Summer Shocker

This is going to be my last post for a little while.  Our summers in Alaska are quite short so we tend to make the most of it by going camping, hiking, fishing...pretty much any outdoor activity.  My league, the Rage City Rollergirls, takes some time off as well which makes it more difficult for me to test products and I would rather take some time off than post reviews about products that I haven't been able to fully try out.  In the meantime, why don't you go back to the beginning and re-read (or read for the first time if you are new to the G Spot) my articles on skate maintenance.  You should be changing your cushions out about once a year, depending on how much you skate, and while you have your skates disassembled you can easily check to see if you need to replace your pivot cups or if you have developed any small cracks/breaks in your trucks or plates.

Karen "Glitch" Corcoran

For the past few weeks we have asked for you to submit a Roller Derby haiku in the comments section which entered you into a contest to win a set of Heartless wheels.  After reading through them all and having fans vote on FaceBook, we finally have a winner!  Congratulations to Karen Corcoran (aka Glitch) and her victorious haiku:

Pulses are pretty,
But I beat all the jammers
with ugly Street Hogs

Nice right? Our other 2 finalists, Laura Wilcoxon and Kayla Cline, as well as all of the other entries were awesome and I really appreciate all the creative juices that flowed to create them.

Our next give-away is this awesome package of Bones Stuff!  Bones Bearing Washer Bottle, Speed Cream, 8-pack of Super Reds (or 16-pack of Reds), Bones Bearing Tool, and Bones Stickers!  All you need to do to enter your name in this drawing is post a comment with the Roller Derby name you've seen or heard that you think is hilarious, interesting, poignant, raunchy, or just strange.  You don't have to know them personally, but if you know what league they are affiliated with please post that too.  Actually, just post both of your leagues, that makes it easier to find you later when you win.  When I choose a name, I'll also send a purple Triple 8 CPSC Helmet to any skater of your choice as well!

I know most of my readers are from the Roller Derby world, but this goodie pack is perfect for any skate/longboarder as well so if you would rather post your favorite skate/longboarder name then have at it.

I'll draw the winner(s) on July 22nd, so you have a month to get your entries in.  Please spread the word of the contest (and, my blog of course) far and wide.  The more people visit this site, the more stuff I can get from sponsors to give away!

The last thing I needed to talk about was that I will be taking some time off.  Up here in Alaska we only get a few very short months for summer and it is usually spent traveling, hiking, fishing, outdoor skating, etc.  So, I'm going to take a little time off from writing reviews here, but I am trying out some Atom Lowboys (95a) and Jukes (93a), I got some new Juice wheels that are brand spanking new to the market so that's exciting, and I'm expecting to get some new toestops from Crazy Skates very soon, so I should be able to get back into the swing of things (blog-wise) quickly upon my return.

I hope you all are also able to enjoy the summer (Northern Hemisphere readers, of course) and, as always:

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