Why Rollerblading DIED...

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[cbjueueiwyru]

"rollerbladers were seen as kids that would get in the way"

Scooter kids: "hold my juicebox"

[im_Spade_]

As someone who just bought a pair of rollerblades last week, I think everyone else's sentiment about "people are just doing what they like" fits me pretty good. Along with nostalgia

[memnon]

I’ll never forget my disappointment as a kid when I asked for rollerblades and got a pair of roller skates instead.

[pewpin]

Used to be rollerblading a LOT as a kid. What killed it to me, is that you could not go anywhere inside. With a skate, you can always jump off, hop into the store, grab a drink in a bar, do whatever... with rollerblades you were barred from going anywhere but the street.

[CantFightRobots]

As a skateboarder who goes to a lot of skateparks I can say that at least now in 2023 no skaters hate rollerbladers being at the park. rollerbladers are always so nice and cool!

[shredcity]

When sports "die" they often just become a lot more core, the passionate riders stay and the trend-followers leave. Lots of respect for the riders still doing it

[Umtree]

I lived through the whole rollerblade thing.
80’s skating, 90’s rollerblade, then skating again.
And TBH rollerblading was fun.
The whole “rollerblades are gay” thing killed it for sure.
But today, when all kids are gay, maybe rollerblades will return.

[zolyguy]

It’s 2024 and I’m 31 and just started rollerblading again. Haven’t done it since 2004.

[lawnmowerdude]

When I see a really insane roller skate or skate board stunt I’m just amazed how they survived long enough practicing that trick to actually do it.

[dannysunwantedopinions]

All I remember about roller blading in the 90’s is having a shitload of fun. It was fun! Why does everything have to be in terms of cool or not cool?

[christianflor]

What killed in-line skating for me, was shops, schools, busses etc. banning them. They were a hassle to put on and take off, and I didn't want to carry shoes in a bag everywhere I went.

[comradebangalore]

A bunch of us are getting back into/got back into aggressive inline and wizard skating during or just after covid. Nostalgia, more money, need to get outside, etc, all are driving a resurgence of sorts. Still a small community, but tight and stoked.

[peterhoulihan]

Interesting video. Just a theory: Roller blades were too durable so there was less money in them.

Skateboards wear out and break constantly, so companies selling them can constantly resell the same product. Roller blades? Unless the person who bought them was an extremely hardcore user chances are they'd outlast their interest in using them. Which meant that once those companies had sold roller blades to all the potential users sales were dead, which meant sponsorships were dead, which meant the media frenzy fuelling the whole thing was dead.

[Graybeard_]

I was in college in CA back then, and what I remember why a lot of regular people (not pros or hard cores) swapped out their blades for skateboards was that when they were out and about, you could jump off your boards and go into a store or whatever, but with blades you were stuck, outside usually, as every public building (CA) had a sign on the front door saying "No Rollerblades." This was a pretty big deal.

[RabidFace]

The circle I hung around in the early 2000s we did it all. Skated, bladed, and biked. Do what you like to do and have fun doing it. I never understood the beef. Awesome little documentary.

[krissifadwa]

I recently began ice-skating (being someone who once rollerbladed a lot) because I wanted at least one or two winter physical activities I can get into. In the middle of ice-skating, for the first time ever, the question popped in my head "Wait... whatever happened to rollerblading?!" and now I am here...

[spitwicked]

They'll make a comeback. More and more people are becoming less concerned about what's "cool" and enjoying the things that are fun and make them happy.

[Lilitha]

Growing up during that period I always felt like rollerblading was a lot more fun as a casual thing, while skateboarding always seemed more like a 'sport'. Especially when snowboarding started to become popular, and they kind of share how to 'feel'.

[anthonymoon]

I love how a sport never completely dies it just goes underground and the people doing it are the hard core enthusiasts that do it purely for the love of it

[lostln]

I'm 40 and I just bought a pair of rollerblade two weeks ago. It feels so good to skate again. For fun and execise.