Snow Whites - review by request

[Sessy]

I decided to start this thread because somebody asked earlier to let him/her know how the Snow White thing would go.

Well I had the snow white frames mounted on my old risport etoiles today.

I tried them out at the ice rink first, but there were too many curious spectators there so I tried them in the hallway of the student housing block here. Got laughed at by every guy on my floor, it seems. Like I care.

Some words of caution:

- First of all, the wheels are sticky. Imagine skating on honey, or better yet, duct tape... Squeaky duct tape.
- Second of all, I think you might need harder boots for these than for actual ice skating, *my* ankles are buckling.
- Third of all, the "still standing, not falling" length of the "blade" (frame) is significantly less than on blades (that is, you might want to pad the butt, knees and wrists). It's a little more than on quad rollers, but barely. Very easy to tip over forwards or backwards. Ouch.
- Fourth, I was hoping they'd be a little more rockered than this to be honest...


Impressions after half an hour of practice:

Edges:
They're feeling good! Not *just* like on ice, but very close - closer than quad rollers. It's a little awkward but mostly a matter of daring to do it (it feels positively scary), because if you slow down too much, the wheels stick and you don't turn at all. This toy is not for the over-cautious type...

Powerpulls:
Works just fine! I didn't expect it to.

3-turns:
A little shaky, but surprisingly, not that different once you get the hang of it. I also tried a RFI-RBI turn and *almost* got it on the first try, so I can see this working after some adjustment.

Crossovers:
Great!!! Much closer to ice than quad rollers!

Stopping:
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!! (crash) Who put that wall there? :twisted:
I guess you stop with the toe-stops? Certainly not going to be doing 1-footed hockey stops on these any time soon. Flaw number 1.

Spins:
Not working. :( At all. Actualy that's not true, I did a half revolution on a backspin. I think the trick is to stay between the two front wheels which would be a lot like on skates, except much harder. I'll let you know how this progresses. Don't expect magic overnight though... This is flaw number 2.

Biellmann spiral:
I just cut my hand on the frame, trying... Will prolly work fine with gloves, though.

Spirals:
Don't see why not. No real "back of the blade" though, so careful about pushing on the heel! Not nearly as easy to bellyflop as it is on quad rollers though.

Jumping:
I can't try due to injury, but if I do the back outside edge like on the loop takeoff, I'm almost being launched, even more so than on ice! I think I'd need stronger boots to take the landings safely though.

Toepick steps:
Great! Better than ice!
Resembles rolling on and off the toepick more than quad roller skates do.

Stroking:
Will build your leg muscles in no time!.. Did I mention it feels like skating on fly paper?


I'll report back to this thread when I have a little more experience with them.
Might not be until like april though.

[kayskate]

I was interested in the review. Your comments sound a lot like my exp with picskates. The wheels do feel very sticky. We get a lot of slide on the ice that makes ice turns more forgiving. I had the same problem spinning on picskates. Can't do it except for maybe a 1/2 revolution. Thanks for your comments.

Kay

[tidesong]

I found normal rollerblading wheels to be "sticky" already, it was most uncomfortable. Thanks for the review, I have been thinking about getting something like that for a while now, didnt know there was another product like picskates... now I have more things to consider! hehe

[Skate@Delaware]

that was VERY interesting, Sessy! The "sticky" comment reminded me of the artificial ice I skated on last summer-where you had to really push to get anywhere. Which reminded me of something my skating director said-there was a place she went (with her hockey husband). She bought him a training session of a treadmill covered in the artificial ice...and you wear hockey skates (even if you are a figure skater)...to build your stamina and because it's a treadmill you can't use a skate with a toepick.

Anyway, could you grab the boot instead for your bielman?

[Sessy]

The student floor beneath us had a party and took the tables from our kitchen so I had a *little* room to practice (it's still raining heavily outside and I was told snow whites react very badly to dirt).

So here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-8g4NLWmk

I take back that I can't spin in them. I think with a summer's worth of practice, I might be able to. The trick seems to be to go onto a VERY deep edge and then really snap. It's certainly not going to be easy but I think in time I might learn to get a few revolutions out of this.

I was also able to get back 3's out of this too. I know it doesn't look like much on video, but that's because I didn't have the room to do it at speed - it felt fine, like the edges on ice would. As far as edges are concerned this is great stuff.

[kayskate]

Watched your vid. Your 3turns look very smooth. Mine were not this smooth on pics. Wonder if that is b/c the Pics have a longer frame, much longer than an ice blade. The Snow White looks more compact and maneuverable. My xovers in pics look clunky b/c I am consciously making room for the longer "blades". Do you have Pics too? Your spin looks like it might happen w time, as you said. Entry looks secure.

Kay

[Skate@Delaware]

WOW!!!!!!:bow:

[Sessy]

No, I don't have pics - I only have quad roller skates so I can only compare to those. Yeah the "blade" area is relatively short, it's only a tiny bit longer than on quad roller skates. Snow whites are definitely more maneuverable than quads though, but for spinning I'm kinda wishing I'd gone with a high-end quad frame instead of snow whites. For everything else, definitely snow whites though. :mrgreen: