The Evolution of My Skates

What can I say, I love my skates!  They are my friend, if I take care of them, they'll take care of me. But when I purchased them, I was unsure of what I should get. I did my research, but being new to derby I was still a little confused about wheel type, toe stops, the sizing.  So I purchased a rookie package and upgraded only the knee pads. Mistake. We skate on cement surface that is an ice rink in the winter. Our constant skating has polished the surface and my wheels started sliding. This was a problem for me since I am already slower than everyone else.  


So at the beginning of this week I purchased some new wheels. Atom Poison is what I chose, and what a difference they make These wheels have a hardness of 84, much stickier than the stock wheels that came with my skates. I had my first practice with them last night. I thought my skates and I were working well together. I thought that new wheels would just solve my traction problem. I was shocked at how much better I was doing. Jumps, plow stops, t-stops and side  stepping became much easier to do. The upgrade my skates received made me love them even more. Can't wait till we can skate again.