bounce stops was that I was able to run and stop on them without having to break them in like other stops I've worn.  They performed really well straight out of the box, which I attribute to the holes on the running surface of the stops as well as their pliability.  When you push off the stop to take off on a run, the stop creates a flat surface so it feels really stable.  Once you are done pushing, the Bounce toe stops rebound to their original shape and are ready for action.

Something else I like about the Bounce stops is that the actual stopper is nice and thick.  When I was screwing them onto my plates, I ended up turning them for about twice as long as I usually would with other stops to get to the point where they were the same amount of distance off the track.  If you are like me and like to have your stops close to the track, when using Bounce toe stops, you won't have to worry about your toe stops stems or plate's toe stop inserts stripping or about your stops falling out due to not having enough threads screwed into the plate.

I have been skating on these toe stops for the past 5-6 weeks and they look about
the same as when I took them out of the box.  Pretty amazing considering, at one point, I was replacing my Gumballs every other month.  I'm interested to see how long these will last and if they will gradually wear down or end up losing chunks.  Once I find out, I'll come update this post.

Photo by David Bedard - Over a month of use on these puppies.

Bounce toe stops have now become my top recommendation for new skaters as well as veterans and are my only recommendation for skaters needing new stops on bout day.  To understand why, here are the Pros and Cons that I came up with:

Pros:

• No break in period.
• Won't pop off the stem.
• Nice thick stop with a long stem.
• Slow to wear down (so far at least).

Cons:

• Retail at $25, which is a bit more than Gumballs or Super Stoppers.
• Only come in one size and color.
• So popular, we keep selling out!

The October G Spot post offered a chance to win some rolls of KT Tape to readers who posted reviews on the 2N1 Skate Shoppe FaceBook page.  So, without further ado, the winners are Charlotte Mahoy, Zack Sherman, Rebecca Kathleen Buss, Shayla Hamilton Urevich, and Melissa Manna Micoogullari!  To claim your prize, send me an e-mail at 2N1SkateShoppe@gmail.com with your mailing address and what your top 3 preferred colors of KT Tape are and I'll get your prize to you ASAP.

This month, I am please to be able to give away some Bounce toe stops!  To enter this contest, just go to the 2N1 Skate Shoppe FaceBook page and post "Bounce Me Crazy!"   I'll announce the winners when I post my next G Spot article, which is titled "Project: Roller Girl" and will focus on Derby clothing.  If you have any specific requests for items you would like me to review, please send me an e-mail at 2N1SkateShoppe@gmail.com or post a comment here. 

Until we skate again!
Shocker

Stop, Toe Stop!

Well, hello there!  It seems like it's been ages since we've talked, and I must apologize.  I've been meaning to reach out and check up on you and don't have a good excuse as to why it has taken me so long to do so...oh wait, summer in Alaska is a great reason!  In case you have never lived in a region  close to the Arctic or Antarctic circles, daylight can be non-existent during the winter months.  During the near-24 hours of daylight in the summer months many of us try to get outside to enjoy it as much as possible.  Therefore, I hope you don't hold the two months I took off from updating my G Spot against me.

Short and Standard Stem Gumballs

For my first post-summer article, I wanted to talk about an issue that plagues many skaters: toe stops coming loose or popping off.


Over the years, I have heard the woes of skaters over and over again when it comes to toe stops coming off, often at the worst imaginable time.  There are a couple ways to prevent this from happening.


First, make sure you have at least 4 threads of the toe stop screwed into the plate.  If you are having trouble doing this and also having it come down far enough, you may need different toe stops.  I recommend Gumballs, Bionic Super Stoppers, or Crazy Big Blocs.  These all have nice long stems and thick stops that don't pop off.  I've also heard great things about the Crazy Bounce toe stops, but they are still in my queue of products to test out so I'll have to get back to you on those.  (Soon, my pretties!)

The next item to review is how your toe stop connects to your plate.  Is it a nut that goes around the toe stop or a screw that goes into the side of the plate?  For most of you having issues with your toe stops, it's probably going to be the nut.

Wrong Way!  Toe guard is between nut and plate.

To prevent the toe stop nut from loosening up, make sure you have the nut directly against the plate.  Many skaters that have come to me with the issue of their toe stop popping off have their skates set up like the pic to the right.  The leather toe guard is between the nut and the plate, which can cause the nut to loosen over time and eventually either the toe stop will turn to a strange angle or it will work itself completely loose.  Having a toe stop pop off in the middle of a bout, especially if you are jamming, is one of the worst feelings!  Here is a step by step guide on how to lessen the chances of that happening.

