Why did roller blading never stay big but skate boarding is still going strong?

[HomerThompson]

nah man, skating is bigger than ever. like ridiculously huge. & these motherfuckers ain't playing. check out Brandon Westgate. dude is NASTY

Smooth and huge air. Fantastic stuff.

 

[weed]

Ok i just assumed it died off around the mid 00s when scooters became the in thing. Same goes with all the brands and fashion aswell. I dont see anyone wearing skateshoes.

NikeSB really blew up. & éS just came back too. they even remade the infamous Sal 23s haha

this is a couple of years old bit still awesome:

 

[ripsta619]

One of the best street rollerbladers I've seen. . .





What do y'all think of this guy? I remember seeing him in a skate video YEARS ago called Leading the Blind.

EDIT: Found the Leading the Blind clip. This one's actually more impressive, but lower quality. He almost kills himself at 36 seconds.





@grinderman @loyalyolayal @22k @Clear Winner @lifelessheap @JosephDredd @Oblivian @MoparOrNoCar @Cygnus A @Graverobber @Phlog

Man that guy is just fucking crazy. I will find the clip where he jumps a 12 stair set case and lands on the second sets handrail doing a truespin mizzou. I never got the chance to session with him but I have had a bunch witj Chris Haffey. Equally insane.

 

[ripsta619]

Check this out. No idea if any street skater or blader broke this record yet.

 

[Phlog]

One of the best street rollerbladers I've seen. . .





What do y'all think of this guy? I remember seeing him in a skate video YEARS ago called Leading the Blind.

EDIT: Found the Leading the Blind clip. This one's actually more impressive, but lower quality. He almost kills himself at 36 seconds.





@grinderman @loyalyolayal @22k @Clear Winner @lifelessheap @JosephDredd @Oblivian @MoparOrNoCar @Cygnus A @Graverobber @Phlog

It's just boring, he does one if three things: jump, spin, grind.

Doing it faster or further isn't more interesting.

It's fundamentally less impressive as it is that much easier and less varied.

The problem is that it is compared to skateboarding. Trying to do similar things, on its own it is impressive, but not in the context of skateboarding. The lack of expression is also a down side, skateboarding is like water colour to skatings lego.

Is a shame they get compared really.

 

[Guestx]

It's just boring, he does one if three things: jump, spin, grind.

Doing it faster or further isn't more interesting.

It's fundamentally less impressive as it is that much easier and less varied.

The problem is that it is compared to skateboarding, trying to do similar things, on its own it is impressive, but not in the context of skateboarding. The lack of expression is also a down side, skateboarding is like water colour to skatings lego.

Is a shame they get compared really.

Damn, really? Didn't you say you do (or did) both?

I'm not going to argue that there's not a "sameness" quality to it. But to act like the same isn't true of boarding is simply disingenuous.

I don't even want to go down this road because I think both are cool, but to act like, "Hey, I make board go spinny flippy and land on it!" is so awesome, while acting like the shit rollerbladers do doesn't take enormous skill is crazy.

I'll put it this way, skateboarders may be more technical but the guys doing more death-defying shit--as a whole--are the inline guys.

 

[Guestx]

Check this out. No idea if any street skater or blader broke this record yet.

I posted that in another thread. It's fucking INSANE! I can't even believe he landed that.

 

[Phlog]

Damn, really? Didn't you say you do (or did) both?

I'm not going to argue that there's not a "sameness" quality to it. But to act like the same isn't true of boarding is simply disingenuous.

I don't even want to go down this road because I think both are cool, but to act like, "Hey, I make board go spinny flippy and land on it!" is so awesome, while acting like the shit rollerbladers do doesn't take enormous skill is crazy.

I'll put it this way, skateboarders may be more technical but the guys doing more death-defying shit--as a whole--are the inline guys.

Yeah, that's true. I'm not a massive fan of the flippy shit, more the expression that allows different boarders to really be unique.

To pick two obvious examples look at Tony hawk and Rooney Mullen. Through their own creativity, two totally different styles emerge. Then look up dog town and the z boys, another totally different expression. Variability allows creativity, in the same way English allows for many different expressions and thus is THE medium for songs.

