67, skating for over 50 years. The only constant we can control in our skating lives is never stopping. Great content.

Blading as we know it has been around for what like 35 years and it was only mainstream from like 95 -99 ..... Basically people are fixated on a 4 year window in a 35 year history. Chances of that ever happening again ....... slim to none, just enjoy it for what it is and where it’s at.

It’s easier to just enjoy it for what it is and where it is. If we do comeback it needs be organic and sustainable.

It never left, just because its not mainstream, dosent mean it is gone, as long as there is a least one skate brand on the planet, it will exist.

Man I’m happy with where it’s at, who gives a damn wether it gets as big as skateboarding or not?

I love my Doops. My 8 y.o. son who skates FR1, UFR AP, and Oxelo can't wait till he has bigger feet to skate them. The simple reason is that he will never have to walk to the train station, bus stop, store, etc etc. He can always take them off if he has to. He asked me , ''why walk when you can skate?" Heck, he even told me that he'll ride his BMX with his skates on his feet if the LPO tells him it is illegal to skate on the roads around us. Children sound crazy and ridiculous but know how to have fun better than adults and that's probably why most of us grow up to become boring and fat.

The style in skiing was to always act like whatever trick you did was no big deal. Even if it was insane. They actually pushed back against this with a great ski video called Claim. Obviously, since when you own a dope trick you "claim" it.

I dunno, at my local gym they have a "clip show" playing on the tv's, just random clips of people doing cool stuff, from gymnastics, parkour, bmx, water skiing etc, just random clips. Anyway the other day i was pleasantly surprised when i saw some blading clips, back to back clips too and not old stuff, newer park skating clips. It definitely put a smile on my face. Little things like that, even though its small does show off the sport to people who would otherwise have no idea.

My hot take: taking off the rollerskates isn't essential - what if you had a long U shaped plastic / metal thing. You throw it down on the ground and step onto it with your skates. It will have a mechanism so the sides close up and attach to the wheels. You don't need to take off the wheels - you just need them to stop turning so you can go into a shop

Honestly, I think the fact that rollerblading is such a niche community these days is what makes it so appealing. I mean hear me out, so many of the other extreme/transportation sports are very mainstream. Like skateboarding, it is super popular but the sense of community and appeal that it used to have has in a way been lost by all the masses becoming a part of it. Same deal with BMX, while that part of bicycle riding is somewhat niche these days, bicycles in general are super popular, easily the most popular in this category, and as I've gotten older I've gravitated more towards just riding a mountain bike around. Scooters, they're typically seen as either a real child oriented scene, or they're just something people rent in big cities to get around. Now as for rollerblading it's just got far more of a unique appeal. You could combine roller skating in this category, but even that has become somewhat of a niche or small community sort of thing over the years, nowhere near as popular as it once was. So I think for people who are looking for more of a sense of community and culture, that's a bit outside of the norm, and a lot of fun, there's something to this. I could totally see it making a comeback one day, especially with things like wizard skating and other innovations taking off.

Been skateboarding and Bmx for 30 years. I remember the Asa coming to my town with the Japanese brothers and begging for some blades and my parents just looking at me like I was dim saying you already have all this other stuff. No regrets but anyways great channel and have been really digging all your insights. Wizard skating is my favorite. I don’t have plans to start but I enjoy this content thoroughly good sir. Mad lad respect

I'm only 7mins through but this has been pure comedy so far 😂😂

Dropping another banger video!! Thank you for this.

I just want to say that coming across this channel and seeing the comments made me feel Rollerblading is back because there is a community right here. It just made me happier I started rollerblading a few months ago. Cheers!

I would go into stores & restaurants all the time with blades on. The only time I got told to take them off were in a coffee shop near winterclash and the store where I work at.

