The Grand Demise Of Rollerblading.....

So, yeah, like I was saying on a post I did last week, I recently decided to return to skateboarding. Something I loved and was obsessed with for a while as a teenager. So...about 20 years ago!

I did this as a cross-training sport on days I don't run. I figure it'll help me improve balance and coordination. If I don't bust my ass first. LOL.

My wife hates it. Says I'm gonna kill myself. We were talking at work about this, and about back in the day, when one of my friends said he Rollerbladed for awhile. This reminded me of a joke I told him..."What's the hardest part of Rollerblading?"
Telling your parents you're Gay. LOL.

So...we got on this big argument. As to why Rollerblading has gone all-but-belly-up these days. I am of the opinion...always have been, that it just looks too silly to be sustained in this image-conscious culture we live in. I mean really, don't you think that it is almost impossible to Rollerblade without looking like a total twit?

And...thus the question is begged? Why is this, exactly? I mean, skateboarding looks cool.. No questions about it. Surfing is cooler, even. Riding one of those little BMX bikes is sorta cool. Even roller skating on quad skates, for girls, is OK.

But what is the aesthetic at work that makes Rollerblading look so silly? Admit it: when you last saw somebody Rollerblading (I realize the correct term is inline skating, btw) didn't you feel a slight, mysterious urge to run over and punch them in the head? LOL.

So...what say you? What makes Rollerblading the sport equivalent of wearing a fanny pack, or a wireless blue-tooth, or an umbrella hat, or any of those fashion disasters that cannot be done without looking like a putz?

Thanks.

 

I had blades. Just like ice skating I could go fast but I didn't know how to stop. They didn't last long for me, all my cousins were into it... I stuck with 4 legged horses. =p

 

I used to play hockey in them all the time. Still would if they didnt close down all the rinks around here

 

Watch what a guys butt does when you are rollerblading, you might as well be wearing heels.

It looks gay, becuase it looks gay, you butt points out and wiggles in a graceful feminine way

 

Crystal is some kind of Superman right?

 

Well VG. I can't say you are wrong, I don't look at guys butts that closely.

 

Now, yeah, roller hockey I could see. Definitely cooler than just gliding along down the street with headphones on and a pair of those 80s parachute pants. LOL

Last time I tried ice hockey I lost a front tooth. That is one insanely brutal sport, mate. Love it. But only to watch in person. It loses waay too much on TV. Can't even see the puck most the time.

ps.........congrats on your back-to-back Stanley Cups.

 

You could have stumbled upon the answer to my OP question? Good job, mate!

 

Yeah thats what my rollerblading buddy said about them.....that learning to stop effectively and smoothly is the hardest part. I think I recall he said they have some sort of stops on the back heel? Or you can do what he called a "T" stop? Of course we have the same stopping dilemma with skateboards too.

 

I've been thinking about getting a pair of rollerblades, actually.

 

I see kids with shoes and they must have a wheel in them somewhere because they run and then slide and zip around.

 

A fair bit of people roller blade here. I see at least a few if I go out somewhere fairly public. They're usually crazy toned too.

 

I’m surprised in-line skating didn’t have more sustainability but then again neither did quad roller-skating.
It was extremely popular for a while and Ice skating rinks were converted to rollerskating rinks during the summer months but then the sport just died out



Hotwater

 

Yeah Irm those shoes are called wheelies.and that fad died out here much quicker than Rollerblades did.

I'm thinking it died out because biking is a better mode of transportation

 

We have been talking about past fads here on HF a lot lately.

The old quad skates were my favourite as a kid, twice as fast around the local rollerink when that Flock of Seagulls song came on.

Then they just kind of died off, were so uncool of a sudden, then rollerblades came it, but one gay joke killed fad and then neither seemed go come back in for 20 years.


If i wasnt sure i wouldnt end up with a leg in a cast for 3 months, id love to whack on some quad skates now and zip around a wax polished giant timber floor

 

Still The Occasional "Wheelie" Here.......I Find Them Fun To Watch As The Shoes Just Appear

To Glide Over The Surface With No Wheels In Sight......



Cheers Glen.

 

In one of the towns I lived in growing up rollerblading was the cool thing to do. We used to go to the roller rink on Friday nights with a pack of friends and roll around in endless circles. Eat some junk food, drink a bunch of soda. All of those types of places smell exactly the same.

 

parents are so safety oriented now...i just figured they went out of style due to the severe injuries from falls

kids nowadays cant even ride a bicycle without helmets..its getting kind of rediculous

i survived playing lawn darts ...man we used to just fling those straight up and wait to see where they landed..same with bow and arrows lol...had lots of fun shooting bottles with .22 too

now everyones a safety fuddyduddy

 

Because people are getting lazier

 

Haven't done it for a long time. I don't know why I stopped doing it because i had so much fun skating growing up.

I forgot that my town's roller rink closed its doors forever a couple years ago. Its really sad to come to think of it.