One of the turning points I remember was within the past decade someone at my local park tried ragging on blading and a skateboarder immediately jumped to our defense, pointing out "Nah man, these cunts are still out here going hard, and for what? There's no money, no chance of fame, no industry. The only reason they're doing it is for the love of it".
Yeah, between the fall of rollerblading's popularity and the sudden rise and influx of scooters, I find that at a park that doesn't see many rollerbladers, we get looked at as more a curiosity than anything bad. Definitely helps that scooters have taken over as the easiest way in to a skatepark, so we aren't bunched together with all the kids in the way. But I think for the most part the attitude has changed, it's less about what you ride and how you ride it, along side having good park etiquette. The main beef that happens now is usually around our need for more wax than most skaters use
@@jamesgarland8322 I'm not bashing scootering, its a fact, besides being the trend, scooters do represent the easiest way for a child to access a skatepark, prior to this is generally was rollerblades. That isn't bashing on scootering
I remember watching the x games and yasutoko brothers, tony hawk, etc. as a kid. I loved rollerblading. Now at 30 I’m getting back into it because jokes and judgment from other people don’t matter to me. I’ve spent my life being told by other people that everything I do is wrong. You literally can’t please people. Do what you love, whatever it is.
Yup, you got it. Now a days nobody really cares about enforcing cultural standards because they are all over the place. Everyone is in their little groups, and I guess blading has become it's own niche.
rollerblades are a big hit now because it is cool to be "g4y not" people say it all the time. and the silly voices. so bladers are more in peace because they are like here I am I am here I am queer and I ride my skates. ;)
This is one of if not the best historical accounts of the primary cause of the rise, fall, and rebirth of this great sport. An awesome companion vid to Barely Dead IMO. Well done, Tom!
@@TomMoyse it actually didn't but rollerblades. I mean skirt bladers came from spandax riders. and those who have a hard time telling their parents they are g4y
“I think rollerblading is polarizing because while at one moment in time it was a new invention, it fell between existing devises in a way that made it a homeless hybrid. So people who adopted it, or rejected it, felt compelled to start grouping themselves. Some rollerbladers don't want to be associated with skaters, some don't want to be associated with roller skates, some want it to be seen as an extension of tradition sports like hockey, while others want it to be a liberation from all those associations. Then, because it is such an amazing invention, I mean wheels on your f**king feet, come on, other than wings under your armpits it doesn't get anymore fundamentally dreamy than that, people take it very personally. Its not like a briefcase, just some accessory. It is literally an extension of yourself and how you move, so everyone is going to feel very prideful and attached to their idea of what they are. Hence polarizing. As far as people against them? Douchebags make up a percentage of every population, basic math, can't be avoided.” -Paul Crik
Tom! This is a massive contribution to the action sports community, and how we understand the history of our sport. Thanks for the due diligence putting this together!
Skateboarders just hate anything that isnt skateboarding. That is insecurity. I mean im no fan of scooters but I dont hate on them like skateboarders are now. Even if you drop hammers they will still call it gay. Most toxic sport ever is skateboarding.
BINGO. Skateboarders are PRICKS. They think they're better than EVERYONE else and they treat everyone else who isnt on a board like shit. They're dicks. Asshole woodpushers.
@@LeSkateWA let’s come into an already existing culture, borrow its tricks without needing to use our feet, then we’ll congregate at their spots and snake them i the entire time we’re anywhere in the world.. hmm I wonder why they never liked us 😂😂
Life long skateboarder here and I've been watching your channel for about a year now. This video is incredible. IMO your best work yet. I never got the hating on rollerblades thing, but I think it helps that when I started skateboarding, skateboarding was NOT cool. Now would be a good time for a rollerblade resurgence, because as you pointed out in your video, skateboarding has been publicly taken over by the corpo side. The face of skateboarding used to be DIY and punk rock, and now its Nike SB and new balance? We need a few renegade inline companies to take advantage of this time frame and make a comeback while skateboarding is distracted by bullshit like Mountain Dew sponsored competitions and Rob Dyrdek making his money being an over rated Bob Saget "Americas funniest home videos" wannabe. And it goes without saying, but don't be homophobic. It's shitty. Hats off, mate
youre wrong though----when Skateboarding first hit, with Alva decks and stuff it was super cool !!! brand new and all the way from california...i dunno what type of people thought it was uncool
Great vid. I think wizard influenced aggressive has been instrumental lately. It feels more attainable/accessible for people wanting to have fun but not get destroyed going big. One thing skateboarding has had on blading is a kid can always go in front of his house or to a parking lot and work on flat ground. Feels like we finally have an answer for that on blades.
Absolutely amazing account of our sport’s history! Definitely sharing this with friends. Thanks for taking the time to put together such valuable content.
Amazing video. You've just gained a new subscriber. I've just got back into it at 41. Treated myself to a pair of Them 909s last week and had my first session at a local indoor park yesterday. 24 years out of the game, and after 5 minutes, i was skating the mini ramp like I'd never stopped. Top Soul, Royale, Back Farv.. I never realised how much I'd missed it until now. We only get one go at life, and it goes by real quick. Do what you enjoy and fuck the haters, simples 👌
Man I’m 39 and this is super inspiring, I want to get back to it and do some back farv in a bowl, idk why I’ve been obsessed with doing that trick in that setting 😅
Great vid. The good thing about our community is that we all get along. Whether you’re a recreational skater or an aggressive, there is no beef. Just seeing someone else on blades is automatic networking. That can’t be said for the skateboarders who are constantly gatekeeping and hating on each other for different styles.
My son just got into inline skating I used to do it back in the 90's on those cheap rollerblade brand blades haha. Thanks for the history of the sport. It's super fun and I'm looking to join my son and get back into it :)
Yea i have something to say about this. I am a trans person. I take shit at the skatepark all the time for being visibly queer AND a rollerblader. So not only am i taking the flak ya'll get, i get it from the inside when people are telling me not to show up the skatepark because im making rollerblading look bad because i had eyeliner or the color pink on. This shit sucks still, years after the fact. Im sorry you all are afraid of looking gay, but this homophobia fuggin' ruined going to the skatepark for me.
I feel bad for u, genuinely. I'm a cishet man that enjoys wearing a lot of "feminine" fashion, but fortunately I revolve around people that don't give a single fuck about if something I do is "gay" or not. And it's also easier for me coz I'm pretty athletic so a 60kg boy telling me I'm gay because I rollerblade with some pearls or shit like this on me sounds just ridiculous. Changing mentality of kids on the streetpark won't be easy, but you can always enjoy other types of rollerblading - there is urban skating or wizard skating that is also (IMO) pretty cool and you don't have to interact with the toxic community.
@@Neverdie325 I shifted to doing Urban stuff. There is also a Roller Hockey rink that i spend wayyyy too much time at, and i just love putting my whole body into a fakie figure 8. Im like 30 years old now so i dont get into any physical altercations anymore, but i still avoid most skateparks. It was worse when i sucked at skating, but now i can roll fakie down everything so i have earned some amount of respect. I should also say i live in a weird overly-christian town, Its Colorado Springs, I mean they shot up the gay club in my town last year, who'da guess the skateparks would be hostile. Thanks for reaching out my friend, keep those pearls fresh for me.
I was a fruit booter before I knew I was gay. Stopped aggressive inlining in my teens to focus on wood pushing. I don’t regret it at all, but I’m still gay, so…
While I don't think skateboarders on average are inherently more bigoted or close-minded or insecure than any other large group of people into an activity, it's funny how some of them can be that way even towards other skateboarders. Street versus transition versus vertical versus slalom versus freestyle versus downhill versus [insert other rarer forms of skateboarding]. There's even a weird thing about not carrying your skateboard by holding a truck [called a 'mall grab'] that is mocked by some as "uncool". Regarding in-line skaters, there is a practical reason they were derided by some skateboarders. At a ramp or bowl, when only 1 person is supposed to skate at a time, the nature of in-line skates meant it was easier for them to "sneak up" and take a turn, because of the softer (and therefore quieter) wheels and the fact that they're already strapped to you feet unlike skateboard which takes a moment to get on. Also, they tended to wax the coping which is a fairly crappy thing to do.
Wow. What a strong piece you put together. Thanks for doing all of the research, providing statistics and of course your commentary. I can't imagine how long it took you to find all of that b-roll footage. I started skating in 1995 on Rollerblade TRS's with wrap around grind plates, huge Hyper wheels on the outside and 52mm inside, saw the rise and fall of Senate, worshiped Hoax 2 (STILL one of the best videos ever) and then stopped skating in 2003 after college. It's good to see that people are still doing it and pushing boundries. As long as there are different participants at the skatepark riding rollerblades, skateboards, and scooters together, I feel that one group will always hate on another group unfortunately. Hopefully someday we can all coexist and just let each other do their thing. Great video man!
