Wednesday 1 February 2012

Moonwalker toe stops


This is their official product description from Powerdyne:
Moonwalker Toe Stops from Powerdyne are designed in a distinct "tear-drop" shape which gives more flex, bounce and extra control. The signature dimples on the stopping surface offer more bite when stopping and starting. Every Moonwalker toe stop is made from a natural rubber compound that is bonded to a lightweight aluminum stem for outstanding durability and consistency on every skating suface including wood, sport tiles, cement and outdoor surfaces (moon surface testing TBA....) Moonwalker toe stops join the PowerDyne lineup in 3 unique colors Mint, Electric Yellow and Blood Red.
Oh god these things are SO CUTE. I got the red ones, to match my Diablos, but if I had black or white skates I would have probably gotten the mint ones. The yellow ones are actually this kind of horrible vomity lime yellowish-green that makes your eyes bleed. I'm not sure if these are out in Australia yet, but they're still pretty new here in any case. Anyway, I've had a few sessions on them now so I guess I can review them and whatnot.


Holy toe stop holes, Batman!
I do like the fact that the moonwalkers have the holes for extra stopping power. I think in theory that is supposed to work like how car tyres have treads on them, instead of just being a big rubber donut. Also, the toe stops are a little bit rounded at the bottom so you can bounce back from getting knocked (if you're using your toe stop to readjust yourself) and they're made out of this rubbery stuff that is a little bit firmer than the stuff that Gumballs are made from, but they still seem to be pretty good for stopping. Tomahawks are fun to do in these guys, but they took a bit of adjustment from my old stock stoppers, which you had to stomp pretty hard on your toes to get to stop. These ones make it easier to stop even if you just gently apply pressure to the front of your skate. Yeah. I also found it easier to turn and jump in them, but I don't know if that is a result of the new bushings/toe stop combo, or just the toe stops.

They're also pretty fat stoppers, which makes running on toe stops (and also pushups on toe stops, planks on toe stops...) slightly easier to do. I think the only other thing I can think of that is better for toe stop fatness are the Snyder Speed Stop toe stop, but that's also because they're toe stops with a big flat piece on the end. These ones are fatter than the regular Snyder ones, and I think about the same size as the Gumballs. There's less material in these ones though, because they're not completely round like the gumballs are, but kind of taper towards your skate. I don't think that counts much for weight though.

The red on the stoppers is slightly duller than the Diablo red. Boo.

I think they're going to be a competitor for the Gumballs: they're equally as light (it's the aluminium bolt I think), and they're both soft and squishy and quite grippy. However, these ones seem to be slightly grippier than the gumballs, and don't seem to mark as much (in my "rubbing both of the toe stops hard on a glass surface" test), for what that is worth. Plus, they come in cute colours.

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