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| Price | $20 |
The folks over at GRN MNSTR Roller Sports are launching these GumBall toes stops designed specifically for roller derby girls. I don’t know the price of them yet but I do plan on getting a pair if they are not too gigantic. I tend to not use my toe stops most of the time but they are kind of needed when getting up from a solid fall.
The full post is over at their blog: http://skategrnmnstr.blogspot.com/2010/11/gumball-toe-stops-have-arrived.html
If you get your hands on these before we do please leave a review and rating below in our comments section.
I also gotta say I love the packaging.
UPDATE: I think I’ve used these toe stops long enough now to say they rock. Until I got these bad boys I never even used my toes stops. Now I tomahawk constantly.
Just picked up a pair from Roller Revolution. I wear Snyder toe stops which have a lot of grip and bounce but thought I’d try these out. The packaging rocks!
Please let us know what you think and I’ll add the Snyder’s to the gear section so you can compare.
How did the gumballs work out for you after you’ve been skating on Snyders? Any verdict yet?
I really enjoyed everything about the Snyder toe stops…except when they ripped off the post during bouts, that part sucked. And it happened to me 3 times, so i couldn’t just assume a random fluke.
I heard that the Gumballs were the answer to that problem, so I snagged a pair. I’ve been using them for a couple of weeks, and they have all the good points of the Snyders, I love the grip and response, but they’re just a little too big for my comfort. My ideal size toe stop is the PowerDyne Round…but they don’t have the grip I need.
If GRN MNSTR decides to make a smaller version of the Gumball, I’ll buy them the second they come out!!!
I just bought them and used them once, they ARE pretty big, but LOTS O grip, which is awesome. I don’t think they will wear out too easily either. I got mine at Bruised Boutique in Nashua NH, and Dee Stortion (owner) told me these are supposedly the only toe stop that will grip to sport court.
Thanks Slick.
I just grabbed a pair yesterday but won’t be able to get on them until Sunday. They do seem pretty large to me and I’m not a big user of toe stops so I hope they don’t trip me up!
Just took these out for a spin and this is what I can say. Grip = Yes! They are just a bit bigger then I’d like but not a huge deal breaker. As far as their claims of durability it’s really hard to say without skating on them for a few seasons but look good to me. I’d give them a thumbs up.
Don’t forget the awesome package. I almost wanted to buy a second set just to have on my shelf at home.
I freakin love my gumball toe stops so much that I would marry them. I have skated on wood and sport court since I put them on my skates and they worked equally awesome on both. They are great for going backwards to get back into the pack and for running as a jammer if you do that for your starts. I am a first year skater and I would recommend them to all newbies. Also, I concur…the packaging is adorable. Completely worth the twenty bucks.
I got the Gumballs in the short length. I was nervous that they would be too short, and they do have a bit more girth than some of the average toe stops but it’s a help and not a hindrance.
I’m glad I got the short version though. Even hand tightened they stay close to my skates and they are super stable with jammer toe starts. Excellent grip.
I’d recommend them to anyone.
I got the Gumballs last month, and after skating with them
on both polished concrete and wood, and I’m in love. I had the
PowerDyne rounds, but felt like they were too small to feel
comfortable running and tomahawking on them. The Gumballs are
perfect for both. They are big, and I very occasionally catch the
very edge of the left toe-stop on the floor during cross-overs, but
I think that will go away within the next few practices. Also…
I’m trying to find something I can display in the empty box because
it’s just too cool to throw away.
I lovelovelove my Gumballs. Dee Stortion is right… in my experience these are the only toe stops that grip to sport court. They also have amazing grip on wood rink floors as well. Not to mention the packaging is cute as the dickens!
Love the name, love how big they are, love how effortless my tomahawks are now. I would slide for a while on concrete with my stops that came with my Reidells. It reduced my slide a lot, so I can pick back up faster.
been really popular over here in Ireland and the UK too. Good feedback from all skaters
I purchased these and have fallen in love with them. I have noticed I am able to run further on my toe stops. They are stable and have a lot of grip on the track. I would recommend these to any derby girl. Three other girls have them with more on the way.
I love and hate these equally.
The grip is AMAZING! Best I’ve had and I’ve tried about four sets of toe stops. However, they are HUGE! I find that when I’m really digging in for speed laps my crossovers turn into a run almost, and on more that one occasion I’ve tripped myself from the toe stop catching the ground.
I’m adapting to them, because they are PERFECT for toe stop running and tomahawks, but I feel like it’s going to take some practice to adjust to the size.