 

[Pwent]

used to do both

skateboarding is a lot more convenient, on top of having more possible tricks. i mean you just step off of it and carry it, then get back on. rollerblades are a pain to switch out of your shoes

skateboarding was my prime transportation until i got my first car, and then again when i got to college, its a lot more convenient than walking, plus its fun. i still keep a wooden penny board in my trunk

rollerblades arent as practical unless you are going out specifically to rollerblade

 

[Pwent]

Fuck skate boarding. I fell off flying down a hill and grazed the skin completely off my ass cheeks. Because of a HOSE in the way.

i used to bomb redhill in tustin growing up, easily go over 30 mph on the steeper portions, possibly faster (idk because i go into hardcore adrenaline mode, hard to judge).

one time this old lady backed out of her driveway fucking fast, like she must have accidentally slammed the gas pedal, i swerved left to avoid her and hit a stick. the skateboard stopped and i didnt. i flew really far. my feet hit first but i was going too fast so, tucked and rolled, but i ended up doing 2 full shoulder rolls before i ended up slowing down enough to go into a run/stumble

i had bad scrapes all the way from my right shoulder diagonally to my left hip, to my left butt cheek, to left arm. you could perfectly see how i rolled lol

its amazing i didnt break anything, really felt like i have wolverine bones or someshit

 

[superpunch]

It's super gay -- and actually gay not just a figure of speech -- and you have to wear roller blades instead of shoes. You can't just walk around after you're done roller blading.

 

[Pwent]

lots of mentions of skateshoes ITT

>wearing skatershoes
>not wearing muskas so you can hide your weed

lol do u even shred

 

[fightingrabbit]

lots of mentions of skateshoes ITT

>wearing skatershoes
>not wearing muskas so you can hide your weed

lol do u even shred

Pot pockets.

 

[Clear Winner]

One of the best street rollerbladers I've seen. . .





What do y'all think of this guy? I remember seeing him in a skate video YEARS ago called Leading the Blind.

EDIT: Found the Leading the Blind clip. This one's actually more impressive, but lower quality. He almost kills himself at 36 seconds.





@grinderman @loyalyolayal @22k @Clear Winner @lifelessheap @JosephDredd @Oblivian @MoparOrNoCar @Cygnus A @Graverobber @Phlog

Pretty good stuff, especially on some of those rails. There's just something about skateboarding that looks better to me though, especially knowing how difficult it is.

 

[Clear Winner]

So gay

Not gay at all.

Wood both.

Claiming that blading isn't gay by showing pics of hot women blading makes no sense though. That's like putting up a picture of a hot woman in Crocs or yoga pants and saying that men who wear those things aren't gay.

 

[ShinkanPo]

what is the actual difference? blade has 1 line of wheels and skate has 2? like those used by waitresses in some 80s style cantinas?

Because it is used by waitress in some 80s style cantinas.

 

[MicroBrew]

As a kid I thought roller blading was the shit. I'm old enough to remember when they first came out. We never got into doing tricks and shit and i stopped rollerblading by the 9th grade but skating around the neighborhood and shit was fun. I had a skateboard in elementary school but it wasn't the kind like they had today, it was a Bruce Lee Nash with a plastic brake on the rear and only the back had a lip. We really only used it to sit on and go down hills.

Imo Rollerblading was much more fun than skatboarding. Outside of one gay joke I wonder why it never stayed relevant.

That type of skateboard was the 1st one I had but got the regular style in HS senior year.

 

[Cygnus A]

One of the best street rollerbladers I've seen. . .





What do y'all think of this guy? I remember seeing him in a skate video YEARS ago called Leading the Blind.

EDIT: Found the Leading the Blind clip. This one's actually more impressive, but lower quality. He almost kills himself at 36 seconds.





@grinderman @loyalyolayal @22k @Clear Winner @lifelessheap @JosephDredd @Oblivian @MoparOrNoCar @Cygnus A @Graverobber @Phlog

He has mad skills for sure. I actually competed at NISS (national inline skate series) back around 95/96. When I lived in Arlington Tx, I skated at Eisenbergs skate park quite frequently. I think I skated almost daily at the Kennedale skate park from 99-2003. I broke my ankle there and completely destroyed my hip joint, finally ending skating career.