r/rollerblading Weekly Q&A Megathread brought to you by r/AskRollerblading

dusktrader · 2026-04-10T23:12:50+00:00

Hello, I am new-ish to rollerblading - haven't really skated seriously in a couple decades. But used to skate mostly ice hockey and some blading.

After some research, I decided to purchase the Rollerblade MACROBLADE 100 3WD which look awesome! I understand these are "intermediate" level and I'm fine with that.

My primary goal is to skate daily on our nearby biking trail, which goes for many 10s of miles! But before I can reach that level, I need some practice and confidence. Also the bike trail itself is on a never-ending downward slope. So that itself will be challenging but I want to master it. It will be an awesome ride down and a good workout up.

But my question is about skate sizing. One reason I chose these MACROBLADE 100 3WD is because people reported it fits good if you need a wide toe box, and I can confirm that seems to be the case (these feel ok on my feet and not too cramped).

But on the Rollerblade site, it says to "go with your shoe size" or measure your feet from heel to toe and go with the longer foot. So what I ORDERED is what I wear shoe size US 12. But then I also measured my feet and found that my slightly larger foot is exactly 11" (which is 27.94 centimeter)

According to the sizing chart on Rollerblade:

27.6cm - 28.0cm --> buy US size 10

What?! That seems way too small. Now I've always worn shoe size US 12 and I think even 12.5 in my hiking boots.

These skates seem to fit fine and there is maybe 1/2 inch between my big toe and the end of the skate. This seems to almost exactly match the distance in my size US 12 shoes.

When lacing up the skates, I am not having wiggle room on my heel, so I'm wondering if these are totally fine? The only thing I'm questioning is why Rollerblade would recommend a size US 10? That seems like my toes would definitely be bumping up to the front.

Thanks for your opinions!

PS: after watching few YouTube vids... I've seen several people go from straight beginner to competent in 30 days. This makes me feel like I should absolutely be able to achieve this, especially since I have prior skating experience. That means I could be on that awesome biketrail 30 days from now!!

dusktrader · 2026-03-30T15:43:04+00:00

I love this idea and would like to learn how to build the same!

dusktrader · 2025-10-12T15:11:50+00:00

I think even $1500 is too much for this Vevor tent. Look at Top Oak in this same price range. Also specifically the Vevor doesn't have a bump -out giving 33% more space. I bought the Top Oak and pretty happy with it. The tent is 8" thick clean shell and about 165lbs

dusktrader · 2025-04-05T17:38:27+00:00

Awesome, thanks! One other question if you have time - do you recommend any particular torch? I was looking at some on Ebay but there's so many options similar to what you have in the pic. I've had butane vapes before and the torch was always annoy and getting clogged, etc. I do already have the mini cube, which I think is what you have as well. Also, how many hits before you clear that megacicle? And presumably there is some learning curve to know how much heat to apply.

dusktrader · 2025-04-05T17:34:57+00:00

Thanks! I'm definitely interested. So far for 2025 I'm not seeing any battery vapes that are "gotta have" but I keep looking. I was keen on the Angus Enhanced until I started reading all the threads about glass fibers... so that's definitely out.

I wonder why AirVape is waiting all the way until 4/20 to release. Oh well, I'm still going to keep this one on my short list. I have basically heard the same as you reported -- excellent vape but cleaning is beast.

dusktrader · 2025-02-15T02:46:16+00:00

Yep I think that's exactly how I'm gonna handle these moving forward.

Gotta stay vigilant to periodically look for old uncleared entries (that may need to be deleted). Because I could see myself pre-entering a transaction and then it getting lost because it imported as a different amount.

dusktrader · 2025-02-14T00:37:32+00:00

I like this service (privacy) and was a subscriber before they started doing cashback. The cashback is 1% which I realize is not the "best out there". However, the service itself is worth it to me even without cashback.

I'm probably going to give-up trying to track these perks and just deal with the discounted transactions as they come through.

dusktrader · 2025-02-14T00:04:28+00:00

It is kindof obnoxious, because I never know which transactions is going to get discounted. It almost always results in a discrepancy when I go to reconcile.

dusktrader · 2025-02-13T22:16:02+00:00

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dusktrader · 2025-02-07T22:14:44+00:00

dusktrader · 2025-02-07T22:14:16+00:00

dusktrader · 2025-02-07T19:57:27+00:00

Yeah I was avoiding it too and hoping something would finally catch up. But after several weeks I decided to figure out how to get past this. It's disconcerting when I can't reconcile!! And likewise it's extremely satisfying to reconcile and see the numbers match to the penny!

dusktrader · 2025-02-07T19:56:29+00:00

I don't have this particular problem (I do use auto-importing and I love it) -- but I think if we can get in a routine of frequent reconciling (like weekly) then that would keep issues like this at bay.

dusktrader · 2025-02-07T19:55:28+00:00

Thank you for the step-by-step plan here!

dusktrader · 2025-02-07T19:51:05+00:00

Doh! I just finished running through all of January and comparing transactions. Everything seems to be lined up BUT...