I like big toe stops and I’m thinking about getting these gumballs, I am currently skating on webstoppers the huge red ones. The problem with these is they wear out way to fast and I had a bit of cracking with the toe stops, I used sure grips a few times, one broke off when I was doing a transition, the others started to spin on the bolt head (just the rubber stop not the bolt).
Can anyone tell me how wide and deep the rubber stop is? They look big, but how big?
I was really excited to try these because the toe stops I usually use (the powerdyne round) don’t grip as well as I’d like on the sport court. While the gumballs do grip very well, they’re a little big for my liking–I spend a lot of time on my toe stops, and I felt a little clumsy on the gumballs.
To echo Resident Eva–I’d love a slightly smaller gumball–one about the size of a PD round or a Snyder toe stop.
Also, I was surprised to find that the difference in weight (lighter stem than the PD or the Snyder) took some getting used to; however, I’m notoriously sensitive and high maintenance about changing stuff on my skates, so take this with a grain of salt.
Love these toe stops. I had to get mine cut down to stop clipping against my wheels. But they have been a dream, very stable and have nice grip. They have added 2 extra steps on my running starts.
Who doesn’t love these adorable stops? They’ve given me much greater stability and more steps on my starts. I love bouncing around on Gumballs. More than half of my league uses these stops. The only complaint I’ve heard is that one of our skaters had the rubber separate from the post at a recent practice. However, hers were from the first generation of Gumballs, I believe–purchased at RollerCon 2010.
These have worked well for me on polished concrete, skate court and that slick-acrylic-type floor at some rinks. They’ve held up well for a few months now, but some outdoor manuevers did do a number on them.
My only issue is the size, as I am still getting wheel rub on my DA45 Magnums. I do love the surface size in general, though, so I would appreciate seeing these offered with cut-outs, rather than just overall shrinkage.
I love my gumballs, like whoa. The bang for your buck on them is huge. They’re really great and for $20, totally worth the upgrade. I had started on whatever stock came on my Vixens and was terrified of turn stops, couldn’t do them for love or money (didn’t help that I’d worn a diagonal flat spot on my old stops so I never stood flat). I got my gumballs from Five Stride and they’re great. Springy and grippy. I bounce on my toe stops waiting in line for drills at practice. :) They’ve started to show a tiny bit of wear, but nothing too bad. As for what others have said about size, I’ve got to agree. I sometimes bump them on the ground when skating fast (which I didn’t do before) even with them cranked all the way in (I’ve got the regular length, but should’ve gone for the shorts, and I like my stops further down than most). Mine have a tendency to fall out and loosen frequently, but that’s from the plate (DO NOT BUY A TRITON, EVER!). Just a word to the wise, if you’re skating a Triton plate, tighten your stops really frequently, especially before games.
I F’n love these stoppers! At first I ordered the long stem and hated them. Then i ordered the short stems and it fell in love. It was a little rough in the beginning getting used to the size of them (theyre big), but now I find myself using my toe stops more than ever. Unlike the crappy Sure Grip ones, these don’t crumble. Theyre bad ass.
I have been thoroughly enjoying these stoppers. :) They almost seem to bounce back a little, and stopping is smooth and quick.
I too also love my Gumballs like whoa. I don’t think there’s a better toe stop on the market for Derby right now.
I love my Gumballs. They stop me fast, and make a really satisfying screeching sound. They feel kind of bouncy when I run on them. Does like.
I <3 these toe stops… the perfect amount of stop & bounce! however, if you skate on gritty painted concrete, they do wear down.
I love these! I got the short stemmed kind, and it made my toe-stop runs 100% more effective. I feel stable on them, and much more in control. After weeks of working with them on our wooden floor, I see no discernible signs of wear on them, but I’m going to use my stock set outdoors for now, to try to preserve these babies. I couldn’t be happier with them!
These toe-stops are fantastic. They are a bit larger than the majority of toe-stops out there but are totally worth it for the overall grip and quality. I highly recommend getting the short-stem version instead of the long-stem version to help compensate for the size difference.
There is nothing out there that can get me up and out faster than my Gumballs! Yes, they’re big. But so are 187 Killer Kneepads – that doesn’t take away from the fact that are PERFECT for the job.
Teri, I agree completely about the 187 Killer Kneepads. I was put off by their size at first but after trying them on and falling in them, I fell…in love. I’m just going to leave that bad pun there.
I’m sold. My derby fund is going to buy a set of these as soon as I can.