One of the best recaps I've seen on the topic. I try my best to explain to my non-skating friends this situation, but can never articulate it properly. Well done.
So here's something on the origins of blading I never see mentioned in these videos. The '8 wheel' skatepark culture predated the Rollerblading trend by years, as we were already in the skateparks tearing up the halfpipes alongside the skateboarders on our quad skates (Bauer Turbo hockey skates). Same for street skating, 'rollerbooting' was huge in late 80s UK, and the freestyle/trick element was a huge part of it, had its own street culture style of fashion that went along with it, which borrowed more from late 80s / early 90s rave culture than skateboarding. So yeah, we were already throwing spins and inverts on vert/spine, gapping stair sets, plus all sorts of coping tricks, we far outnumbered the skateboarders as well. When the 'new thing', blades came in, they didn't really get taken up by the freestyle quad skaters, we thought they were whack and took the piss initially for their floppy ankle support and the goofy style it gave. I first started taking note when I saw the first Rollerblades grinding a handrail, which is something we couldnt really do with our 'jump barred' quad skates, which were only suitable for stalls. I picked up skateboarding for a bit, but by the mid/late 90s, aggressive skate designs had really come on a lot and far surpassed the quad skates I'd learned to skate in, stepping back onto 8 wheels only seemed natural, picked up a pair of O.U.T daisy's and I was away. Salomons dropped the next year and then I realised what a truly decent skate could feel like. Wicked video nonetheless, and maybe the freestyle/park quad skating was more of a UK thing but we right there already, dirty little ratbags shredding up the parks on skates while the fluro lycra lot were flouncing about in cali!
Glad to see the ‘Quad Squad’ representing. I started quads in the late 80s the progressed to inline by the mid 90s. Growing up in SoCal it was impossible to avoid the skateboard culture’s ridicule. 30 years later I’m back to the quads and loving it. Still haven’t braved a park yet though. Skate on!
@@jayybird0096 ah wicked, wasn't just a UK thing then. Tried a pair of Bauer Turbos again recently, and was all over the place, totally different to blades, forgotten all together!
Great video. The journey of inline skating you showcase is beautifully done. I started skating on quads in the mid to late 80s, transitioned to inline skates early in the 90s but never got into aggressive skating. Not because of the stigma of it, there was just no community of that in my small town. Hockey was my gateway drug and since there wasn't an ice rink anywhere near me, inline hockey was it. I still skate to this day, playing either inline or ice hockey, and enjoy skating for the health benefits. I love going skating for hours during public sessions or taking some laps around the neighborhood. It's sad the way history has played itself out. To each their own, live and let live. Keep skating friends!
Hi, Tom. Interesting video. At those times i was a skateboarder but i was friends with bladers. In my little hometown in Poland there was never hate. We all where an odity. More or less we were on like a one big crew. I am actually happy that i didn't saw this nonsene in person. Thing's are changing. Argument from homophobia is dead. It was always dead but now most people are not afraid to see how bad it is to be like that. Blading is not dead and i believe it will become healthy enough to survive on ease. O and yes, i am blading now. I never cared on what somebody is riding, i only care about the passion. Now my legs are fucked up so much that luckily by some miracle i can only skate and i have a time of my life on them. It's like 2 years, but i wish i would pick up blades way before.
Something relevant but not discussed is many aggressive inline skaters were bullies and gatekeepers to newcomers, preventing new skaters (especially girls) from keeping the sport going. Once those skaters moved on there were no new skaters to replace them
It must have been different in different regions. I grew up in the southern US and we always liked having women join us, or little kids or people's parents even. But especially girls, like every teen skater's dream was a girl who skates (where I'm from anyway).
Those are the same people who think freestyle skateboard is ***. You'll never win with those people. I respect every single extreme and technical sport that exists. It's all fascinating examples of the amazing abilities that we humans have come to experience.
On my way to pick up my Michel Prado II’s Seen his documentary after I purchased the skates so i wasn’t familiar with the guy at all. Im 32 my big brother lost my Skates when i was 14. I decided to get back into it because i almost forgot how much joy it brought to my life. When i seen the Documentary of Michel I knew it was meant for me to buy these Skates and get back into it. The story of the Guys life and his journey was moving. Its amazing to see the community still thriving and making content
Brilliant as always. As someone who lost some opportunities when it went down it always triggers me some rage and sadness. But I don’t we would have managed to do something as genuinely cool and diverse without that phase. The kind-of-apology with the Them/Weekend collab felt a bit like a redemption. Anyways embracing the weirdness and singularity of blading and open minded is the way to go. Wizard, freeskate, powerblading and all those slight deviations have explored outside the “hetero masculine” tocicity and had bring only good things to blading. I’m glad we are moving forward.
@@TomMoyse “in the 90’s, if you were scared to do something your friends might call you gay or soft” I think it’s dumb that you act like it’s so mind blowing that risk taking/courage is associated with masculinity, while cowardice is associated with femininity. A feminine man is then associated with homosexuality. This is all simple logic.
I'm only 25, so I wasn't there for the peak of inline. There is a notable shift in the perception of it though. The only people at the park that call me "fruitbooter" and other lame shit are the old heads who can't get over the fact that fishbraining a rail they can barely boardslide. It's always good fun with skateboarders, most time they wanna try the boots. Good times watching them fall on their asses just trying to move.
I'm a skater but for me the mere fact that they are doing some kind of trick with whatever is shit and doing it on the street is cool because only when you see it live do you realize the magnitude of what they do
There was a kid at my local skate park who rolled up one day, flew up and across this huge gap where they put some small bleachers. Then proceeded to fkin grind the rest of the quarter rails in the main section of the park backwards (kind of a rounded oval with a twinkie). They were like embedded pipes at the top. It was incredible to watch and kind of just happened out of nowhere. The kid was straight up air born across that gap.
I think it's dumb that people are instinctually tribal about categorizing various hobbies that have wheels as their commonality. It's just low hanging fruit to have strong opinions about where wheels should be located under your feet, especially when you can't even do the other activity you are bashing because you don't have the requisite skills.
It’s amazing how many people dive head first into the tribalism. And if the right people are in your tribe those opinions can leak into the mainstream and it takes on a life of its own
Dont rollerblade but ive watched a few videos this guy has done about rollerblading does great research or just is that deep in the culture gotta appreciate it
I was born in 1982. I remember wanting rollerblades so bad. When I finally got them I was totally stoked for like two years. Then suddenly it started crashing and all my friends were switching back to roller skates. I never knew why. Thanks for the explanation.
i definitely noticed the shift and it is for the better. I was that guy who thought "Hammers-Only" until I saw guys like JKBah and a few other creative skaters. Skating is so much better now. Small but still strong, the only thing I wish we did now is advocate for more support for the young bucks. There is too much support for aging rollerblades; we have to get these kids while they are young because they may quit and feel as if it's not worth it to continue. So many lil shredders out here, i remember Kevin from Korea was telling me that DJ wasn't skating as much lately. Can't lose prodigies like that.
Great video. I skated from 96 to 2002 and never experienced any insults. I was always seen as a badass tbh. I skated street and parks, and the sport was massive. It was rare to see a skateboarder at a skate park. Although I didn’t see any negativity myself, I remember comments from a couple of friends about skateboarders having bad attitudes. Other than that, I never even thought about skateboarding unless I saw it on Rad, or at the X-games, it was aggressive in-line all the way for me.