Toe stop stem being inserted through toe stop hole in toe guard.

Unlace your skate and take your toe stop off your plate and the nut off the toe stop.  Next, put your toe stop stem through the toe guard.

Screwing on toe stop nut after toe stop stem has gone through toe guard holes.

Screw the nut onto the toe stop stem.

Toe Stop Nut Under Toe Guard

Screw the toe stop into the plate, adjust to the correct height. 
Tighten down the toe stop with a wrench and lace those puppies up!








Those steps have helped many of my fellow skaters, but sometimes that isn't enough.  Whether you have the nut or screw, if your toe stop loosens or falls out, check all the threads (inner and outer) to ensure they are still serviceable.  If some of the threads are broken or you see metal shavings, you may need to replace that toe stop, screw, nut, or toe stop insert.  Unfortunately, some plates don't have replaceable toe stop inserts, so if you damage the threads on them you will need to replace the whole plate.

If your toe stop connects to your plate with a screw from the side and ratcheting down the screw just doesn't hold your stop anymore, you may have gunk in the space that normally gets smaller as you turn the screw, causing the plate to grip the stop.  I've found that the best way to clean out this crack is to unscrew the toe stop screw completely, then take something thin and hard such as a straightened-out paperclip to clean that sucker out.  If that doesn't do it, inspect your screw to see if it shows any signs of stripped threads, meaning you will either need to get a replacement screw or have to use a toe stop nut to keep your toe stop in place.

The last little bit of advice I can give you is to please, never use Red Locktite (permanent) on your toe stop threads.  If you have followed all of the above suggestions and your toe stop just won't stay put, Blue Locktite (temporary) can help you out and won't make it a pain in the rear to replace your stops.

Cosmo Wheels from Juice's Martini Series

I have quite a few treats for my G Spot fans in the coming months including reviews of wheels including Juice Martini, Radar Presto, and a bunch of the new wheels coming from Atom as well as other Roller Derby gear and, of course, I will be giving away prizes to reward my loyal readers.  To start this season out, I'm putting together a nice gift bag worth around $100 from 2N1 Skate Shoppe and all you have to do to be in the running to win is recommend an item 2N1 Skate Shoppe currently sells for me to test out and review in the comments of this article. 


While you are searching through 2N1's website, why not take a look at the new Wheel Library where you can check out a set for only $20, then when you return them you get a $20 gift certificate which you can use toward purchasing a set of wheels!  The Wheel Library has quickly become a huge hit and has helped skaters save time and money in the long run, so if you are in the market for some new wheels check out the selection, more are being added all the time.

Until we skate again,
Shocker

A Serious Case of Vertigo

The first pair of skates I had were some used Sure Grip Rebels that barely made it a year before they were literally falling off my feet.  I was having to use Shoe Goo after every practice/bout just to keep them together...it was rough.  But what was even rougher was when I got my shiny new Riedell 1065's.  I wasn't prepared to learn how to skate all over again, and even though I had thrown out my old skates, I wanted to just go back to them, go back to what was familiar.

It took a couple weeks (felt like years!) before I was able to go through a whole practice without having to concentrate on my skates, but after I got used to them they felt more like an extension of my body than tools used to get around the track.  It was wonderful, yet it was nothing compared to when I got my new Vertigo boots.

Vertigo Series of Boots

If you have been skating for a while, you've no doubt heard of the Atom and Bionic brands.  If you have been around the speed skating circuit Luigino should be a familiar brand to you as well. All of these are related to each other, and while it can get confusing at times exactly how they interrelate, what's not confusing is the quality of products produced by these companies.  In the past few months, Luigino has finally made their way to the Roller Derby track with the new (and much anticipated) Vertigo boots and Pilot plate systems, and the quality is just as high as expected.

When you get these boots, they come with special bags which are used to heat them up in a pot of boiling water before molding them to your feet.  This unique system makes it so there is little to no break-in period.  When you couple these boots with the Pilot plate system, you get a super light weight and responsive pair of skates.

The hardest thing for me to get used to with my new Q-6 skates with Pilot Falcon plates was that it felt like I was skating with nothing on my feet.  Think ballerina slippers with Juke wheels and Bionic Super Stopper toe stops...glorious.

Vertigo Q-4 Boots with Pilot Plates and Atom Lowboy Wheels

Not only are these new boots and plates pretty awesome, but Luigino has come up with the "Create a Skate"  system where you can get up to 20% off a complete skate package when you build your new pair of skates using all Luigino/Atom/Bionic components.  Since these are generally mid- to high-range skates, 20% off is a pretty sweet deal.

2N1 Skate Shoppe just received a huge shipment of Vertigo boots for skaters to try on or purchase.  Vertigo boots are sized about half a size larger than women's shoes, so if you normally wear size 8, you will most likely need size 7.5 Vertigo boots.  If you are not able to make it to the shoppe and want to try the boots on before you buy, 2N1 has been known to ship boots to skaters to try on (with collateral, of course).

Atom Backpack

While you're drooling over your next pair of skates...why not take a chance at winning an Atom backpack to carry around those new babies!  Take a pic of yourself flashing the shocker, sporting a 2N1 Skate Shoppe temporary tattoo, or showing off gear you got from 2N1 and post it on the 2N1 FaceBook page and you could be carrying around your gear in style.

Now I know you keep coming back for my witty take on Roller Derby gear, but I know giving away stuff also helps to pique your interest...I don't plan on letting you down.  We have a few items stashed in the shoppe to give away and are working on getting more.  Right now a helmet, bearing tool, wheels, and bearings are just waiting to be given away...all in due time.

If you are interested in a product, whether it be brand new or something that has been around the track a few times, let me know and I'll not only test it out and review it, but also try to get some to give away.  The more readers I have, the more items I'll be able to get to give away so please share this with your friends.

Until we skate again,
Shocker

A Tale of Two Blocs

For the past few years, I skated with Gumball toestops.  They were the only toe stop out there that fulfilled the needs of Roller Derby skating...they are thick and long enough to reach the floor in pretty much any skate setup, they never pop off the stem, and they are gummy enough to stop on any surface.  Some people think they wear out too quickly, but that is a small price to pay if you've ever experienced your toe stop popping off during a bout!

Well, Gumball now has some competition...specifically Crazy Skate's Big and Li'l Bloc toe stops.

Crazy Big Bloc Toe Stops

 I first tried out the Big Bloc after RollerCon 2012 and it didn't take long for me to appreciate the already flattened surface area.  I didn't have to do TATS (turn around toe stops) over and over again to break them in, although doing TATS did help to rough up the surface for better traction.  The Big Bloc was quite stable at 57mm wide and the material made stopping quickly effortless and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the stop to pop off the stem.  I gave them to Deuce Gunner (2012 Alaska MVP) to try out and now I can't get them back! 

I skated on the Big Blocs for about two months and during that time I didn't notice a substantial amount of wear, so I expect they would last a relatively long time...I've had to replace my toe stops monthly during peak training season but I bet I could get through a season with 2 pairs of these.

After raving about the Big Blocs to Amy at Skates US, she convinced me to try out the Li'l Bloc toe stops.  The Li'l Blocs are a smaller version of the Big Bloc measuring in at 45mm wide.  I was very apprehensive at first, I mean, I was used to having a solid base on which I could run, jump, and stop without worrying about being unstable but I didn't even notice that I had changed my stops at all in this regard.  I did notice my skates were a tad lighter and I didn't hit the toe stops during crossovers at the spots where I normally would (barely) hit.  I was only able to wear them for about 10 hours during a weekend boot camp, but I really didn't notice the smaller surface area at all during that time.

Now, I haven't been able to try the Big or Li'l Bloc out on every surface or have every type of skater try them, but from what I've experienced so far I would recommend these to anyone looking for something new.  The G Spot will even be getting a pair to give away, so stay tuned to your favorite Roller Derby Gear blog for your chance to win.

To sum things up, here are the Pros and Cons:

Pros: 
-2 Sizes to Choose From
-Already Flattened and Ready to Stop
-Slowly Wears Down
-Won't Pop Off (unlike Tanisha, amirite?!?)

Cons:
-Pre-Flattened side means more work for those with toe stop nuts.
- Having to choose between sizes

Atom Backpack

Speaking of giveaways, right now 2N1 Skate Shoppe is having a contest and will give away an Atom Backpack.  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.  We will give away a backpack to one lucky fan during the last week of March so you have a little time to post something...shocking.


Until we skate again,
Shocker