Heelychat, the forum for heelys, the shoes with wheels - View topic - About Sidewalk Cracks (and not being a kid)

Guest

Kids ride bikes, adults ride bikes. Kids play cards, adults play cards. Kids play Playstation, adults play Playstation. So why is everyone laughing at me for wanting to buy Heelies? (I"m way grown-up).

I went into Model's Sporting Goods and asked where the Heelies are and the salesman asked if I was looking for "boys" or "girls". And my friends are laughing at me. I don't get it...who hasn't dreamed of just walking along the sidewalk and all of a sudden find themselves gliding (especially in airports!)? Why is this only something kids can do?

Anyway, screw people who don't like it...I'm getting heelies. A few models do come in adult size.

Here's my question. I live in NYC, and they say you need mega wheels to get over the cracks in sidewalks. Is that true? Or can I get away with fats? Also, doubles seem pretty cool, but I'm wondering how hard it is to walk normally in them?

Thanks, guys. And remember: I"m gonna be wearing Heelies for YOU....so you don't have to give them up when you turn 18!

Team Heelys - SoCal Joined: 26 Dec 2006 Posts: -123845

There's lots of adults that Heel. Plenty of them are on here. It isn't just a children population here. Wink

Slicer, Merlyn DHC, cereal187, and Heelynut are adults. I'm pretty sure there are more. Cereal heels with his kids, helps them make vids and such. Merlyn is on the Heelys Northeast team. He lives in NY as well.

It seems to be the norm for adults showing up here to think they're the only ones. There's plenty of topics here dealing with the whole Heelys-as-childish business. That impression's just not gonna die until a lot more adults get into it or Heelys, Inc. makes a lot more effort to take a hammer to it (including possible rebranding, but I don't think that's going to work unless they say directly "these are adult models").

Megas are indeed better for cracks. There's other things you can do as well- I hop with my front foot across the big ones and then shift my weight to it when my back foot's going across. Going across them diagonally helps too.

BTW, Heelys in airports- ever been on one of those conveyor-belt people-movers they have in some of them? I'm curious if Heelys can roll on those. Imagine just effectively standing.. and going at conveyor speed plus full run speed. Smile

(And what does airport security say when you go through it?)

I'd recommend Octane if you're not going to do grinds, and Torches if you are.

Team Heelys - SoCal Joined: 26 Dec 2006 Posts: -123845

I've actually tried that. It works okay, but you can't go full speed. a) Too many people. b) There's some rivets in the ones I've been on. Its pretty fun though. You should try it.

Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 12

I use FATS, I heard that megas stick out way more. Fats seem fine for what I do, small cracks are fine, large cracks can be troublematic. I'm 24 and in college and with fats (I have atomics) they just look like normal shoes.

Too many people? Looks like a good reason to take the 3 AM flight. Very Happy

Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 12

Damn! Portland was actually the airport I was thinking of. Sad

Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 532 Location: Philly, PA

Guest

Thanks for the advice guys. As for old school versus new models, it's inevitable that the 2nd generaion of a product adds new features, drops price, but loses some sturdiness (corners get cut).

But there may not be a choice. Where I am (NYC), there's nothing in the stores at all right now.

One thing I don't understand....many models only go up to size 8. What's that about? Adults are ok, but not ones with big feet? What a weird, arbitrary cut-off. And I'm size 9.5!

There's nothing in NYC? This is weird. Heelynut was telling me about a glut in the SoCal area, so i figured it'd be true for all the big cities.. what's going on here?

I haven't heard of corners getting cut anywhere. The manufacturing process is, to my knowledge, still fundamentally the same as it was in the beginning. OTOH the price hasn't dropped much at all...

If you can't find 'em in your size, order 'em online.

Team Heelys - SoCal Joined: 26 Dec 2006 Posts: -123845

Joined: 27 Dec 2006 Posts: 103

Hey Jimbo, welcome ot Heelychat. I have Titans (I have only seen them for sale at mervyns) and they are size 12's.

If you are a 9.5 I would suggest 11's (I wear 10.5 regular). It seems to me that getting over cracks is more about experience than the wheel size. I have found that with a little "shug" I can get over all but the biggest cracks in the sidewalk. It sounds like Megas make this easier, but I really like it that noone know that I have Heelys untill I just glide away....

Team Heelys - Northeast Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 1803

Okay - I guess since one of the oldest Heelers and one from NYC, I should advise you on some of this stuff.

#1 - Get Mega or Big Deuce. I'd go with Mega, but that's personal preference.

Its simple physics. The larger the wheel, the better your wheel-to-crack ratio. Very small cracks won't even bother Megas at all. The only downside, since we're talking physics, is your center of gravity is slightly higher. But I'd offset that consideration with being able to clear pebbles more easily. I've skate NYC in Fats .. that's a mistake. NYC is one of the very few place I think Big Deuce could give Mega a run for its money.

#2 - Scan as you skate.

Keep a constant scan of the 6 - 18 feet in front of you as you travel. Its not the cracks that you see that will bury you. Its the ones you never see coming. If you scan your skate path in front of you, you'll simply be ready. When you get better, you'll instinctively know when rough terrain is coming. In the early stages, make a good habit of looking ahead of you.

#3 - Simple way to overcome cracks".

Slicer has the right idea on this. Webstarr actually first taught me this when I was starting out. As you approach a crack/gap, just put your weight on your back foot for a split as you go over. You'll naturally transfer you weight back to your front to let yourself clear it. Just rememer .. never let both feel come side-by-side (called the "Golden Rule"). People lose their balance because they have not developed the muscles to hold the (classic) "V" position.

I hope that helps. Maybe I'll see you one day at Riverside!

MDHZ