Growing up in the late 90's - early 00's, I had a pair of rollerblades (my mom was really into it). Maybe it was because I was really young, or maybe it was because rollerblading was already well past its prime, but I personally don't ever remember a homophobic stigma being attached to it. I'm sure there was one, but kids in my area didn't seem to reflect that sentiment. Did I think rollerblading was cool? Absolutely not, it was something my *mom* was passionate about. For me, and I think most kids at the time, it was a hobby along the lines of owning a razor scooter. Skateboarding, in my mind, was something that took place at the skatepark, it wasn't a method of transportation. That association was what drove me to perceive skateboarding as an extreme sport, and rollerblading as just another (albeit impractical) way of getting around. This is all to say that I think blaming it all one one joke is kind of hyperbolic. People wanted something they could quickly get on and off of, they wanted something that didn't stop them from being able to simply walk around normally if they needed to, and most importantly, they wanted something that was affordable and easy enough to learn. Sure, skateboarding isn't as affordable as it once was, but you can still pick up a board from walmart for a little over 20 bucks, and discount stores sell penny boards for around $5. Meanwhile, a cheap pair of rollerblades is still going to be drastically more expensive than a pretty decent skateboard. There's also the danger factor. For whatever reason, rollerblades are far more dangerous, I can name many reasons as to why, but in reality, none of that really matters, because *parents* perceived them as being more dangerous. I remember talking to other kids on the playground about it, and at least one other kid would always mention that their parents wouldn't let them rollerblade because it was so dangerous. All it took was for my mom to break her wrist while rollerblading, and my pair left its dusty place in the garage, swiftly finding itself in the trash. This talk of rollerblades being dangerous definitely stands out amongst my other memories about rollerblading as a kid. From that point on, I would either ride a bike or a razor scooter. I didn't have a skateboard until I could actually afford one with my own pocket money, and at that stage, the idea of getting back into rollerblading never even crossed my mind. For little tweenage me, I saw skateboarding as the thing that cool people did, and I wanted to be cool.
Thanks for sharing your story. I never said it was the only reason rollerblading dropped in popularity btw 🫡 but when American popular culture adopts a stance on something that absolutely has an effect. The videos was also introspective - I explored how rollerbladers attitudes changed. You like skateboarding because it was “cool” it was edgy and your Mum didn’t do it, so you can surely understand at a time when people used “gay” as a negative and to brand something uncool, that would affect the main target audience.
Rollerblading has gone through a struggle, but it still has an undeniable fun factor that makes it addictive, and the community is supportive of all types of inline. You can't say that of skateboarding, who is always hating on itself and has a massive gatekeeping problem. Meanwhile, recreational inline skaters, speed skaters, and aggressive inline skaters all get along just fine.
Gatekeeping is a good thing though, it's kept the extreme metal scene underground but growing steadily for some 40 years. One reason that blading didn't stick around was cause it didn't gatekeep enough. Skaters got tired of beginner bladers monopolizing parks by just cruising around not hitting and jumps and getting in everyone's way. That's when the jokes started coming around, it didn't come from nowhere. It's easier to get around on blades and so newbies who don't undersand basic park etiquette can be much more of a nuisance than that kid in the corner trying 30 times in a row to land an ollie. At least that's how it was at our parks. At the end of the day, we're all competing for the same territory, surfers hate spongers, skaters hate bladers, snowboarders like me hate skiers, it's a natural process..
@phorestpsy216 A year late on my reply, but I disagree. Mainly because I am both a skateboarder and inline skater as well as a snowboarder and skier. We get so locked into what people are riding and how that somehow defines a person, but if people don't get along, it's a behavior issue, not an equipment issue. My experience with skateboarding is that, despite their punk and metal disposition, they ironically have a strong hatred of anyone that doesn't think or skate their way. It has slightly improved over the years, especially with skateboardings mainstream acceptance, but you still hear people say "oh you're not a 'real' skateboarder unless you can ____ ". Either that, or they hate on longboards, surf skates, and cruiser boards for not being "real" skateboarding. Inline skating doesn't have that issue. If I see someone on a 3x110 setup, I don't criticize them for not having an H-block for grinds, I just think it's cool. As a skateboarder, the community is getting to that point of acceptance, but there are still some OGs who hang onto the old ideas, and they don't realize that the train is leaving, so to speak.
This is such an incredible video. Thank you for the research and effort you put into this. 90s was not a fun place for an aggressive and urban blader. So much worse being queer. I didn't put wheels on until 20years later with thhe advent of rollerderby. I now run a gay skating movment and we are finding our own acceptance. Even designed a shirt with the words "skating is gay" because i own that shit now. Your videos are awesome. Thank you
It's good that you've found something of value to do with the people you care about, but aren't you just doubling down on that ridiculous idea in the end? I think we need to move on from that joke at this point.
I was a diehard skateboarder in the late 90s, early 2000s and never really understood the whole rollerblader vs skateboarder thing. I'd just skate with whoever.
My first round of blading was 93-98. I remember actually getting along with skateboarders in our area. I quit because of injuries, girls, weed and parties, and I didn’t see a way to balance skating with all that and school. I was disappointed and surprised as I saw from the outside the increase in hate towards blading. But I also didn’t recognize the hammer heavy skating that happened as a result. The inconvenience of booting up also served as a deterrent because it’s much easier to throw a skateboard on a driveway and mess around. I still think that’s one of boarding’s main advantages - you just need shoes and a board. I skated in spells over the years and continue to today, and I can safely say I would not still do it if I hadn’t discovered Mushroom Blading in 2012 and discovered a free form way of skating that’s kinder on the body. Anyway, great video as always, says this guy three months later.
‘You look like you’re having fun! Let me publicly question your sexuality in a derogatory fashion’ - 48 year old divorced, father of 2 who used to skateboard 35 years ago in the comments section 😂
@@tenfold7493 let me guess you meet the demographic…. Skulking around on blader pages in the comments. Also if it’s a 5 minute fad from 35 years ago, how’s we still here today having this conversation. 😂
@@000slappydirk we still talk about hitler too. What’s your point? Doesn’t make it good. It absolutely is a fad from 30 years ago there’s no other way to put it. Zero originality, can’t figure out your own camera angles or spots so you take everything but the skill from skateboarding
Great video 👏🏽 I was rollerblading from age 7 on, or even earlier (at least the whole primary school), but when I turned 12 years old I heard skateboarding is so much cooler (also I started snowboarding at the age of 10), so I quit rollerblading, even though I had got to a point where I was able to do inverts in a halfpipe and grind rails and jump stairs, things I never achieved with skateboarding later. 😢
Ironically, because of the hate skateboarders dished out about inline being inauthentic it turned into one of the most authentic "extreme" sports out there. The people who kept aggressive in line alive despite the mockery are edgier and more rebellious than the skateboarders who mocked them ever were. Doing something you love in the face of constant hate and mockery is the definition of rebellion. Plus the "telling your parents you're gay" joke doesn't really work anymore. It never did, but at least now it doesn't even make sense. It's like calling someone left handed and thinking it's an insult.
No joke. I watched this video and then went for my typical Tuesday after work skate. On my Twister 110's, for some fresh air. I'm just skating through my neighborhood listening to music and thinking about this edit, when a dude passes by me in a pick up truck and yells out the window: Fucxxing Faxxot! He yelled loud enough for me to hear it over my music. It's been a few years since anyone has called me Fucxxing Faxxot! while I was skating down the street. Like it's just a normal thing for a human to experience. There was a time when I thought this was going away. Unfortunately these types of humans still exist. The mark that this anti-blading propaganda has made is huge and lives on years later. It's just intense to be on the receiving end of this kind of stuff. Tom M. did a really good job w this piece. Props to him! I hope Dave Carney from Big Brother watches this and it makes him sweat with regret. While he wasn't the only one spreading this message, that magazine at the time had some pretty real influence. Imagine if this kind of thing was going on now from a media source in skateboarding...
Great video Tom! I loved the perspective around your use of historical documentation, market analytics, changing cultural values & impact, etc. Selfishly, I would love to see this video presented as a case study to the worlds most successful marketers and public relation experts. Being that the goal would be to increase participation, I'd love to see how they would go about it tackling it. We as rollerbladers know the history, we get the financial situation of the industry, but how do we move toward growth with all things considered? It's a fascinating question and I would love to see this type of content explored in-depth with solution-oriented thought.
Thank for the kind words. As much as it was hard work putting it together it was also very interesting exploring all the difference aspects of this topic. It would be fascinating to see what a successful marketing prodigy would do with rollerblading. It would be great to have an industry think-tank (easier to say than do) - throwing out ideas all brands could work towards either together or individually. I feel we lack a variety of content and we under utilise UA-cam. A Variety of people putting out their opinion would be a small step forward. I'd love it if someone started making videos and was just saying the complete opposite to me. It would lead to something. Anyway that's just off the top. Would be a great subject to explore. I kinda think it starts with more people just trying something
In the late 90's and early 2000's I was into inline skating. Eventually I got agressive inlines and I would hit the streets and local skatepark. We even had an indoor inline skatepark. I used to go with friends I knew from school, but from my age group and area I was the only person that would go inline skating. I often went to the local skatepark solo. I remember so well how I got bullied away at some point. Eventually I stopped inline skating. Watching this video I can't help but wonder if this was all part of the bigger downfall if blading described here. During the lockdown I got new agressive skates and I occasionally go blading. I found out many people in their 30's did. Since I've bought freestyle frames and am looking to explore off-road skating too. Thanks Tom, for showing all the different styles of skating on your channel :-)
One piece that's missing from this story? Quad skates and the roller derby revival. As a derby player, I'm here to tell you that quad skating is gay AND aggressive AND hardcore AND beginner friendly
I'll skate through downtown backwards dodging cars and jumping over stuff on my blades all day any day, but roller derby? That's a sport that makes me nervous - the roller derby community is truly hardcore, and I'm here for it.