Great vid again Tom, really good work!

rollerblading is hard. in the 90s it was new, everyone was trying it. but also in the 90s roller hockey was huge, everyone was playing in the streets and we had multiple rinks in my area. now we have one rink remaining. i think hockey gave people a reason to learn to get better on thier skates, and then aggressive started to rise and it was a much easier transition if you were already a solid skater. grinds, ramps etc are hard even for an advanced skater. to have to learn to skate and try to learn to grind at the same time is HARD. everyone can ride a bike. skate boarding doesnt take that long to be able to ride. skateboarding is more linear i think. you can take baby steps and there are little rewards along the way. your first ollie while standing still, your first ollie moving. your first ollie off a curb etc etc. inline doesnt have as many rewards in the beginning. me and my friends were jumping off lhome made launch ramps in our hockey skates doing 360s etc etc before we knew what aggressive skating was. kids arent doing that anymore, they arent outside as much, and by nature they arent going to do something that isnt "cool." in the 90s it was cool.

Happy my comment got featured but had i known you were polling for content I would've at least edited it for grammar mistakes 😅 Back to the topic at hand. It's important to clarify that I am reffering to MODERN rollerblading as in blading the last few years. Because we did have a pretty long run when, style-wise, we were so different. Think DL in BFG or Farmer in Words, with large sweatpants, huge tees and Mindgame beanies. Ridiculous for some, but at least authentic. I remember being laughed at by my non-blader friends for sporting such fashion back in the early 00s. As a blader for over 25 years now I find that even our late nineties style differed from what sk8boarders were choosing back then. The second part of my hot take, about lines and tricks, is about lines full of small, gimmicky tricks as opossed to doing a long ledge, 2 handrails and a big 540 to top it off at the end. Again, I've e nothing against lines chock-full of technical stuff but I cannot not compare to how sk8boarding lines look, at least from a non-skating/blading bystander POV. "Creative" is between quote marks and a metaphor referring to smaller, technical looking tricks. Much love for ur channel!

You’re shit’s good man. Editing and narrative are great. Hope you blow up. Keep at it.

Love your content. Youre voice is very soft snd birtish and i find it be me very comforting. Here's my argument AGAINST your pre order take... Roces and Gawds and THEM ALL do pre oders...... yet have HIGH amount of backstock on just about ANY website you go to. I'm a size 8 and and I can still find my size in just about any 1 year old + skate that's come out. Which means they're not exactly making skates compared to what they bring in on pre orders. Pre orders were the "hey these might sell out so buy now so you don't have to wait when they arrive at shops." Razors does a good job of making skates available right after the edit comes out

I think not being able to just hop off my skates definitely was apart of why i stopped rollerblading as a kid. Big hills(going up), grass fields, rough terrain, going into stores and even just standing still was a pain in the ass. Xsjados would've made a big difference to me personally.

Another cracking vid. Tbf I got my current skates off eBay for £50 lol, don't think they had ever been used..but I remember paying £220+ for my Remz Haffey's back in the day..keep up the great work dude

Thanks Tom, excellent content 🍻

For the first point, I think the fact that the doop recreational skates haven't taken off massively is a good case in point. That said, I loved my xjados (hyped on the new latimers), and of all the skates I've had, they were the closest to keeping up with my skater/bmx mates in town in terms of taking them on and off.

Skate videos used to be so good to get, getting the new mindgame team video etc, running round your friends house to watch it before a sesh

just want to that the m12 high cuffs are fucking NICE as hell, i sadly cant really fit narrow skates my size but the quality and power i had in them (even tho my toes were in agony) were beautiful

On the point of pre-orders: I feel like it’s a way better business model not just because of the cost effectiveness and lack of bloat, but LESS BULLSHIT PLASTIC GOING IN THE DUMPS!!

"Those chickens are gonna drop dead." Hahahaha! In Nebraska, US, people say "bad chickens" just to mean "things" and it's hilarious.

As an OG from the 1st gen, 2:38 has speak my mind. I also mountain biking n hardly any of my mates there recognize our sport 🙄

After all those great videos, brands, graphics in the 90/2000 we did not make it. So why now ? I think quad skating will go off and rollerblading will stay where it is now forever. MAYBE after USD is gone and all those boring brands are done and it dies completely a new young group of people can make it work.

