Life = changed

[CoastalChick]

    My babies came, after two months of pining and sighing! A zillion kudos and thanks to Nathan for a) patiently bearing with me through the figuring-out and ordering semicustom process, b) convincing me to go down a plate size from size 3 to 2, and c) the stellar mount job.

I still can't do much lateral/twisty stuff because the knee is a work in progress, but I AM cleared to skate, so I just spent two hours at the rink falling in love. And getting used to a shorter plate, LOL. I didn't bite it, but I came close a couple of times when jumping and cutting hard. So much fun! It's incredible how much difference a perfectly-fitting boot (on a great plate) makes.

The Anabolix Relentless IIs (also new - have been sitting waiting in my closet for two months) are amazing on the crappy wood floor here...can't wait to try them out on our normal practice venue's sport court, and on the bout venue's concrete. I am really way impressed with the grip and roll. Didn't slide out in the corners at all (which is easy to do on this floor), but could get them to break when I wanted them to. Also, and this is my uterus talking, the Moto bearing shields match them perfectly.

I think I have my new favorites all around. This is a beautiful day.

[Reserector]

That is one boss setup. There is something cool about every aspect, and they are greater than the sum of their parts. Enjoy your new life.

[CoastalChick]

Thanks. These were my multi-celebratory spring present to myself - tax return, derbyversary, and birthday - and they really are everything I could have wanted, especially compared to my VERY beat-up Rebel Invaders. Those were wonderful and served me well for a year of 5x/week skating (derby, indoor, outdoor), but now they can serve me well as my outdoor setup.

I had to use a heat gun to push out one small sharp edge of counter on the inside of one boot, and swapped out the Bont insoles for thin memory foam ones, and now I think we're good to go. I also did the Great Aglet Repair that I read about on the Ian guy's lacing site - using a section of heat shrink tubing to create a new shoelace end after trimming the lace down to a more manageable length. Very cool trick. 72" laces are ridiculously long. I cut off a foot on each, and they're perfect now. I will never have to cuss under my breath at floppy lace excess again.

[nathan_]

Looking good!

[Rattybabe]

They look great! I'm patiently waiting for mine to arrive (tracking says they are currently in customs). Mine will look very similar to yours - Black hybrids with white trim, Avenger plates, and I already have dyed Rollerbones Zebras/Koi's to put on them. Can't wait!!