Great video! It’s crazy that people wouldn’t find rollerblading even more masculine. It’s far harder and much more aggressive than skating. You have to be reeaallyy good to go on speed and do the jumps. When I see a man rollerblading I instantly know he has a better body and, probably, much more agility than a skater, so that makes him more attractive.
I remember the days of Arlo, Roadhouse, Champion. There was a good video called Mr Mooseknuckle, not sure if it still holds up. Good times, and good video
Another fantastic deep dive, I myself like many others came up through the "Age of Hammers" it was a wild time that go big or go home style did create divides in the community, going to skate parks and feeling like other rollerbladers were judging was horrible, and 9/10 times would put me off trying tricks. Now I'm back in the game at 36 and am loving it more than ever. And the people I'm meeting at skate parks now seem more inquisitive about rollerblading, wanting to know about the history ect it's actually pretty cool..
i could not care less if i was called gay in 2004. problem was that we had really bad brawls with skaters. it was a time where you could not go alone to rails, we had to gather in groups. i've seen people hospitized on both sides.
I like how he brings up participates compared to other sports like they were all doing "aggressive inline." Sorry to break it to you, but rollerblade participation was due to the fact kids bought them at bix stores, some bought based off hype of the mighty ducks 2, and other super generic reasons. Hell, most the kids that went to skateparks with them were basically like the scooter kids running around no actually doing tricks. Majority of kids didnt get rollerblades because they wanted to jump a 3 set. Basically be like adding walmart skateboard and toy sled snowboards into the participation mix. What killed rollerblading was because it was too corperate and cheesy edgy stuff backpacking off skateboardings already existing image. Its hard to make a spot out of niche side of the hobby, like really, there is literally roller hockey arenas. Rollerblades have a sport, just not in aggressive inline. Participation in skateboarding and snowboarding was due to the fact it was more niche hobbies that had bigger learning curve and cost more money. Heres one way to look at it, look at longboarding, there is multiple disciplines of it, but everyone knows it for cruising and dancing when the hobbies version of "aggressive inline" is downhill. Sure its one the biggest parts of longboarding, but its still a niche hobby not many know. If longboarding lost its popularity, it wouldnt be because of something downhill does, its simply a result of the cruiser only corporate mentality. Yes there is races for downhill, but longboards are seen as products to general public and not a sport. Same applies to Rollerblades. Lol also trying to take shots at hardcore SHOWS as the style of moshing, still looks cooler than rollerblade tricks. Atleast that style of moshing represents the original version of moshing before mtv made push pits the norm.
i was born in 78. been skating since 89. always poked fun at blades and skooters. ...rn i can admit that we as a skate community were pretty lame for being toxic against fellow thrashers. also as a life long athlete i dunno how rollerblades aren t more popular than they are. they are a legit way to get around town quickly and are fun
They aren't popular because they got trashed so hard. With a dead community and nobody willing to revive it from scratch, nobody will get interested, nobody will get help to learn, nobody will see other rollerbladers at their local skatepark and get their spark.
i'm 40 and have skateboarded since the '80s. i got a pair of secondhand k2 skates maybe late '90s-early '00s, the green/tan ones, to mess around with. never got too seriously into it, but it was fun. i did like those skates, but i don't really have anything to compare them to. they seemed pretty well made, and i thought they were as stylish as a wheeled boot strapped to your foot could be.
Not a rollerblader but initially took skating up as a 12 year old around 2003. I never really got the hate, but I definitely felt the whole "rollerblading is intruding/piggybacking on skateboarding" thing. I distinctly remember being at an indoor park and two aggressive inline guys hogging multiple ramps because they wanted to go as fast and large as possible by gapping across everything. Then it was the fact they'd share ramps and tricks designed specifically for skateboards when that didn't necessarily make sense or serve a pair of skates optimally. It's honestly a shame that rollerbladers not only got all that homophobia but integrated it into themselves too by wanted to avoid anything that looked like "dancing". The dancy stuff is unique to blades and, idk, I think it's pretty sick to see moves like that in a line. It's like really techy skateboarding but way more complex and has the potential to be done smoothly across different obstacles. That kind of stuff could have been taken to new levels way earlier if they weren't so afraid of being called "gay" or a "girl" or whatever. I mean, skateboarding took freestyle, which often literally was dancing, and adapted it into street skating, even though a generation of skateboarders thought that was "gay" or "dorky". Distancing your hobby from its past so completely because you're afraid of what the present thinks means you're only going to ape someone else's past. And I think that's why quad skating is much more common now, especially with women.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
One of the turning points I remember was within the past decade someone at my local park tried ragging on blading and a skateboarder immediately jumped to our defense, pointing out "Nah man, these cunts are still out here going hard, and for what? There's no money, no chance of fame, no industry. The only reason they're doing it is for the love of it".
Yeah, between the fall of rollerblading's popularity and the sudden rise and influx of scooters, I find that at a park that doesn't see many rollerbladers, we get looked at as more a curiosity than anything bad. Definitely helps that scooters have taken over as the easiest way in to a skatepark, so we aren't bunched together with all the kids in the way.
But I think for the most part the attitude has changed, it's less about what you ride and how you ride it, along side having good park etiquette. The main beef that happens now is usually around our need for more wax than most skaters use
and because they are g4y. and can't skate
@@nicholascrow8133you don’t need to bash scootering to make yourself feel better about rollerblading .
Even as a skateboarder I've always had mad respect for those who throw it down like this on blades
@@jamesgarland8322 I'm not bashing scootering, its a fact, besides being the trend, scooters do represent the easiest way for a child to access a skatepark, prior to this is generally was rollerblades.
That isn't bashing on scootering
I remember watching the x games and yasutoko brothers, tony hawk, etc. as a kid. I loved rollerblading. Now at 30 I’m getting back into it because jokes and judgment from other people don’t matter to me. I’ve spent my life being told by other people that everything I do is wrong. You literally can’t please people. Do what you love, whatever it is.
🙌🏻 🧡 that’s it
Yup, you got it. Now a days nobody really cares about enforcing cultural standards because they are all over the place. Everyone is in their little groups, and I guess blading has become it's own niche.
Awesome, me and my husband also 30 just got back into it.
rollerblades are a big hit now because it is cool to be "g4y not"
people say it all the time. and the silly voices.
so bladers are more in peace because they are like here I am I am here I am queer and I ride my skates. ;)
You should listen to your friends a little more
This is one of if not the best historical accounts of the primary cause of the rise, fall, and rebirth of this great sport. An awesome companion vid to Barely Dead IMO. Well done, Tom!
its like riding a scooter with out the handles
Thanks for the kind words man, really appreciate that.
No doubt. This is so valuable ❤️
@@johnsmith-fz5pzassume you’re describing skateboarding which came from crate scooters
@@TomMoyse it actually didn't
but rollerblades. I mean skirt bladers came from spandax riders. and those who have a hard time telling their parents they are g4y
“I think rollerblading is polarizing because while at one moment in time it was a new invention, it fell between existing devises in a way that made it a homeless hybrid. So people who adopted it, or rejected it, felt compelled to start grouping themselves. Some rollerbladers don't want to be associated with skaters, some don't want to be associated with roller skates, some want it to be seen as an extension of tradition sports like hockey, while others want it to be a liberation from all those associations. Then, because it is such an amazing invention, I mean wheels on your f**king feet, come on, other than wings under your armpits it doesn't get anymore fundamentally dreamy than that, people take it very personally. Its not like a briefcase, just some accessory. It is literally an extension of yourself and how you move, so everyone is going to feel very prideful and attached to their idea of what they are. Hence polarizing. As far as people against them? Douchebags make up a percentage of every population, basic math, can't be avoided.”
-Paul Crik
That's a good way to put it.
I noticed you're pretty divisive regarding the culture of it.
@@mr-iz8cx 49% core rider 51% liberated dad blader
@@MushroomBladingbut 100% a 🧙♂️
Tom! This is a massive contribution to the action sports community, and how we understand the history of our sport. Thanks for the due diligence putting this together!
Cheers dude, really appreciate that. Trying to play my part
Great video! As a skater in the 90s, I experienced a lot of what you talk about. A really intelligent, well-researched and thoughtful video. Nice one!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Skateboarders just hate anything that isnt skateboarding. That is insecurity. I mean im no fan of scooters but I dont hate on them like skateboarders are now. Even if you drop hammers they will still call it gay. Most toxic sport ever is skateboarding.
