I'm a really impulsive person, and though close to danger as it
takes me, none is more dangerous than anything I approach with my
keycard. Impulse purchaser extraordinaire am I, driven by impatience and
blissful ignorance. Then I had step children. Money is tighter than a
nuns @#/%. The beauty of this is I learnt how to be an expert researcher
of purchases. (all credit to my partner). I stopped buying things
before checking every possible avenue, brand, price, shipping cost and
forum for clues. It's kinda workin' I think.. When I started thinking
seriously about derby, I began scouring online stores for
clues as to what to buy. Given I'm in Australia, most things are
cheaper online so I sorted site after site, comparing blogs and forum
advice with prices and packs. I became obsessed. How do i get the best
skate for the lowest price? What protective gear do I need? What brands are going to last me?
I figured out I'd
need this at a start:
Derby Skates (no shit!)
Helmet
Elbow pads
Wrist pads
Knee pads
Toe guard (to stop you from ripping your skates)
Helmet
Elbow pads
Wrist pads
Knee pads
Toe guard (to stop you from ripping your skates)
For me, I knew I would be skating daily at the basketball courts near
my house so I'd need outdoor wheels and bearings and a skate tool.. I've since read
you can use a socket set to take your wheels off, so I'll try that
before I buy a tool.
Basically, I learned for someone with a family the $500-$600 or so dollars is a massive commitment, that's our monthly food budget!
I learned that good pads were a necessity, knee gaskets might be
good for me because of my size (and dodgy knees, cheers dad). After all the comparing of US skate stores I
eventually found a freshmeat pack on derbyskates.com.au that had all the right stuff in the right places. Suregrip rebel invaders with 187 pads and came with a helmet, gaskets, mouthguard, and toe protectors.
I also tried calling and emailing skate stores in AU to find out about basic
outdoor wheels, and beginner skates. No one could give me a solid answer,
I needed to speak to someone!
Fortunately, I hung back after my first
skate class and queried the tattooed goddess about my dilemma. She said,
contrary to what I'd read online; big girls don't have to have aluminium
plates, the nylon plates are just as strong and will break eventually
no matter what. That dropped my starting price by about 100.00! My biggest miseducation though was working on the premise that I needed
the best quality skates I could afford, when in all reality I was going
to fall a whole bunch and fuck them up regardless of what price I paid.
Also I have private health cover so can get a mouthguard through my
dentist. Sweet deal.
The rink had a skate store in-house and when I told the lady what I
was going to pay she offered to quote me on a pack. On the advice of the
skaters there I went with a cheap skate (crazy skates vx) and the best
pads because:
1. I won't understand what I'll want in a skate until I figure out how they work on my feet (and how not to kill myself on them)
2. I'm going to get familiar with the floor, so I'll need the best cushions I can get
2. I'm going to get familiar with the floor, so I'll need the best cushions I can get
My original freshie pack was $550.00 without even getting to the outdoor wheels and bearings. The rink mama quoted me $391.00!! Plus cheap outdoor wheels which will be about $70.00 and bearings at about $50.00. BAM. A saving of at least a hundred bucks :)
The moral of this story is: you read everything you can find online,
check all the forums and blogs, read all the reviews and as per usual
the best advice is found out when you find someone who knows their shit.
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