New Skates: Demo vs. Buying Blind?

OverEasy · Pop Shuvit Joined: 08 Aug 2005 Posts: 167 City: Richardson

Here's the list of decks that my wife & I have managed to go through since last summer:

'04 HL Scape 116
'03 HL Catalyst 116
'05 LF Impulse 43 (great skate; bad paint)
'05 LF Impulse 41 (ditto)
'05 Integrity Team

Lots of reasons for the various changes; mostly it's been a great board shop that has been taking great care of us in terms of returns & exchanges. But looking back now, something has occured to me:

Many people here recommend buying skates from ROC companies, for many reasons: Support the riders, big dogs like HL, LF, CWB are about selling boards & making $$$, the ROC decks are better, etc. Now that I've been riding a little while & been reading these forums, I totally agree. So why did we go through so many non-ROC decks? One word: Demo. We were able to demo all of them except the Integ.

If I'm gonna lay down a bill or two (or three) for a skate, I'd kind of like to be somewhat sure I'm going to like it. The shops around here in Dallas pretty much only carry HL, LF & CWB; there's really no way to demo a Cassette, Sattelyte, Omen, etc. If you want to ride ROC & don't have a friend who has one, you must take a bit of a leap of faith & "buy blind". So that's what we had to do on the Integ. Yes, it's as awesome as everyone says & I'm glad we got it, but we were a bit nervous considering the price.

So demo-ing new skates is great if you can try what you want, but sometimes ya gotta break down & take a chance. Just some food for thought for those having trouble choosing a new skate. (Sorry for the long post.)

TTUFAN24 · Posted: Oct 24, 2005 10:10 pm Post subject:

cornut, we need to ride sometime. i have been wanting to try the integ and the impulse. hate to say it but i think i might be putting my skate up and getting out the mountainbike now it's cool.

integrity640 · Kickflip Joined: 30 Oct 2004 Posts: 2866 City: Ocala

cornut, ive bought ALL my skates blind before. i was in the same situation as you.....kinda. i bought my first skate(04 byerly hyperlite) because of the graphics and it was a hyperlite. then after ridin it last spring i realized it sucked donkey dick.
so this summer i worked my a$$ off for 2 weeks at 4 bucks an hour landscapin for my uncle in 100+ degree weather for an integ. I knew they where a great company and that they rode really well. it was well worth it, but i had the same trouble as you, trying to demo one. but anywho just ask people what they think and how they compare if youre in the market again. peace

-Nor*Cal- · Ollie Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Posts: 67 City: Nor*Cal

Good post cornut. Sometimes you do just have to take a chance. 2006 is going to be such an awesome year for wakeskating. I think Alla Prima coming out is really going to help Cassette out. I'm sure they will have there skate dialed this year. I'm not to sure about Omen and Satteltye. I really don't think they have proved themselves yet. I am very intrigued by Omen because they are doing something noone as done before. They are taking that chance. Where as Satteltye pumps out flat and concave decks like every other wakeskate company out there. Not saying they are not good skates, but I think for them to get BIG they need to step it up. Just my opinions.

lake weir ocala FL · Backside 180 Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 1241 City: Ocala

im thinkin about getting an oak...they look sick and there team is crazy good Crazy Eyes

-Nor*Cal- · Ollie Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Posts: 67 City: Nor*Cal

lake weir ocala FL - I heard the rails are really sharp, like a 2004 Hyperlite. I wonder if maybe you could sand them down.

BillyOLDS · Posted: Oct 25, 2005 3:39 am Post subject:

-Nor*Cal-, they arent at all like a hyp

like its about a centameter of a blunt verticle edge and it roundedat teh very edges, much like a gator. they are fine

PIRATE · Guest

cornut, JUST a little fyi, sattelyte and myself will do anything that we can for those who want to demo a sattelyte b4 they buy one.

ohh yeah i forgot im gone. forget you read this im not here. this is just a optical illusion.

mergeleft3 · Backside 180 Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 673 City: Orlando

Good post, alot of people have that problem

OverEasy · Pop Shuvit Joined: 08 Aug 2005 Posts: 167 City: Richardson

TTUFAN24, we are out on Lake Lavon pretty much every weekend. Definitely planning on hitting it this Saturday. If you have a wet suit & wanna come out, you're welcome to try any of our skates. Just e-mail or PM me.