BINGO. Skateboarders are PRICKS. They think they're better than EVERYONE else and they treat everyone else who isnt on a board like shit. They're dicks. Asshole woodpushers.
Nope. Rollerblading just doesn’t look good. Skateboarding does
@@tenfold7493 skateboarders are cocksucking assholes who think they're better than everyone else.
@@tenfold7493 Just proved my point
@@LeSkateWA let’s come into an already existing culture, borrow its tricks without needing to use our feet, then we’ll congregate at their spots and snake them i the entire time we’re anywhere in the world.. hmm I wonder why they never liked us 😂😂
Life long skateboarder here and I've been watching your channel for about a year now.
This video is incredible. IMO your best work yet. I never got the hating on rollerblades thing, but I think it helps that when I started skateboarding, skateboarding was NOT cool. Now would be a good time for a rollerblade resurgence, because as you pointed out in your video, skateboarding has been publicly taken over by the corpo side. The face of skateboarding used to be DIY and punk rock, and now its Nike SB and new balance? We need a few renegade inline companies to take advantage of this time frame and make a comeback while skateboarding is distracted by bullshit like Mountain Dew sponsored competitions and Rob Dyrdek making his money being an over rated Bob Saget "Americas funniest home videos" wannabe.
And it goes without saying, but don't be homophobic. It's shitty.
Hats off, mate
Preach
Who you kidding? Everyone knows all Australians on the planet are homophobic.
youre wrong though----when Skateboarding first hit, with Alva decks and stuff it was super cool !!! brand new and all the way from california...i dunno what type of people thought it was uncool
You are not a skateboarder 😂
Gaaaay.
This is Barely Dead, but 100x better, more accurate, to the point, and without all the random feel bad for us bs. Good job Tom, your best video yet.
haha thanks dude
@TomMoyse I liked the logical fallacy bit and the rhetoric around masculinity. Sounds academic, but it isn't. Well done 😂
@@mr-iz8cx its symptomatic of the pain most fragile zoomers exhibit these days
I was going to make this exact comment but you nailed it
@@WiffleAxebeat me too it too 😅
Great vid. I think wizard influenced aggressive has been instrumental lately. It feels more attainable/accessible for people wanting to have fun but not get destroyed going big. One thing skateboarding has had on blading is a kid can always go in front of his house or to a parking lot and work on flat ground. Feels like we finally have an answer for that on blades.
Absolutely amazing account of our sport’s history! Definitely sharing this with friends. Thanks for taking the time to put together such valuable content.
Really pleased to hear you think it's of value!
Hit it out the park, Tom!
Thank you
You just keep refining the narrative, with each iteration of this story you tell. Great job mate!
Thanks man. Trying to focus in on a few different things each time.
This is absolutely brilliant and might just be one of the best pieces of documented history ever made of our sport. Fantastic job, well done!!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thank you!!! Really appreciate the kind words. Means a lot
Amazing video. You've just gained a new subscriber. I've just got back into it at 41. Treated myself to a pair of Them 909s last week and had my first session at a local indoor park yesterday. 24 years out of the game, and after 5 minutes, i was skating the mini ramp like I'd never stopped. Top Soul, Royale, Back Farv.. I never realised how much I'd missed it until now. We only get one go at life, and it goes by real quick. Do what you enjoy and fuck the haters, simples 👌
🙌🏻 welcome back
Man I’m 39 and this is super inspiring, I want to get back to it and do some back farv in a bowl, idk why I’ve been obsessed with doing that trick in that setting 😅
Great vid. The good thing about our community is that we all get along. Whether you’re a recreational skater or an aggressive, there is no beef. Just seeing someone else on blades is automatic networking. That can’t be said for the skateboarders who are constantly gatekeeping and hating on each other for different styles.
Knocked this one outta the park. Covered a ton and really well done. Great video on an important industry subject. The clip king strikes again.
haha clip king. Thanks for the kind words
My son just got into inline skating I used to do it back in the 90's on those cheap rollerblade brand blades haha. Thanks for the history of the sport. It's super fun and I'm looking to join my son and get back into it :)
Good times ahead!!
This is a great piece of investigative reporting and history of this hobby. Thanks for putting so much work into it!
Thank you, i really appreciate the kinds words
Yea i have something to say about this. I am a trans person. I take shit at the skatepark all the time for being visibly queer AND a rollerblader. So not only am i taking the flak ya'll get, i get it from the inside when people are telling me not to show up the skatepark because im making rollerblading look bad because i had eyeliner or the color pink on. This shit sucks still, years after the fact. Im sorry you all are afraid of looking gay, but this homophobia fuggin' ruined going to the skatepark for me.
I feel bad for u, genuinely. I'm a cishet man that enjoys wearing a lot of "feminine" fashion, but fortunately I revolve around people that don't give a single fuck about if something I do is "gay" or not. And it's also easier for me coz I'm pretty athletic so a 60kg boy telling me I'm gay because I rollerblade with some pearls or shit like this on me sounds just ridiculous. Changing mentality of kids on the streetpark won't be easy, but you can always enjoy other types of rollerblading - there is urban skating or wizard skating that is also (IMO) pretty cool and you don't have to interact with the toxic community.
@@Neverdie325 I shifted to doing Urban stuff. There is also a Roller Hockey rink that i spend wayyyy too much time at, and i just love putting my whole body into a fakie figure 8. Im like 30 years old now so i dont get into any physical altercations anymore, but i still avoid most skateparks. It was worse when i sucked at skating, but now i can roll fakie down everything so i have earned some amount of respect.
I should also say i live in a weird overly-christian town, Its Colorado Springs, I mean they shot up the gay club in my town last year, who'da guess the skateparks would be hostile. Thanks for reaching out my friend, keep those pearls fresh for me.
Well put together man!
Thank you
Wonderful content Tom. I love the summary at the end. Thank you for putting together such a thoughtful piece.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I was a fruit booter before I knew I was gay. Stopped aggressive inlining in my teens to focus on wood pushing. I don’t regret it at all, but I’m still gay, so…
It’s the natural progression.
😆
Stop being gay
You’re real af 😂😂
Thank you for telling the world who you like to have sex with. I like to have sex with women. Do I get a pat on the shoulder or how does this work?
While I don't think skateboarders on average are inherently more bigoted or close-minded or insecure than any other large group of people into an activity, it's funny how some of them can be that way even towards other skateboarders. Street versus transition versus vertical versus slalom versus freestyle versus downhill versus [insert other rarer forms of skateboarding]. There's even a weird thing about not carrying your skateboard by holding a truck [called a 'mall grab'] that is mocked by some as "uncool".
Regarding in-line skaters, there is a practical reason they were derided by some skateboarders. At a ramp or bowl, when only 1 person is supposed to skate at a time, the nature of in-line skates meant it was easier for them to "sneak up" and take a turn, because of the softer (and therefore quieter) wheels and the fact that they're already strapped to you feet unlike skateboard which takes a moment to get on. Also, they tended to wax the coping which is a fairly crappy thing to do.
Really good. As a fairly-new-to-it old fart I was vaguely aware of the history but this clarified a lot of it. Interesting shit.
Cheers dude
an amazing video - growing up in the 90s and skating back then, I can totally relate to this video. Just brilliant work, thank you so much!
Thank you. Glad you found it relatable
Fantastic piece man, especially for folk like me who joined in their 30s after covid.
Glad you enjoyed it
Wow. What a strong piece you put together. Thanks for doing all of the research, providing statistics and of course your commentary. I can't imagine how long it took you to find all of that b-roll footage. I started skating in 1995 on Rollerblade TRS's with wrap around grind plates, huge Hyper wheels on the outside and 52mm inside, saw the rise and fall of Senate, worshiped Hoax 2 (STILL one of the best videos ever) and then stopped skating in 2003 after college. It's good to see that people are still doing it and pushing boundries. As long as there are different participants at the skatepark riding rollerblades, skateboards, and scooters together, I feel that one group will always hate on another group unfortunately. Hopefully someday we can all coexist and just let each other do their thing. Great video man!
🙌🏻🙌🏻 cheers for the comment dude
This is absolutely incredible work tom ❤️
Cheers dude
Well said , especially the last bit of the video. You took what we went thru and put it into retrospect. Well executed.
Thank you
One of the best recaps I've seen on the topic. I try my best to explain to my non-skating friends this situation, but can never articulate it properly. Well done.
