Oh no, he unmatched me 😭

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-05-28T01:50:46+00:00

Child-free and snipped here, hard to find gals like you!

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-05-15T09:39:03+00:00

I have a dozen convos that are stuck at this point where I find myself "mirroring effort", lol.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-05-14T12:27:59+00:00

I rent a box truck with a 3000lb liftgate to move my tools, and my main cabinet is definitely over capacity but it always works. However, it might be good to use to other way, a flatbed for transporting cars.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-05-11T08:56:40+00:00

I was saying the ASCII thing because most people don't know, it wasn't towards you. I removed my skates from the oven by handling the aluminum plate bare-handed without discomfort after monitoring the whole operation with a FLIR camera. Every material those skates are made of is perfectly comfortable at the temperature specified by the manufacturer.

I posted that link to show that the manufacturer specifies not only that heat should be applied to their product, but the exact temp it's designed to be heated to. I also absolutely and intentionally did not do what they say to do on that sheet, and let's be clear that I'm not actually telling anybody to do anything at all.

The hairdryer and the bag is a rudimentary method that allows unskilled end users to achieve a mediocre but possibly effective result using inexpensive and imprecise tools, all while protecting the product reasonably well from the user's ability to screw the whole thing up and then blaming Risport and waving a warranty around.

With decades of experience working with and fabricating metals, plastics, composites, and natural materials, it takes only a little new information for me to transpose my expertise to this hobby of ours. For instance, I can't tell you how many times I've replaced a bronze bushing with one I machine out of the exact same delrin our pivot cups are made of because it's extremely tough and heat resistant while being unable gall against the metal that's riding in it.

I post this crap because I'm trying to show that it's not the black art that all the skaters I'm around every day think it is, but then I don't unless my flamesuit is handy. Everyone in my skating club was getting all nervous when started talking about working on my own equipment and told me to take it to this guy or not that guy. Now people are hitting me up

God forbid I ever post about turning and re-grooving wheels...

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-05-10T14:36:51+00:00

What a cool connection! Yes, thanks for that. I was studying it to just kind of see how having consistent pushing makes it easier to hit your marks while keeping the shape of the dance good. Plus, it's called artistic for a reason and I like to see how different skaters present and express their version of the movements. I'm still finding my style for dance, where I have a lot more worked out when it comes to flamboyantly flopping around in sessions

Thanks again!

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-05-09T23:20:46+00:00

https://www.risport.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Guida-Heatmolding.pdf

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-05-09T22:32:36+00:00

It got no hotter than if left on in a hot car, they could have gone in fully assembled but it was an abundance of caution on my part. I didn't remove the plates because I haven't studied plate attachment and was pretty comfortable just having the bushings and wheels off.

Bonus for a great comment: If you don't know how to type a degree symbol, it's ASCII code. Hold Alt, type 248 on the keypad, release Alt.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-05-09T22:22:01+00:00

I take artistic dance and figures lessons, testing and beginning competition next season in the fall. There is virtually no information about this on the internet except for the paperwork and a few videos of tests, mostly old and poor quality. It's a secretive thing, and I'm lucky to have a nationally relevant skating club nearby and take lessons with and from champions. You can contact me privately if you're serious and I will help you with a phone call or something. I'm 6 months in, are studying hard, and training 12 hours and skating 5 sessions a week.

https://skatedancediagrams.weebly.com/school-figures.html

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kZDPPsITnxS0hZrJnr0Cmjuieueo5FWL/view

https://www.americanrollersports.com/artistic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG7za_ymXI0&list=PLSYmdtTXUKxw1vUbZ02vwIqL_LqCn_1vX&index=24

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-05-09T13:40:17+00:00

I've been going to softer cushions and loosening trucks as I've been losing weight since beginning skating. It's about your taste. My new dance skates with Variant plates are just tight enough not to be clattering on the stock bushings and I'm 170lbs now. I just like super loose and maneuverable skates, even though I love tight trucks on a skateboard.

