Roller Skates Are Comlplicated! I Wasn't Prepared!!

The first three or four freshmeat practices I was forced to use the gear and skates that RDRDA provided. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for the access to the used gear, but honestly speaking... the skates really fucking sucked! If I had bigger feet, I could have used better skates, but being a size 4 skate, my options were limited. I ended up using the skates that were made around 1982! asically the problem was that the wheels were horrible. Here's a picture.

I am still wondering how I learned to skate in these!

Buying my first set of skates was really exciting! i knew they were the cheapest modern skates that I could get brand new, but I didn't realise that eventually I'd have to replace every part but the boot... at quite the cost too. When Teri Fying told me I should buy expensive skates right away, well... I should have listened. Here are my very first roller skates.

When I got these skates i was literally on cloud nine! As far as I knew they were the best skates in the world. Little did I know that they were not... but I don't care! I enjoyed the whole experience. I realised quickly that my wheels were too wide and my trucks were not quite right (the permanent piece between the wheels  is also too wide). While I was grateful to have new and better skates than I started with, it wasn't good enough. I still didn't seem to have the agility the other girls had, despite my skill level. I decided that new wheels were the answer.

As I was planning and asking around Teri Fying gave me some great gear advice. She suggested I upgrade my cushions! Cushions (pictured below they are the blue plasticy pieces in the trucks) do just that! They cushion the shock and allow a slight or not-so-slight movement. Now my wheels have shock absorbency and they steer themselves!

Now, here is the whole operation.... as you can see there are a lot of pieces to keep track of... Although it took me 3 hours or so to do everything involved, I managed.

1. Remove old wheels
2. Remove bearings from wheels
3. Remove trucks
4. Remove cushions
5. Clean all parts (bearings, trucks, and rest of skate)
6. Oil bearings
7. Put bearings in wheels
8. Attach new cushions and trucks
9. Attach new wheels
10. Adjust wheels
11. Adjust cushions
12. Try them out!

It was quite an ordeal, only because it was my first time. I'd never even seen it done before! Just winged it. A how-to video might have been helpful. I must say, looking at the finished product.... I did a good job. It'll be faster and easier next time I have to replace parts.

The first time I tried them out on the track, I felt like I was wobbling all over the place... I had NO control over if I veered this way or that way. Scourge Her helped me get the wheel and cushion tightness just right (I think), after a little (lot) of trial and error. Either way, it just keeps getting better every time.