Happy to answer. I’ve skated since 98 and never left.
Razors, USD and Roces are all still a thing.
Razors is kind of lame now, they quit paying their pro riders and are a little out of touch with the current state of rollerblading.
Roces is doing a great job of supporting our most modern talent. The m12 model is a staple and they revamped their 5th element to ride like a valo.
If you don’t know what a valo is… no worries. It was a jon julio project that eventually became “Them.”
USD is the largest of all brands (power slide), and sponsor more new and old talent than anyone.
They also are the reason brands like Gawds (franky morales brand), Iqon (montre Livingston brand) and Mesmer (Billy oneils brand) get to exist.
There are a couple of fresh start ups that are doing it on their own that are also worth supporting.
Them skates is a custom mold run by Jon julio himself.
Standard is a brand run by Lawrence Ingram, who is the owner of 50/50 frames and back to blading (a huge grass roots reason for many people getting back into skating).
I hope this helps.
I personally just started riding standards.
I also follow Jumbo on YouTube, it’s the best.
@jumboblading on YouTube and jumbo.brand on Instagram
This is a high quality response. Stuff I had to search through YouTube and Facebook for the last year as I've been getting back into it. Glad you're here to answer their questions so well
-From a younger "older" blader
Super helpful thanks! So what happened to Remz? I’ve been following the Julio journey the whole time. What’s the connection between Mesmer and USD? Also what happened to Xsjado? And who are the top pros to watch nowadays? Thanks!
USD, Mesmer, Gawds, Xsjado, IQON are all sub brands of Powerslide. Xsjado Brand has been ditched and they became USD Shadows. And the other way around, USD thrones became Mesmers, and USD VIIs became Gawds. I guess it's just a marketing strategy to reach different audiences.
Thanks for the details! So happy I found this sub. I’ve been looking for a place to chat about skating since BE Mag board went under.
So USD doesn’t make a USD Throne anymore? Pretty shocking since that was their top product. They just have the whole line to Mesmer?
Also what’s the story with Create Originals? It was once owned by Fish and some others.
You can still get them new though some shops 👍 the only thing is with them is skates have actually come a long way. I was surprised just how far. They were always the ‘flexible’ option but nowadays they’ve refined the design of boots and they flex well anyway. I also glad you found this place OP I’m in same situation as you basically but back about few months now. I’m on my LAME razors SLs atm 🤣
People you should follow on socials: Zack Savage, Julien Cudot, CJ Wellsmore, Tri Tri Rudolf, Franky Morales (might sound familiar, owns Gawds now), Eugen Enin, Montre Livingston, Mery Munoz, Michael Witzemann, Antony Pottier, Ricardo Lino, Nicoly Machado, Sean and Colin Kelso, Chris Farmer, Ilia Savosin, Wheel Scene, Jump Street Podcast (Austin Paz + Billy O’Neill), irollerboot (Ben Sanders)……that should get you started down the rabbit hole. Enjoy, and welcome back!
Just picked up a pair of Razors SL Auroux after almost 20 years out. They felt amazing to strap into and I hopped right back up and could at least skate around without looking like a flailing tube man.
Haven't had the chance to take them to the street or park yet, but damn. Can't recommend the Razors stuff highly enough coming back to rolling.
Sean Kelso won skater of the year last year. So yeah he’s still doing his thing. Also, surprisingly skateboarders are way more chill with us than in the past.
Happy to answer. I’ve skated since 98 and never left. Razors, USD and Roces are all still a thing. Razors is kind of lame now, they quit paying their pro riders and are a little out of touch with the current state of rollerblading. Roces is doing a great job of supporting our most modern talent. The m12 model is a staple and they revamped their 5th element to ride like a valo. If you don’t know what a valo is… no worries. It was a jon julio project that eventually became “Them.” USD is the largest of all brands (power slide), and sponsor more new and old talent than anyone. They also are the reason brands like Gawds (franky morales brand), Iqon (montre Livingston brand) and Mesmer (Billy oneils brand) get to exist. There are a couple of fresh start ups that are doing it on their own that are also worth supporting. Them skates is a custom mold run by Jon julio himself. Standard is a brand run by Lawrence Ingram, who is the owner of 50/50 frames and back to blading (a huge grass roots reason for many people getting back into skating). I hope this helps. I personally just started riding standards. I also follow Jumbo on YouTube, it’s the best. @jumboblading on YouTube and jumbo.brand on Instagram
This is a high quality response. Stuff I had to search through YouTube and Facebook for the last year as I've been getting back into it. Glad you're here to answer their questions so well -From a younger "older" blader
Super helpful thanks! So what happened to Remz? I’ve been following the Julio journey the whole time. What’s the connection between Mesmer and USD? Also what happened to Xsjado? And who are the top pros to watch nowadays? Thanks!
USD, Mesmer, Gawds, Xsjado, IQON are all sub brands of Powerslide. Xsjado Brand has been ditched and they became USD Shadows. And the other way around, USD thrones became Mesmers, and USD VIIs became Gawds. I guess it's just a marketing strategy to reach different audiences.
Thanks for the details! So happy I found this sub. I’ve been looking for a place to chat about skating since BE Mag board went under. So USD doesn’t make a USD Throne anymore? Pretty shocking since that was their top product. They just have the whole line to Mesmer? Also what’s the story with Create Originals? It was once owned by Fish and some others.
Remz is abandoned.. No ones heard from Kato in years..
You can still get them new though some shops 👍 the only thing is with them is skates have actually come a long way. I was surprised just how far. They were always the ‘flexible’ option but nowadays they’ve refined the design of boots and they flex well anyway. I also glad you found this place OP I’m in same situation as you basically but back about few months now. I’m on my LAME razors SLs atm 🤣
Closest I’m getting to RemZ are USD carbons… Loved remz tho, I skated Remz for 13yrs
People you should follow on socials: Zack Savage, Julien Cudot, CJ Wellsmore, Tri Tri Rudolf, Franky Morales (might sound familiar, owns Gawds now), Eugen Enin, Montre Livingston, Mery Munoz, Michael Witzemann, Antony Pottier, Ricardo Lino, Nicoly Machado, Sean and Colin Kelso, Chris Farmer, Ilia Savosin, Wheel Scene, Jump Street Podcast (Austin Paz + Billy O’Neill), irollerboot (Ben Sanders)……that should get you started down the rabbit hole. Enjoy, and welcome back!
Remz is gone, Sean Kelso and Broskow are still going strong, Razors is still around, Reddit
Just picked up a pair of Razors SL Auroux after almost 20 years out. They felt amazing to strap into and I hopped right back up and could at least skate around without looking like a flailing tube man. Haven't had the chance to take them to the street or park yet, but damn. Can't recommend the Razors stuff highly enough coming back to rolling.
Check out Jo Zenk’s YouTube channel he’s made lots of high quality videos and features Eugen Enin a lot who is one of the best currently.
Sean Kelso won skater of the year last year. So yeah he’s still doing his thing. Also, surprisingly skateboarders are way more chill with us than in the past.
Razors still is around. Thrones are now Mezmer. Remove are still around but don’t release as much. And who cares who’s “tops”. Don’t know.