Cheers pal
So here's something on the origins of blading I never see mentioned in these videos. The '8 wheel' skatepark culture predated the Rollerblading trend by years, as we were already in the skateparks tearing up the halfpipes alongside the skateboarders on our quad skates (Bauer Turbo hockey skates). Same for street skating, 'rollerbooting' was huge in late 80s UK, and the freestyle/trick element was a huge part of it, had its own street culture style of fashion that went along with it, which borrowed more from late 80s / early 90s rave culture than skateboarding.
So yeah, we were already throwing spins and inverts on vert/spine, gapping stair sets, plus all sorts of coping tricks, we far outnumbered the skateboarders as well.
When the 'new thing', blades came in, they didn't really get taken up by the freestyle quad skaters, we thought they were whack and took the piss initially for their floppy ankle support and the goofy style it gave.
I first started taking note when I saw the first Rollerblades grinding a handrail, which is something we couldnt really do with our 'jump barred' quad skates, which were only suitable for stalls.
I picked up skateboarding for a bit, but by the mid/late 90s, aggressive skate designs had really come on a lot and far surpassed the quad skates I'd learned to skate in, stepping back onto 8 wheels only seemed natural, picked up a pair of O.U.T daisy's and I was away.
Salomons dropped the next year and then I realised what a truly decent skate could feel like.
Wicked video nonetheless, and maybe the freestyle/park quad skating was more of a UK thing but we right there already, dirty little ratbags shredding up the parks on skates while the fluro lycra lot were flouncing about in cali!
Glad to see the ‘Quad Squad’ representing. I started quads in the late 80s the progressed to inline by the mid 90s. Growing up in SoCal it was impossible to avoid the skateboard culture’s ridicule. 30 years later I’m back to the quads and loving it. Still haven’t braved a park yet though. Skate on!
@@jayybird0096 ah wicked, wasn't just a UK thing then. Tried a pair of Bauer Turbos again recently, and was all over the place, totally different to blades, forgotten all together!
Great video. The journey of inline skating you showcase is beautifully done. I started skating on quads in the mid to late 80s, transitioned to inline skates early in the 90s but never got into aggressive skating. Not because of the stigma of it, there was just no community of that in my small town. Hockey was my gateway drug and since there wasn't an ice rink anywhere near me, inline hockey was it. I still skate to this day, playing either inline or ice hockey, and enjoy skating for the health benefits. I love going skating for hours during public sessions or taking some laps around the neighborhood. It's sad the way history has played itself out. To each their own, live and let live. Keep skating friends!
🙌🏻🧡
Hi, Tom. Interesting video. At those times i was a skateboarder but i was friends with bladers. In my little hometown in Poland there was never hate. We all where an odity. More or less we were on like a one big crew. I am actually happy that i didn't saw this nonsene in person. Thing's are changing. Argument from homophobia is dead. It was always dead but now most people are not afraid to see how bad it is to be like that. Blading is not dead and i believe it will become healthy enough to survive on ease. O and yes, i am blading now. I never cared on what somebody is riding, i only care about the passion. Now my legs are fucked up so much that luckily by some miracle i can only skate and i have a time of my life on them. It's like 2 years, but i wish i would pick up blades way before.
Hell yea
Something relevant but not discussed is many aggressive inline skaters were bullies and gatekeepers to newcomers, preventing new skaters (especially girls) from keeping the sport going. Once those skaters moved on there were no new skaters to replace them
This was part of my point when I was talking about hammers being the only acceptable way to skate
It must have been different in different regions. I grew up in the southern US and we always liked having women join us, or little kids or people's parents even. But especially girls, like every teen skater's dream was a girl who skates (where I'm from anyway).
Those are the same people who think freestyle skateboard is ***. You'll never win with those people.
I respect every single extreme and technical sport that exists. It's all fascinating examples of the amazing abilities that we humans have come to experience.
🙌🏻🙌🏻
On my way to pick up my Michel Prado II’s Seen his documentary after I purchased the skates so i wasn’t familiar with the guy at all. Im 32 my big brother lost my Skates when i was 14. I decided to get back into it because i almost forgot how much joy it brought to my life. When i seen the Documentary of Michel I knew it was meant for me to buy these Skates and get back into it. The story of the Guys life and his journey was moving. Its amazing to see the community still thriving and making content
Yes it’s a very moving story. Michel is a great guy. Have fun skating again
Great video Tom! Oh and I’m gonna show my kid brink tonight haha
Haha cheers dude. Enjoy
Me and my friends wanted to be skaters but we lived in the country, that said we did wax up the ledge of the abandoned post office and gave it our all
Say or think whatever you want but inline skates are fun af and really good exercise.
🙌🏻🧡🫡
For me you are one of the best critics we have in our sport, your analyzes are very professional. 👏👏👏👏👊
I appreciate that! Thank you
Brilliant as always. As someone who lost some opportunities when it went down it always triggers me some rage and sadness. But I don’t we would have managed to do something as genuinely cool and diverse without that phase. The kind-of-apology with the Them/Weekend collab felt a bit like a redemption. Anyways embracing the weirdness and singularity of blading and open minded is the way to go. Wizard, freeskate, powerblading and all those slight deviations have explored outside the “hetero masculine” tocicity and had bring only good things to blading. I’m glad we are moving forward.
Yea lots of variety these days it’s great
@@TomMoyse “in the 90’s, if you were scared to do something your friends might call you gay or soft”
I think it’s dumb that you act like it’s so mind blowing that risk taking/courage is associated with masculinity, while cowardice is associated with femininity. A feminine man is then associated
with homosexuality. This is all simple logic.
I'm only 25, so I wasn't there for the peak of inline. There is a notable shift in the perception of it though. The only people at the park that call me "fruitbooter" and other lame shit are the old heads who can't get over the fact that fishbraining a rail they can barely boardslide. It's always good fun with skateboarders, most time they wanna try the boots. Good times watching them fall on their asses just trying to move.
Yea. The existing hate is defo old heads stuck in a bit of time warp.
I'm a skater but for me the mere fact that they are doing some kind of trick with whatever is shit and doing it on the street is cool because only when you see it live do you realize the magnitude of what they do
There was a kid at my local skate park who rolled up one day, flew up and across this huge gap where they put some small bleachers. Then proceeded to fkin grind the rest of the quarter rails in the main section of the park backwards (kind of a rounded oval with a twinkie). They were like embedded pipes at the top. It was incredible to watch and kind of just happened out of nowhere. The kid was straight up air born across that gap.
Mate, really interesting! Thanks for exposing a little bit of history and sharing some thoughts on it.
My pleasure!
I think it's dumb that people are instinctually tribal about categorizing various hobbies that have wheels as their commonality. It's just low hanging fruit to have strong opinions about where wheels should be located under your feet, especially when you can't even do the other activity you are bashing because you don't have the requisite skills.
It’s amazing how many people dive head first into the tribalism. And if the right people are in your tribe those opinions can leak into the mainstream and it takes on a life of its own
I love these kinds of videos! Everything was really well said and I appreciate that! Love the way you push the sport and show the people its history
Thank you
Dont rollerblade but ive watched a few videos this guy has done about rollerblading does great research or just is that deep in the culture gotta appreciate it
Thanks for checking out a few of the vids!
Old skater here (48). As a skateboarder the problem came before this , it was ‘aggressive inline’. It opened the door.
“The problem” ?
I was born in 1982. I remember wanting rollerblades so bad. When I finally got them I was totally stoked for like two years. Then suddenly it started crashing and all my friends were switching back to roller skates. I never knew why. Thanks for the explanation.
my pleasure
Fuck yeah 82
This is sick! I really enjoyed soaking up the history and culture of it all!
Thank you
i definitely noticed the shift and it is for the better. I was that guy who thought "Hammers-Only" until I saw guys like JKBah and a few other creative skaters. Skating is so much better now. Small but still strong, the only thing I wish we did now is advocate for more support for the young bucks. There is too much support for aging rollerblades; we have to get these kids while they are young because they may quit and feel as if it's not worth it to continue. So many lil shredders out here, i remember Kevin from Korea was telling me that DJ wasn't skating as much lately. Can't lose prodigies like that.
Well done Tom! Really well made once again. Also hard to pull off without sounding too butthurt. Nice one.
cheers mate
great stuff ! 🧡
Cheers pal!
Absolutely feeding people Tom, mega work x
Been skating for 26 years and ive got another 20 in me. Cheers!