Lol, I've owned two pairs of xsjado. Just picked up the new Latimer skate. I personally love them and find them to be super comfortable.

If rollerblading was easy more people would do it

I just keep the blades on now whenever i go in stores, train etc. Too much of a hassle to switch up

Just gotta be popular enough to keep In production, you’re doing all the good man.

Old k2 skates were on and off, they look nasty but they're also very light, an old friend of mine used to love them

Recreational rollerblading could totally come back. Because for fitness it’s amazing. Hockey is popular too. Some people will go from rec skating to aggressive, and that’s probably all one can hope for. Also wizard skating. That could possibly get bigger.

Being prepared for trick landings is the best take out of these vids. Gonna show up to the spot with gold star stickers.

Loved this video. So much truth in it lol

I agree with the title..as a skateboarder who saw the rise and fall of the sport in the 90's..I don't think it will ever be as big as it was before..

I found my old unity mags the other day and saw a sale for salomon st1 for £60. I know inflation but damn

Recreational skating seems to have made a come back already. Went for a skate in Bristol around Lloyds and there were more rec bladers than skateboarders. I was on my 3 wheelers so was one of them as well. It''d be good to see aggressive making a come back, might get insane if some of the parkour kids get in it and those scene cross over.

I think rollerbladers just need to stop comparing to other activities, mainly skateboarding. It doesn't really help us much and it never has. Ntm most don't know that there is plenty of pro skateboarders that have to have a normal job ir side hustle to pay the bills. Some rollerbladers act like every skateboarder is a millionaire, that is not the case and tbh it never has been the case. It's actually pretty crazy when you look into what most of those dudes actually earn, grabted yes tgere is some that do pretty well financially just from skateboarding. In my opinion, rollerblading is in a great place, we got a lot of great products coming out, we got cool contests, and rollerblading has progressed... it's constantly progressing. I'd like to see more people do it but hey truth is not everybody is gonna think our passion is cool..that or they think its cool but are just not interested in doing it, its the way of the world. And if we want to get to comparing earnings, why don't we ever compare to like football (american and what we call soccer here) or NBA, or hell even NHL hockey, you want to see some real checks...some serious paydays just from doing a fun activity? Those pro sports players make crazy money compared to any "action sport". Lastly, we talk like rollerblading is super small, but at the same time...its done by people all across the world, you can find people on skates damn near everywhere...maybe not aggressive skating but they are on wheels attached to their feet and rolling, that says something. We need to appreciate what we have, because we really aren't in a terrible place...there is other activities that are just as small as us or even smaller, think about how those people feel who participate..their pros may not make much at all. I love where rollerblading is at, I hope it grows to more people is all... that's always a plus. Great thoughts man.

Lines were in surfing and gymnastics long before inline. Inline has several other formats that don't involve ramps and rails. Lines are a natural way of demonstrating multiple tricks. Flow is valued as skill over a lack of flow. Just is.

I love my shadows. But they take way longer to put on. You gotta but on a boot. Then put on the skate

if you can bring a stroller/pram into the venue, you can wear blades

When I look back at Dare To Air, and I think about why I got into Aggressive Inline...it was really because of the air tricks featured. Way less grinds, yeah grinds were in the video, grinds are fine and all, but now the ratio is heavily skewed in one direction. I love vert skating, and vert skating seems to be really be hard to find showcases of now. Your videos seem to pop in my suggestions a lot the last couple months, would you be up for making one about Vert Skating?

You know who loves ABDs? ABD-iel Colberg

Yoooooo, we ABSOLUTELY need to celebrate more, especially if we want to get more public attention

Both Julio's skate companies have been a little too concerned with what's going on in skateboarding if you ask me. I prefer aesthetically neutral blank-slate companies like USD and Seba.