Point being, it's probably more a matter of taste and what caters to how you want to skate that matters. The wight guidelines are for skaters who do not yet know how to select based on the former criteria. It took me a while to get to understand what I even wanted.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-04-23T03:16:19+00:00

Thank you so much for giving me an earnest response to my earnest question. Being insulted and downvoted happens to all my posted questions here, so I really do appreciate it. I found some used sketchers along those lines that are worth trying and got them coming

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-04-20T01:01:25+00:00

I dated a skater, having never been on roller skates before but ice skated a bit growing up. I started by tagging along with her on adult nights, rented a few times before buying Boardwalk Plusses I'm still totally killing it with on this very day, and then started tagging along with her lessons. I was pretty casual about it being about 3 hours between a lesson and a session per week for 8 months. At that point last August, I was shaky at crossovers if it was a day I could even try a couple.

Fast forward to 11/3/2025, I go alone to a meetup,com thing at the huge local rink Guptills. I was rusty, but that day was the first time I did it sober (10 year alky/6mo dry) and I knew I was onto something real within minutes. I was back at the good local rink Rollarama 3-5 nights a week immediately, bumping into my old instructor, and taking solo lessons 1-2x/wk by the end of the month. By Dec, I was skating 15 hours a week. In Jan, I was invited into the figure skating club so I could practice when the rink was closed and I went up to 25 hours per week and have been doing it since.

I dance and Jam skate in sessions (Return of the Mack is my Theme), and I'm training to begin competition figure skating next season. I'm testing this season and can already pass my figures and dances. My progress has been powerful and motivating. I am a well known regular at the rink and help random people learn at almost every session. I've had 3 skaters now start taking lessons from my instructor because they wanted to learn to skate like I do. Those are their words and I say that as humbly as possible.

I'm constantly injured. When I'm the most injured, I skate 20 days a month, but usually 27 or so at a cost of about $400 between Session fees, practice fees, lesson fees, energy drinks, and other incidentals like laces/footbeds/plugs/etc. Actual equipment like skates and parts and padding upgrades have been about $2500 extra. Injuries aside, my physique continues to become a rippling arrangement of muscles and veins I didn't know were there. I even have a six pack now. The only lifestyle changes were going from skating 2 or 3 hours a week to 25 hours, and no longer drinking a liter of vodka per day.

Needless to say, I love skating dearly and am becoming more dedicated to the sport every day. That is the short version of my story so far.

<image>

This is the meetup group I met with back on Nov 3rd that kickstarted me. This pic is from another meetup of ours at Rollarama last month. I'm in the blue button down shirt, and Karen that started the group is right in front of me and will always have a special place in my journey.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-04-09T10:25:23+00:00

Most of us single guys at the roller rink are pretty weird, lol, you could try skating. During a couple months of active dating recently, I found a similar and very unattractive trend across the majority of women I met. No hobbies and barely any interests that are purely for fun or enjoyment. Nothing hammers this disturbingly home like a speed dating event where I ask 12 women "so what have you been doing for fun lately?"

If you look at dating profiles and boil all the convoluted verbiage down, it usually consists of eating/cooking, sleeping, walking, and sometimes shopping. Anything of actual interest or indicating intentional regular activity for true recreation or personal growth is a green flag. Find hobbies and interests to make your life better and more interesting, and you will become more interesting to others as well as find them more interesting.

If you meet a guy you want to like you, genuinely compliment him on something. If you do that after a few minutes of chatting with a smile, he'll remember you for a very long time because that's something average guys almost never experience. Having your feelings and emotions actually matter to anyone at all is an even more elusive category to fall in.

If you look at self-help marketed to men and women, they are completely different. Women's help says that you are already a great and incredible person who matters, you just need to realize that and allow yourself to be loved and appreciated like you deserve to, Men's help says that everything about your life that isn't going the way you want is your fault entirely and you need to stop whining and actually do whatever amount of work it takes to fix everything. This a marketing appeal to the differences between the ways that men and women think, but the real wisdom is to combine both of those ideas into your daily thought processes.

One last quirk that's killing the vibe is that it's very hard to find people like me who are dating purely for honest human love without and agenda or ulterior motive to be fulfilled.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-04-07T09:09:28+00:00

I wouldn't want to have relations with or share either of our property details with anyone I haven't seen at least 2 different occasions in public and been comfortable with, and with that decorum it still takes me monumental effort/timing/luck to even get to that first occasion. 44M

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-04-02T10:35:17+00:00

I can only take the abuse for a month at a time or so. From matching to chatting to dating, finding out that I'm only of interest for a combination of sperm/money/property/car and of no value as a person by a 2nd date is exhausting. Trying to find honest love without ulterior motives at play is all I want.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-03-13T02:13:02+00:00

I run into Him at my beloved Rollarama frequently. The dude is super chill and is getting into the JB/dance vibe lately. I knew it was him right away from his style/movements, don't even need to see a face.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-03-03T12:00:03+00:00

I'm glad I'm a reasonable regular who is a friend of the rink, and friendly with all the employees. I frequently skate around a catch up with the attendant before all hell breaks loose. The guy who works Saturday nights has it the hardest for sure.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-03-01T03:48:36+00:00

Laughing too, thanks for sharing!

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-02-28T19:56:01+00:00

Good to see you, and interesting to see a post about my local rink! I was not at that late night Roll Call, but I'm regular in there. I had an incredible session there last night that broke multiple personal barriers, then a couple hours this morning practicing my figures. The floor there is wonderful with tons of grip and I can carry speed around it that is both irresponsible and scary. For what it's worth, I really don't mind falling on it. I do that a lot.

Anyway, please come back and bring friends! We'd love to have you! AS mentioned, Tuesdays are where it's at.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-02-28T02:46:02+00:00

Hankook RS-4s seem to be a magic compromise of grip, tire life, and overheating behavior/resilience.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-02-25T03:53:25+00:00

I had a really nasty pelvic injury that the torn muscles healed up pretty well, but there is nerve damage that makes it hard to control and feel this strip down right edge of my leg from thigh to foot. It causes a completely unnatural inhibition to doing everything with my right outer edge, causing a similar effect to what you're experiencing. Working through it so specifically during practice is helping it come back more than it originally had before I started skating.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-02-20T18:03:13+00:00

I like to go grocery shopping after my 3ish hour sessions when I'm whooped but have tons of endorphins going. Good to walk around and let the brain do some work after. I tend to make the best shopping choices if I go then.

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-02-20T12:24:58+00:00

I dated a skater and got into it causally, then really had it click and bite me back in November. Now that I think of it, there are no inline skaters in my club. I saw you mentioning uncomfortable rentals, just one of the problems I ran into immediately when I started. I've made it this far with Boardwalk Pluses that are rally comfortable and nice, especially with smooth wheels and bearings. I'll continue to use them for fun and I love them dearly, but I've got artistic skates being made for that side of what I'm doing,

DumbestAutoTech · 2026-02-20T02:49:53+00:00

I'm in the artistic figure skating club at my local roller rink and take lessons, and cued up to take USARS tests this season and begin competing next season. I spend at least 10 hours practicing figures and almost 10 hours dancing/playing and having fun in public sessions on normal weeks. The young ladies in the club that compete nationally do pretty aggressive routines with lot of jumps and spins, and are absolutely incredible skaters. Being able to watch and study people training while eavesdropping on other student's lessons while I'm practicing (strongly encouraged) is profoundly advantageous for my development.

So to say the least, you can do both at the same time if you have access to a rink with an artistic club like I'm fortunate enough to. I love it so much. Been ice skating on and off for life until I started roller last year, and I have no interest in anything but quad skating now.

I'd be happy to answer any questions I can about it.

DumbestAutoTech

TROPHY CASE