My gf and I were going for a jog yesterday down behind Toombul shops, and we found a cool bikeway track that goes all the way out to nudgee wetlands and boondall.

The path would be perfect for rollerblades, and since it's been about 13 years since I had my last pair, I was wondering what's the go these days. We dont want uberpro blades, just something with good bearings and s***.

What brands and where's the best place to get a pair?

maybe i could interest you in some roflskates ?

they're all about the same - I'd still go into Skatebiz in the city for decent new bairing/wheels

http://www.skatebiz.com.au/

Go check out skate biz in the city. I got lucky and got mine when they were on sale. Make sure you get served by a person who is actually a rollerblader. They have a good selection of blades there, but they can be a bit overpriced.

I recommend going to k-mart for you elbow, knees and wrist guards because they are just as good as the skate biz gear and a s***load cheaper. If you haven't done it before I highly recommend padding.

edit: for new wheels etc get them off the net from the US. Much cheaper.

last edited by Thundercracker at 14:37:19 18/Feb/05

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/gpahl/lollerskates.gif

I remember seeing Amart selling them.

Got some decent ones @ Kmart Strex for $99, soft boot and alloy rail, very good for the price.

Cool, I will check 'em out crackerjack. the ones at skatebiz are pretty expensive, i didnt want to spend over $200 per pair.

ps. i miss the integra Type-R in your sig :(

I still have my $99 dollar pair from Target which I got when I was about 15

np Strex, yeah f*** spending $200+ on blades...

ps. i miss the integra Type-R in your sig :(

Thats ok, I can still see it in the driveway from my office :p

last edited by Cr@ckerJ@ck at 20:36:25 18/Feb/05

Lollerblades?

Strex, you get what you pay for remember. Comfort, durability, stylz, ability to impress the chicks, you know all the important stuff..

I think that bike track is even longer then that. Brisbane is spending some blings on making bike tracks everywhere :D

i think if you go the other way on that track you can go as far as stafford city shopping center......and apparently in the next few months you should be able to get to brookside shopping center. i used to ride a fair bit of bike in the past.....the stafford city shopping center to toombul shopping center root was very cool.

I did the same about 2 years ago and tried to get back into skating - at the time I went with the previous years model Bauer skates - that way they were good, but also cheap at the same time (as around this time of year places are often still trying to get rid of old stock), rather than paying the extra $200 or so for a current set of Salomons or Bauers etc. Perhaps give that some thought?

The only problem I found was that the wheels that came standard with it were... well, not standard. They were from memory something like a very in-between durameter of what's the norm... so if you are thinking about continuing skating, if you end up with something like that, you'd prolly have to replace all the wheels in one go (unless you want mixed size/hardness wheels).
So there ya go, some warning before you don't make the same mistake I did there :)

damn you guys are cool. there are always some dudes in QGL who are in the know, about whatever topic.

props to yall.

Buy a cheap kmart/target pair and use the money you saved to buy you and your gf a pair of hot pants each.

If I saw you rollerblading down that path I would run you over on my bike. That thing is a total bastard in the afternoon. You just about get blown backwards on that thing some afternoons

The track actually continues past the boondal entertainment center, down past nudgee college (lol fags) and if you cross roads and hit a few tricky back paths you can end up over at chermside and with more road crossing and knowledge back at the other side of the track you started on. (via kalinga etc)

Its like a 60km round trip which isnt too bad on a bike. Id hate to go down there on rollerblades, all the cracks in between the concrete slabs would get irritating.

screw K-mart, I recommend paying around the $400 mark for a decent pair of Salamon, Roces or K2. You do get what you pay for and anything sub $200 is going to have your feet barking and doing so much extra work for less performance.

All half decent pairs will come with a good set of wheels, but for replacements I recomend Labeda roadrage, they seem to last me twice as long as most other wheels and rockin grip.
For bearings, just keep out of water and give them a wipe off every now and then clean and lube if they ever need it and you shouldnt have to think about replacement for years.

And most importantly, take the time to pick the right size skate. Your heel shouldnt be able to lift at all.
With pads, just get a cheap pair of wristies, that's the only thing your ever liable to break doing rec skating on a footpath.

yeah awesome track i regualryb ride there on my bike goes form boondall wetland eara to stafford
i bought some roller blades with knee. elbow an d wrist gurads for aobut $80 a while ago sure it;s not quality but does the job havne't been rollerbalding lately need to get bakc into it thoguh

I haven't bladed in years.. Used to speed skate back before blades were even around, then bought my first pair of blades in 1993 for around $800, then upgraded in 1995 to a new pair which cost me about $1100... But they were specialised speed blades.. I have no idea how much you'd pay for a decent set of street blades :p