Tarkofsky ref, respect 😂

i purchased a pair last week and i like it a lot

The thing about it being expensive, is that a skateboard is $25, Roller Skates are $25, Aggressive skates are $200. It is a barrier to entry. BMX is about $200 as well. As an adult this seems like nothing, but to a child deciding how to spend their allowance.....

Not the chihuahua in the sauce 😂😂😂

Oysi x Twiglets collab has to happen 😂

Xsjados take way longer to put on. Way easier just popping your foot in a boot. Not having to bring shoes is great though

I think there are several points according to me that make rollersaketing not so popular. + Shares aesthetics and music with its other sister disciplines. + As a means of transportation they require good terrain. + The difficulty is usually supported by the grind. These tricks are only attractive to people who already skate and know how difficult they are. But they are very boring (including me) to see compilations of stairs/railings. Slalom and the Wizard brought a new mood to the world of flashiness. + At least in my country, I would say in all of Latin America, it is more expensive to buy skates, backpacks, protections and find parks. Skateboarding and BMX is more accessible in those economic aspects.

We have kids and teenagers full time alienated faces on tiktok so , it’s sad but it would never be a huge comeback

Some people say a cucumber tastes better pickled 🐶

Truth. It'll never ever reach the fever pitch it did 30 years ago. As is, if I go skating recreationally, I'm looked at like the oddball who's using a 1985 boom box with cassette player. Lol

What boots are the oysi frame on? Are those xjadows?

Unfortunately, too many opinionated creators still don’t understand the toxic nature of social media. As an example there are content creators who live in a world where they believed that blading started 20 years ago and that there was NO skill in the 90’s due to their own arrogance and ego… Now, we have a bunch of ignorant creators who have attempted to reinvent rollerblading to fit into todays socially accepted trends. If modern day creators actually respected their pioneers and the sport as a whole, as compared to many other sporting cultures we might have had a better foundation to make in-line skating a mainstream sport again. “Distorting the past only distorts our understanding of the present and hinders our path to progress." - Unknown

Absolutely down with taking some sparklers for the big tricks 😂😂 maybe a couple of airbombs. Could attach so Catherine wheels on your Skates and set them off once you've dropped a hammer 🛠 😂😂 Oh who the f and Citeh 😂 😂

I think you should make the bacon sandwich ride-away your trademark move Tom.

Rollerbladers have to get over competing against one another. Skateboarding (for the most part) is over the whole street/vert/tech bull shit.Everyone is in it for the win!

I think a bionicle branded skate would bring rollerskating back

rollerblading would come back when we stop waiting for the miracle from the outside world to make it come back..

i am a "wizard skater" because i blew out my ACL and dont wanna do it again doing dumb shit for nothing lol

While I don't think that the sport would be more popular if you could take skates on/off faster, it is unfortunate that it can take a while. I think it takes me 5+ minutes to get laced up in CJs

Bro im never leaving roller blades. Ill be 65 Scuff🚧shit up in a city near you💯🎧🎷🅿️ 😂😂

mý favs are murda and julio.. stýle first..

What is the trick called at 25:23?

Feinberg built an entire world class career doing the same 10ish tricks on crazier and crazier things. Commenter is onto something about not downplaying basic tricks.

With the way the you get generation is nowadays I doubt it. I used to actively skate back in middle school and high school. Was on a hiatus for a good 22 years and recently got back into it. All the people I see skating on KZfaq are guys around my age. I think there is enough of a comeback to keep it sustainable for a short while longer. But once all of us 90’s kids are too old to skate we might see this sport fade into the abyss.