Good stuff
I want to make a joke here about having “20 in you”, but I’ll refrain as it would be taken negatively even though it would just be a joke………
Great video. I skated from 96 to 2002 and never experienced any insults. I was always seen as a badass tbh. I skated street and parks, and the sport was massive. It was rare to see a skateboarder at a skate park. Although I didn’t see any negativity myself, I remember comments from a couple of friends about skateboarders having bad attitudes. Other than that, I never even thought about skateboarding unless I saw it on Rad, or at the X-games, it was aggressive in-line all the way for me.
Really appreciate your insight into the history of the sport
Thank you for the kind words! 🙌🏻
Wonderfully put together, congrats!!
Thank you very much!
well wizard skating looks sick and ive never heard of it before this video, gonna go check it out. looks more chill and like something id want to try
Yea it's great. There is a few vids on my channel about it
Growing up in the late 90's - early 00's, I had a pair of rollerblades (my mom was really into it). Maybe it was because I was really young, or maybe it was because rollerblading was already well past its prime, but I personally don't ever remember a homophobic stigma being attached to it. I'm sure there was one, but kids in my area didn't seem to reflect that sentiment. Did I think rollerblading was cool? Absolutely not, it was something my *mom* was passionate about. For me, and I think most kids at the time, it was a hobby along the lines of owning a razor scooter. Skateboarding, in my mind, was something that took place at the skatepark, it wasn't a method of transportation. That association was what drove me to perceive skateboarding as an extreme sport, and rollerblading as just another (albeit impractical) way of getting around.
This is all to say that I think blaming it all one one joke is kind of hyperbolic. People wanted something they could quickly get on and off of, they wanted something that didn't stop them from being able to simply walk around normally if they needed to, and most importantly, they wanted something that was affordable and easy enough to learn. Sure, skateboarding isn't as affordable as it once was, but you can still pick up a board from walmart for a little over 20 bucks, and discount stores sell penny boards for around $5. Meanwhile, a cheap pair of rollerblades is still going to be drastically more expensive than a pretty decent skateboard.
There's also the danger factor. For whatever reason, rollerblades are far more dangerous, I can name many reasons as to why, but in reality, none of that really matters, because *parents* perceived them as being more dangerous. I remember talking to other kids on the playground about it, and at least one other kid would always mention that their parents wouldn't let them rollerblade because it was so dangerous. All it took was for my mom to break her wrist while rollerblading, and my pair left its dusty place in the garage, swiftly finding itself in the trash. This talk of rollerblades being dangerous definitely stands out amongst my other memories about rollerblading as a kid. From that point on, I would either ride a bike or a razor scooter. I didn't have a skateboard until I could actually afford one with my own pocket money, and at that stage, the idea of getting back into rollerblading never even crossed my mind. For little tweenage me, I saw skateboarding as the thing that cool people did, and I wanted to be cool.
Thanks for sharing your story. I never said it was the only reason rollerblading dropped in popularity btw 🫡 but when American popular culture adopts a stance on something that absolutely has an effect. The videos was also introspective - I explored how rollerbladers attitudes changed. You like skateboarding because it was “cool” it was edgy and your Mum didn’t do it, so you can surely understand at a time when people used “gay” as a negative and to brand something uncool, that would affect the main target audience.
Well done brother 👍
Cheers mate
Wow, this is so spot on it's almost incredible.
Big kudos, and thanks 👏❤
I'm myself getting back into it at 41yo, after being away from aggressive skating for many years.
Feels so good to get back 😊❤
Thank you so much!
Dude this is phd dissertation material. Respect!
Thank you - much appreciated
Amazing video, really enjoyed it. Great work sir! 👏
Rollerblading has gone through a struggle, but it still has an undeniable fun factor that makes it addictive, and the community is supportive of all types of inline. You can't say that of skateboarding, who is always hating on itself and has a massive gatekeeping problem. Meanwhile, recreational inline skaters, speed skaters, and aggressive inline skaters all get along just fine.
Gatekeeping is a good thing though, it's kept the extreme metal scene underground but growing steadily for some 40 years. One reason that blading didn't stick around was cause it didn't gatekeep enough. Skaters got tired of beginner bladers monopolizing parks by just cruising around not hitting and jumps and getting in everyone's way. That's when the jokes started coming around, it didn't come from nowhere. It's easier to get around on blades and so newbies who don't undersand basic park etiquette can be much more of a nuisance than that kid in the corner trying 30 times in a row to land an ollie. At least that's how it was at our parks. At the end of the day, we're all competing for the same territory, surfers hate spongers, skaters hate bladers, snowboarders like me hate skiers, it's a natural process..
@phorestpsy216 A year late on my reply, but I disagree. Mainly because I am both a skateboarder and inline skater as well as a snowboarder and skier. We get so locked into what people are riding and how that somehow defines a person, but if people don't get along, it's a behavior issue, not an equipment issue. My experience with skateboarding is that, despite their punk and metal disposition, they ironically have a strong hatred of anyone that doesn't think or skate their way. It has slightly improved over the years, especially with skateboardings mainstream acceptance, but you still hear people say "oh you're not a 'real' skateboarder unless you can ____ ". Either that, or they hate on longboards, surf skates, and cruiser boards for not being "real" skateboarding. Inline skating doesn't have that issue. If I see someone on a 3x110 setup, I don't criticize them for not having an H-block for grinds, I just think it's cool. As a skateboarder, the community is getting to that point of acceptance, but there are still some OGs who hang onto the old ideas, and they don't realize that the train is leaving, so to speak.
U2 perfectly exemplifies slight edge. Maybe dull edge but it's close.
Hahs
This is such an incredible video. Thank you for the research and effort you put into this. 90s was not a fun place for an aggressive and urban blader. So much worse being queer. I didn't put wheels on until 20years later with thhe advent of rollerderby. I now run a gay skating movment and we are finding our own acceptance. Even designed a shirt with the words "skating is gay" because i own that shit now.
Your videos are awesome. Thank you
Glad to hear you’re thriving and it sounds like you have a great thing going on these days. Thank you for the kind words
It's good that you've found something of value to do with the people you care about, but aren't you just doubling down on that ridiculous idea in the end?
I think we need to move on from that joke at this point.
I was a diehard skateboarder in the late 90s, early 2000s and never really understood the whole rollerblader vs skateboarder thing. I'd just skate with whoever.
🙌🏻🧡
Thank you for making this. Blade 4 life
Cheer for the comment
This was very impressive piece of honest journalism. Great job.
Cheers pal!
It made me feel more proud to rollerblade. Adversity makes you stronger.
💪🏻
My first round of blading was 93-98. I remember actually getting along with skateboarders in our area. I quit because of injuries, girls, weed and parties, and I didn’t see a way to balance skating with all that and school. I was disappointed and surprised as I saw from the outside the increase in hate towards blading. But I also didn’t recognize the hammer heavy skating that happened as a result. The inconvenience of booting up also served as a deterrent because it’s much easier to throw a skateboard on a driveway and mess around. I still think that’s one of boarding’s main advantages - you just need shoes and a board. I skated in spells over the years and continue to today, and I can safely say I would not still do it if I hadn’t discovered Mushroom Blading in 2012 and discovered a free form way of skating that’s kinder on the body. Anyway, great video as always, says this guy three months later.
Yeah I remember the hate for rollerbladers at my local skatepark when I was a teenager. That sucked.
Sucked? Or you were just on the wrong side of it
Thank you thank you thank you. Absolutely fantastic vid. Your a bloody champ. Funny all the old clips don’t seem like there 30 years old.
‘You look like you’re having fun! Let me publicly question your sexuality in a derogatory fashion’ - 48 year old divorced, father of 2 who used to skateboard 35 years ago in the comments section 😂
Haha
@@TomMoyse the whole thing has always been that basic 😂
That’s because skateboarding looks good. That’s why it became more than a late 90s 5 minute fad 😂
@@tenfold7493 let me guess you meet the demographic…. Skulking around on blader pages in the comments. Also if it’s a 5 minute fad from 35 years ago, how’s we still here today having this conversation. 😂
@@000slappydirk we still talk about hitler too. What’s your point? Doesn’t make it good. It absolutely is a fad from 30 years ago there’s no other way to put it. Zero originality, can’t figure out your own camera angles or spots so you take everything but the skill from skateboarding
Coming from the skater side of things, i never knew rhe deeper history behind the Bill Burr bit or the phrase "fruit boot". Really epic video Tom.
Cheers
spot on doggy!
Thanks dude 🙏🏻
Great video 👏🏽 I was rollerblading from age 7 on, or even earlier (at least the whole primary school), but when I turned 12 years old I heard skateboarding is so much cooler (also I started snowboarding at the age of 10), so I quit rollerblading, even though I had got to a point where I was able to do inverts in a halfpipe and grind rails and jump stairs, things I never achieved with skateboarding later. 😢
Fruit boots.
mate this was so well put together!! well done 👏👏👏
great narration as well
Glad you enjoyed it man
Well, with woke culture, blading should be so popular now.