PIRATE, thanks; I may take you up on that some day.

TTUFAN24 · Posted: Oct 25, 2005 12:10 pm Post subject:

i dont know how to PM

OverEasy · Pop Shuvit Joined: 08 Aug 2005 Posts: 167 City: Richardson

go to my profile; there's a "PM" button

kento911 · Kickflip Joined: 29 Mar 2004 Posts: 3657 City: Phoenix

cornut, -Nor*Cal-, excellent post very uncharacteristic of the drivel that is known as off season posting. I know personally being the west coast rep for Omen that our biggest problem is we have decided to skip our 06 decks and just release the 07 design mainly b/c it turned out so much better than we had expected, this has obviously prolonged the realease of the decks somewhat. But even though my Omen is a proto and no longer a very accurate representation of our production boards I have personally made sure that roughly 10 people who wanted to demo it got the chance to. . . . Some liked it and some didnt but if your willing to make some extra effort to try our boards then were willing to make some extra effort to allow you to, its basically a matter of meeting in the middle to make sure people can try the product. I know for a fact that in the Cali AZ area that Brandon (Pirate) is doing the same for Sattelyte, and Jeff (Grouch) is doing the same for Integ. . in fact every Integ Ive ridden belongs to grouch. . and my Omen is the only one in Ca so as small companies were really trying to address that as best we can but consider that HO/LF/CWB/Obrien have only a few dollars invested in skates that they demo out of a million dollar budget. . . and often times they are blems which were going to the trash anyways. Whereas the smaller companies have more costly materials, production process, and lower quantity. . .as well as less blems for the simple fact that it pays for us to spend the extra time being meticulous and avoid mistakes all together. . basically what Im saying is we would love to have a demo program like a Kent SG co. but we simply dont have the option of throwing money and product at a problem to solve it, so we gotta get grassroots and creative to make sure people get to try products.

EDIT: sorry about the essay

-Nor*Cal- · Ollie Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Posts: 67 City: Nor*Cal

kento911,

I understand you 100%. I've been following Integrity and Omen since I have heard about them. I've been into a few shops and asked about these skates because of course I cannot find them in the store. They usually respond with "Who?".

I really think these ROC will get bigger and bigger as each year passes and more and more people begin to understand who they need to support. But the Hyperlites and LF's will always be there no matter how much we hate. Just because they have that exposure. If a kid picks up a magazine he's probably going to see Hyperlite adds all over the place and want that. These kids see there favorite riders aka Grubb, Byerly, Daniels and what are they riding? I just really think in a few more years r.o.c will be right up there with the big dogs. I can't wait for that day.

SamHill · Frontside 180 Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 420 City: Lacey

kento911, -Nor*Cal-,
I completely agree. The ROC are strong and have great product.

lake weir ocala FL · Backside 180 Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 1241 City: Ocala

i agree 100%...ROC will be up there with the big dogs

integrity640 · Kickflip Joined: 30 Oct 2004 Posts: 2866 City: Ocala

yah mos def, i think the bilevels where a big hit considering they where revoulutionary in the shape of a skate. alot of poeple now know about cassette due to the bilevels. Rock on ROC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kento911 · Kickflip Joined: 29 Mar 2004 Posts: 3657 City: Phoenix

integrity640, no disrespect to you or cassette. . but the Bilevs hurt them as much as they helped this year. . hopefully next year they can improve the ratio of help to hurt

plazasales · Posted: Oct 25, 2005 8:44 pm Post subject:

I have asked Dan about bringing Integ or another core skate company into the shop, but the reason we don't is because no one around here has even heard of these companies!
Bang Head

Also I must say that I fully supports Gator Boards and hope they rise to the top of the wake pyramid. Oh yah, their skates are off the hook for 2006. I didn't think we'd see any thing like this come from them. I have now officially spoke my peace and morphed into a full and complete GB fanatic. Cool

GB 4 Life! HA HA HA:laugh:

-Nor*Cal- · Ollie Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Posts: 67 City: Nor*Cal

plazasales,

The Gator skates are really nice. You should get in contact with Erich either through here or through his site. Tell "Dan" that Integrity is one of the best skates out there. I can't imagine being able to walk into a shop and seeing Gator, Integrity, and Cassette all on the wall....