"It's too expensive" That's such a weak argument when you spend 2 seconds looking at second hand stuff or even just shopping around, I think the person who made the comment did 1 Google search for aggressive skates, saw the price for those adapt carbon fiber skates and chimed in 😂

Price is not the problem at all. A nice pair of shoes can be just as expensive as skates. I got into it at 35 years old as a form of exercise after hurting my back - it’s amazing exercise. You work all of the stabilizing muscles in your core and legs

6 daýs he thought and talked about it.. at the seventh daý, he went to the park

Ok. So it depends where you are. Yes, the best skaters are in Philly. It was the same way in 2001, when i was rocket torqueing rails sit down 270 out, and doing 360 to farside mistrial on em as well. But i never went anywhere because my city doesnt have the love Philly does. Nobody wanted me to get better, they wanted me to quit, and i did. So sadly, we are a product of our environments. I was checking out the Truth and it is good skating, but, ironically, Denial, which was from back in 2004 was better. Jon Schmidt and Chris Shaws parts were on par with Jeph Howards in 1131 or even better. So sadly, i guess im living in Denial, and i think that the sport will live but it will continue to be niche and the rewards for the time put in wont even be as good as having a 9 to 5, but, at least we have some legends and legendary edits.

give this man a green hat.. 👍

Sweatstance was named due to the fact you had the family jewels dangling close to disaster

Mine is that fakie looks lame and should just happen after 180s or 540s and be reverted instantly. It's the same with freestyle skiing. Nobody wants to see someone set up for a twerk in an 'extreme' sport.

🔥

It’s already coming back.

Yes there is a lot to say...

got dang tom halibut in a small pond hahahaha

I’m all for the sandwich celly! Let’s go!!! Who’s got it!? 😂

Me personally, I like that blading is underground and esoteric. I wouldn't want it to be popular and mainstream.

My hot take: Rollerbladers are not good at transmitting the "rollerblade lifestyle & vibe"... Mountainbikers, skateboarders and BJJ guys have been much more effective.

"Aggressive rollerblading will never have a comeback" I mean, not to the numbers it was, 100% agree. 'and hating on any other type of skating'. I've heard and experienced WAY MORE hate from Skateboarding than ANY OTHER wheeled sport, let alone blading or aggro skating. Not all, but skateboarders are so conflictive and hateful towards ANY other wheeled sport, it's crazy. Like get your head out of your ass, we're all out here trying to have fun and improve. We're all in the same boat, just with a different paddle. If you can think of tips, even if you don't know how to do that wheeled sport, give them over. Sometimes, and outside view of your trick attempts, no matter how experienced, is needed to land a trick.

So basically Yandi is the Stuart Pearce of rollerblading? 🤣

The problem is that in a couple of years in the nineties almost everything was done already. 2 crazy asian dudes flying on vert ramps. Some guys whi took street to the next level etc... Not much room for innovation or new tricks, because of the limitations of rollerblades vs a bmx or skateboard for example where most tricks consist of turning a part of or the full thing you are riding

Hot take : i like hot takes ;)

since when is a grind without the grab considered the proper grind..? answer me !!!

Skateboarding - street surfing - literally copied surfing. It´s a bit of a, "sucker bladers roll" attitude, but sports are similar. I don't know if, "Inline skating copied skateboarding", is still an argument, but it's wrong. Inline is similar to skateboarding, ice skating and skiing, because sports share similarities.

Bruh they put roller skates in a few of the pokemon games. Think of how many people interact with that

Hi, Tom. In my opinion...forget about the nineties. It was the beginning but now? Let blading be just blading and not some zombie from the past.

I think rollerblading never left and ppl are going viral with rollerblading videos lately especially the rollerblading skate party videos....guess you just have to be actively looking for the content

I dont care about ABD's.... Thats stupid. I like seeing them (especially if its been 10+ years.) Its paying homage. And i like seeing how the trick differs from one person to another. AND THE MAIN THING..... I like it cause so many people dislike it.

Def. a bad look for Darst considering Farmer is one of the best ever. Darst is not.

Everything eventually make a comeback.

Blading is a lot cooler to people than bladers think it is. A good example: a friend of mine used to take the mick out of me for being a blader. Then her reaction when saw what i was doing: "OMG that's actually pretty fucking cool." Bladers, you're cool already! Don't worry about it!