Part 2 - Top Ten Gifts for Skaters

Gift for Skaters:

Trish Alexander's Top Ten Gifts for Skaters

Stuff a Back Pack with Skates and Stick It Under the Xmas Tree

(Part 2 of 3)

6.) Crash Pads

Falling hurts. But it hurts a whole lot less with Crash Pads. They cover your butt, tailbone and thighs and are available in various thicknesses and styles.

Most skaters wear them under a pair of baggy pants. But at our school, we tend to wear them loud and proud. I wear mine when I'm working on jumps or when I've set out to hit the ramps (literally).

Go to Crash Pad web site.

5.) Blinky Lights

Blinky lights are invaluable to street skaters. In the old days, most skate makers gave them away. These days, you have to buy them yourself. Fortunately, they are cheap: $3-10. (And make great stocking stuffers.) You can buy them at any bike shop.

Go to Self-Protected web site.

4.) Skate Lube

You hear all kinds of talk about what kind of bearings to use: ABEC 7 or ABEC 9, ILQ or Bones, greased or oiled. I'm sure they all have their advantages. But I'll tell you this: A clean ABEC 1 bearing is better than a dirty ABEC 7. So, if you want to go fast, keep your bearings clean.

Skate Lube is what I use to accomplish the task. It's a spray on cleaner that leaves an oily residue when it dries. Spray it on your bearings before you head out. The oily residue keeps your bearings spinning.

I've used it for five years. Even in the rain, my bearings have never seized up. Skate Lube was developed by Tiodize, a company that makes various components for space flight. It's about 1/100th of 1 percent of the company's business, but I hope they keep making it!

Buy it from Urban Toys web site.

4b.) Boss Swiss Bearings

As I noted above, there are lots of types of bearings. But I'm a "simply" girl. I simply like my Boss Swiss. They are fast and they always work. I have used the same three pairs for more than five years, and they just keep rolling and rolling.

My favorite place to order these is from Charlie at Swat Skates. Nice folks there.

Go to Swat skate web site.

(Continued)

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