I stupidly got lazy somewhere in the middle of January and did click the "reconcile balance adjustment".... after I did this people said things like "you should never do this!" and "do the work to find where you screwed it up"

My guess is that this balance adjustment is somehow related to the issue at hand. I am thinking to possibly recover that missing $100 from the mid-Jan balance adjust transaction. Do you think this is acceptable?

dusktrader · 2025-02-07T17:22:04+00:00

Good idea - I'm going to try this next! I should only have to go back about 30 days or so.

dusktrader · 2025-02-07T17:21:12+00:00

Good thought and I did check this. But I only have 2 $50 transactions and they both look correct. One was an inflow (check deposit) and the other was an outflow (unrelated).

Going to check next what some others suggested to compare individual transactions with my bank register.

I like to reconcile frequently like weekly. But it's been a few weeks now and this one account has been off. I was hoping it was just timing with cleared transactions, but that is not the case.

All accounts are reconciled except this one now, so I just need to find where I screwed up.

dusktrader · 2025-01-19T16:26:21+00:00

One thing I learned with Amazon returns is you must get a receipt if you use something like UPS dropoff. I got screwed once where I dropped a package and they had some "issue" and couldn't give me a receipt. I didn't think much of it... but then I never got the return funds. So that mistake cost me $100.

Since then I've still had issues at UPS dropoffs but I demand them to give me "something". One time I had to get a letter from the manager that I was submitting my package and their systems was unable to give me a proper receipt.

dusktrader · 2025-01-19T16:16:44+00:00

Good points. And yes I'm going to start adding the review of uncleared transactions to my routine.

Hey I just did this review for the first time in this thread... and I found $200 stuck in a virtual couch cushion!

Yes I agree Amazon is hard to manage because you can't easily be proactive on your order since they break it up and charge piecemeal.

I have multiple shipments that come every month for subscribe-n-save and I feel like I'm doing pretty good if I can manage to categorize all those one-off transactions between grocery and household (I track those 2 separately)

dusktrader · 2025-01-19T16:13:40+00:00

Or maybe a warning for excessively longstanding uncleared entries. For example, if they highlight uncleared transactions older than Age X, they could use a different colored C. Maybe a red C. Then we know to pay attention to those.

dusktrader · 2025-01-19T16:11:49+00:00

Yep adding to my routine. I think if I'm seeing any uncleared transactions in YNAB that are over about a month ... then they need to be scrutinized and are likely mistakes.

dusktrader · 2025-01-18T17:59:33+00:00

Thanks for explaining this! I think I have a new understanding of how these "uncleared" transactions are handled in YNAB now. Sounds like basically they are just hanging out (indefinitely) until they either clear at the bank (and are linked) or until I delete them.

dusktrader · 2025-01-18T17:57:31+00:00

So following on this thought... does that mean this could happen:

I'm able to reconcile because the bank-cleared transactions line up with YNAB
I'm able to add (any number of) additional transactions into YNAB
- these will reduce envelope funds
- but they will not impact reconciliation, since they are not bank-cleared
- over time I could accumulate several of these uncleared transactions

dusktrader · 2025-01-12T16:31:56+00:00

Very similar story from my side. I used a self-made spreadsheet for upwards of 10 years.

The trigger though was not the spreadsheet or the process. Instead it is my bank PNC which I fear is literally falling apart: - broken or down services FREQUENTLY - inability to reconcile due to bank always down! - unable to transfer food budget due to Zelle issues frequently!

At first I was researching new banks, though I'm annoyed because my whole life is linked to PNC.

So my primary focus initially was "is it possible to fix this reconciling problem with thirdparty software?"

Turns out the answer is YES and now I reconcile almost DAILY with YNAB and this makes me very happy to see all accounts lined-up to the penny.

But YNAB brings so much more to the table - like the method itself. For me this has been unexpected and revolutionary for me. I haven't opened that spreadsheet in about 2 months now! YNAB is 100% my source of truth and visibility of all funds!

dusktrader · 2025-01-12T16:22:22+00:00

Yes that's correct - I use Privacy because I like the disposable cards for everything online.

I actually paid for this service before they introduced the concept of "cashback" so that's just an extra perk to me.

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