IKR
Ironically, because of the hate skateboarders dished out about inline being inauthentic it turned into one of the most authentic "extreme" sports out there.
The people who kept aggressive in line alive despite the mockery are edgier and more rebellious than the skateboarders who mocked them ever were. Doing something you love in the face of constant hate and mockery is the definition of rebellion.
Plus the "telling your parents you're gay" joke doesn't really work anymore. It never did, but at least now it doesn't even make sense. It's like calling someone left handed and thinking it's an insult.
No joke. I watched this video and then went for my typical Tuesday after work skate. On my Twister 110's, for some fresh air. I'm just skating through my neighborhood listening to music and thinking about this edit, when a dude passes by me in a pick up truck and yells out the window: Fucxxing Faxxot! He yelled loud enough for me to hear it over my music. It's been a few years since anyone has called me Fucxxing Faxxot! while I was skating down the street. Like it's just a normal thing for a human to experience. There was a time when I thought this was going away. Unfortunately these types of humans still exist. The mark that this anti-blading propaganda has made is huge and lives on years later. It's just intense to be on the receiving end of this kind of stuff. Tom M. did a really good job w this piece. Props to him! I hope Dave Carney from Big Brother watches this and it makes him sweat with regret. While he wasn't the only one spreading this message, that magazine at the time had some pretty real influence. Imagine if this kind of thing was going on now from a media source in skateboarding...
Great video Tom! I loved the perspective around your use of historical documentation, market analytics, changing cultural values & impact, etc. Selfishly, I would love to see this video presented as a case study to the worlds most successful marketers and public relation experts. Being that the goal would be to increase participation, I'd love to see how they would go about it tackling it. We as rollerbladers know the history, we get the financial situation of the industry, but how do we move toward growth with all things considered? It's a fascinating question and I would love to see this type of content explored in-depth with solution-oriented thought.
Thank for the kind words. As much as it was hard work putting it together it was also very interesting exploring all the difference aspects of this topic. It would be fascinating to see what a successful marketing prodigy would do with rollerblading. It would be great to have an industry think-tank (easier to say than do) - throwing out ideas all brands could work towards either together or individually. I feel we lack a variety of content and we under utilise UA-cam. A Variety of people putting out their opinion would be a small step forward. I'd love it if someone started making videos and was just saying the complete opposite to me. It would lead to something. Anyway that's just off the top. Would be a great subject to explore. I kinda think it starts with more people just trying something
In the late 90's and early 2000's I was into inline skating. Eventually I got agressive inlines and I would hit the streets and local skatepark. We even had an indoor inline skatepark.
I used to go with friends I knew from school, but from my age group and area I was the only person that would go inline skating. I often went to the local skatepark solo. I remember so well how I got bullied away at some point. Eventually I stopped inline skating. Watching this video I can't help but wonder if this was all part of the bigger downfall if blading described here.
During the lockdown I got new agressive skates and I occasionally go blading. I found out many people in their 30's did. Since I've bought freestyle frames and am looking to explore off-road skating too. Thanks Tom, for showing all the different styles of skating on your channel :-)
One piece that's missing from this story? Quad skates and the roller derby revival. As a derby player, I'm here to tell you that quad skating is gay AND aggressive AND hardcore AND beginner friendly
🧡
I'll skate through downtown backwards dodging cars and jumping over stuff on my blades all day any day, but roller derby? That's a sport that makes me nervous - the roller derby community is truly hardcore, and I'm here for it.
Love your content brother! Keep it up
I remeber the first daily breads. My boy brandon anderson is a snappy dresser
Great video! It’s crazy that people wouldn’t find rollerblading even more masculine. It’s far harder and much more aggressive than skating. You have to be reeaallyy good to go on speed and do the jumps. When I see a man rollerblading I instantly know he has a better body and, probably, much more agility than a skater, so that makes him more attractive.
I remember the days of Arlo, Roadhouse, Champion. There was a good video called Mr Mooseknuckle, not sure if it still holds up. Good times, and good video
Brilliant as always bravo. Really well put together always enjoy these.
Thanks mate
Another fantastic deep dive, I myself like many others came up through the "Age of Hammers" it was a wild time that go big or go home style did create divides in the community, going to skate parks and feeling like other rollerbladers were judging was horrible, and 9/10 times would put me off trying tricks. Now I'm back in the game at 36 and am loving it more than ever. And the people I'm meeting at skate parks now seem more inquisitive about rollerblading, wanting to know about the history ect it's actually pretty cool..
It's been a journey
i could not care less if i was called gay in 2004. problem was that we had really bad brawls with skaters.
it was a time where you could not go alone to rails, we had to gather in groups. i've seen people hospitized on both sides.
sheesh, what city ?
@@busyboxst7 belgrade, serbia
@@adrefabrika interesting.
Brilliant video, mate. Well done.
Thank you
I like how he brings up participates compared to other sports like they were all doing "aggressive inline." Sorry to break it to you, but rollerblade participation was due to the fact kids bought them at bix stores, some bought based off hype of the mighty ducks 2, and other super generic reasons. Hell, most the kids that went to skateparks with them were basically like the scooter kids running around no actually doing tricks. Majority of kids didnt get rollerblades because they wanted to jump a 3 set. Basically be like adding walmart skateboard and toy sled snowboards into the participation mix. What killed rollerblading was because it was too corperate and cheesy edgy stuff backpacking off skateboardings already existing image. Its hard to make a spot out of niche side of the hobby, like really, there is literally roller hockey arenas. Rollerblades have a sport, just not in aggressive inline. Participation in skateboarding and snowboarding was due to the fact it was more niche hobbies that had bigger learning curve and cost more money. Heres one way to look at it, look at longboarding, there is multiple disciplines of it, but everyone knows it for cruising and dancing when the hobbies version of "aggressive inline" is downhill. Sure its one the biggest parts of longboarding, but its still a niche hobby not many know. If longboarding lost its popularity, it wouldnt be because of something downhill does, its simply a result of the cruiser only corporate mentality. Yes there is races for downhill, but longboards are seen as products to general public and not a sport. Same applies to Rollerblades. Lol also trying to take shots at hardcore SHOWS as the style of moshing, still looks cooler than rollerblade tricks. Atleast that style of moshing represents the original version of moshing before mtv made push pits the norm.
i was born in 78. been skating since 89. always poked fun at blades and skooters.
...rn i can admit that we as a skate community were pretty lame for being toxic against fellow thrashers. also as a life long athlete i dunno how rollerblades aren t more popular than they are. they are a legit way to get around town quickly and are fun
They aren't popular because they got trashed so hard. With a dead community and nobody willing to revive it from scratch, nobody will get interested, nobody will get help to learn, nobody will see other rollerbladers at their local skatepark and get their spark.
Great video! I really enjoyed watching it and I found it quite interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it!
i'm 40 and have skateboarded since the '80s. i got a pair of secondhand k2 skates maybe late '90s-early '00s, the green/tan ones, to mess around with. never got too seriously into it, but it was fun. i did like those skates, but i don't really have anything to compare them to. they seemed pretty well made, and i thought they were as stylish as a wheeled boot strapped to your foot could be.
K2 Backyards I believe. They were dope skates
Not a rollerblader but initially took skating up as a 12 year old around 2003. I never really got the hate, but I definitely felt the whole "rollerblading is intruding/piggybacking on skateboarding" thing. I distinctly remember being at an indoor park and two aggressive inline guys hogging multiple ramps because they wanted to go as fast and large as possible by gapping across everything. Then it was the fact they'd share ramps and tricks designed specifically for skateboards when that didn't necessarily make sense or serve a pair of skates optimally.
It's honestly a shame that rollerbladers not only got all that homophobia but integrated it into themselves too by wanted to avoid anything that looked like "dancing". The dancy stuff is unique to blades and, idk, I think it's pretty sick to see moves like that in a line. It's like really techy skateboarding but way more complex and has the potential to be done smoothly across different obstacles. That kind of stuff could have been taken to new levels way earlier if they weren't so afraid of being called "gay" or a "girl" or whatever. I mean, skateboarding took freestyle, which often literally was dancing, and adapted it into street skating, even though a generation of skateboarders thought that was "gay" or "dorky". Distancing your hobby from its past so completely because you're afraid of what the present thinks means you're only going to ape someone else's past. And I think that's why quad skating is much more common now, especially with women.