My old & trusty Salomon FSK skates are getting a bit long in the tooth so I've been keeping an eye open for a replacement. 
They've still got a bit of life in them but the options to replace them are getting smaller as our local skate shop loses interest in in-line skates to focus on the more lucrative skateboard and scooter markets. I found these on sale in there the other day
the colours are a bit more - well, white than I'd like and I'm not sure how resiliant the boot will be to the scuffs & scrapes of everyday skating but they fit well & feel comfortable.
The scary thing about the new skates is that they have no brake and no easy way to mount one. I could just swap over the frames (ie the bit that connects the wheels to the boot) because the brake is mounted on the frame on the old skates - this is one of the main reasons why I wanted to go for this design of skate. But now I have them I'm curious to try them as they are. I managed to not use my brake on the 26km skate on wednesday and slowed down through a mixture of slides, turns, t-stops (dragging the wheels of one skate at 90 degrees to your direction of motion) and the occasional roll past the stopping point and return. But I always knew the brake was there if I needed it. In my mind the idea of skating without a brake is in some ways a metaphor for life - you should be adaptable and prepared to take a different route instead of just trying to grind to a halt when something gets in your way. I'll hopefully be able to let you know how that philosophy works when you you're rolling along at 2o miles an hour and someone pulls out of a driveway in front of you.
I've also been riding my fixed gear bike into the city a bit recently. Fixed gear bikes have no freewheel so if the pedals turn the rear wheel turns, and vice versa. You can slow down by pulling up on the front pedal and pushing down on the back pedal. It sounds foolish but it can slow the bike down pretty well - if you position your bodyweight right you can even get the rear wheel to skid.
The classic 'fixie' film Mash shows how this works if you're brave enough. Those guys are riding brakeless bikes so they have no choice. Brakeless fixies are the current fad amongst hipster types & cool kids and for me they have a similar draw as brakeless skates. I was riding back home after a few social ales the other night thinking that I might takes the brakes off my bike to see what it was like, and pretty much as soon as I thought that my chain came off. And of course if you have no brakes then no chain = no way to slow down. I can recognise a sign when I see one - the brakes (or at least the front brake) stay on.
They've still got a bit of life in them but the options to replace them are getting smaller as our local skate shop loses interest in in-line skates to focus on the more lucrative skateboard and scooter markets. I found these on sale in there the other day
the colours are a bit more - well, white than I'd like and I'm not sure how resiliant the boot will be to the scuffs & scrapes of everyday skating but they fit well & feel comfortable.
The scary thing about the new skates is that they have no brake and no easy way to mount one. I could just swap over the frames (ie the bit that connects the wheels to the boot) because the brake is mounted on the frame on the old skates - this is one of the main reasons why I wanted to go for this design of skate. But now I have them I'm curious to try them as they are. I managed to not use my brake on the 26km skate on wednesday and slowed down through a mixture of slides, turns, t-stops (dragging the wheels of one skate at 90 degrees to your direction of motion) and the occasional roll past the stopping point and return. But I always knew the brake was there if I needed it. In my mind the idea of skating without a brake is in some ways a metaphor for life - you should be adaptable and prepared to take a different route instead of just trying to grind to a halt when something gets in your way. I'll hopefully be able to let you know how that philosophy works when you you're rolling along at 2o miles an hour and someone pulls out of a driveway in front of you.
I've also been riding my fixed gear bike into the city a bit recently. Fixed gear bikes have no freewheel so if the pedals turn the rear wheel turns, and vice versa. You can slow down by pulling up on the front pedal and pushing down on the back pedal. It sounds foolish but it can slow the bike down pretty well - if you position your bodyweight right you can even get the rear wheel to skid.
The classic 'fixie' film Mash shows how this works if you're brave enough. Those guys are riding brakeless bikes so they have no choice. Brakeless fixies are the current fad amongst hipster types & cool kids and for me they have a similar draw as brakeless skates. I was riding back home after a few social ales the other night thinking that I might takes the brakes off my bike to see what it was like, and pretty much as soon as I thought that my chain came off. And of course if you have no brakes then no chain = no way to slow down. I can recognise a sign when I see one - the brakes (or at least the front brake) stay on.
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