Are these things good for normal ramp riding, too? I'm looking to get into vert skating.
Yup, You will want to pull off the "spare" inside leg caps and keep them around till the outside ones ware off which may be a long time, but I have talked to vert guys that picked up a few sets.
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The sage, Longboard Buddha once said, "A tree spends 100% of its lifetime in a static environment and only after its reincarnation as a deck is it allowed to move at fast speeds...
when allowed, the wood will give thankless service if
allowed to flow."
wow!!!
got my set this past w/e and what a difference they make!!
for those that would rather "get by" or "make do" with normal pads here are the benefits you are missing:
1) i cant feel impacts when i go to 1 or 2 knees. these things cushion like crazy. its like landing on a pillow. thse things strap on real well. where most pads need extra velcro these have it!! no more pads slipping down and sliding on my actual knee. these stayed on like they were welded on.
2) the pucks slide farther. this is why i bought them. my perelitos were instantly extended by 10-20', allowing me time to complete tricks i previously ran out of steam doing.
3) the pucks wear much slower than any standard or replacement caps ive used. these are comparable to UHMW in terms of wear, though they are obviously not made of UHMW. so no more wearing holes in or cracking kneepad caps.
4) its obvious but: side pucks!!! not just on the outsides, but the insides too. i took them off and will keep them as spares, so thats 2 spare side oucks you get also, and no more hunting for bits of UHMW cuttoffs or shoe gooing my pads back together.
5) between the thick, unwearable-through pucks, and the heavy marine vinyl fabric these things slid all over pavement with no holes, fraying, tearing, whatsoever. these could last a very long time, and since i was customizing then trashing 3 sets a year. this makes $$ sense as well. now i no longer have to think "is it worth doing another perelito and possibly wearing through this set?"
6) vinton was great to deal with, went out of his way to make sure i and johnathan (solarvibe) got our pads in time for our texas sessions, and really seemed interested in feedback and support (he told me should they ever fall apart to contact him for a rebuild)
so for the haters, no worries guys, youll get what you paid for: pads that will require a lot of aftermarket work (glueing/attachhing pucks) and will eventually fall apart. if you do perelitos that will be much sooner rather than later. at least you can be proud of being cheap and pat yourself on the back for not supporting one of the few major conmpanies that looked up and paid attention to our growing sport.
to those loooking for the best equiopmet or value: you found it. a great product at the lower end of custom pad prices. looking around custom pads are $120-$180a set and hose dont even have side or extra pucks. this was an easy decission to make and after watching us slide several others saw a clear difference in the slide characteristics, longevity/wear resistance, and ease of use. 16 thumbs up!!!
Mike, I allready email vincint about getting some for us texas kooks. Hope you guys found those hills and had a couple more good sessions before you left.
They pretty good. Not perfect, but hey, what is? Very comfy, Plastic is great. My side pucks keep popping off - velcro placement could be better. Nice to get the "inside" pucks as spares cause i'm worried I'll loose them. Some of the velcro tabs at the back of the knee are way too small. I have a hard time finding and undoing them. But they stay fastened fine. The marine leather replacement material has begun to wear right through in some places. The top straps with the 187 logo are starting to get totalled. These things won't last forever. As for taking impacts, I notice no difference between a much cheaper Protec and these. Sorry, I'd trust any of my previous kneepads with high speed slams.
This sounds very negative but wait, it isn't. Most of my issues with these pads are pretty minor and I'm sure their design will only get better. Did I get my money's worth? Absolutely. These things are way more durable and will probably last me at least a year. Instead of forking out all kinds of cash for 3 sets of less durable pads I got these, so I'll totally save $$$. Would I get another set? Yup.
But you don't NEED them. Regular pads with mods are awesome. Plus ghetto style gear is cooler anyway...
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special people lick the ground, special people run up and down...
the 187 knee pads effen rock (and they feel sooo comfy)
yea like slidey knee pillows
__________________
The sage, Longboard Buddha once said, "A tree spends 100% of its lifetime in a static environment and only after its reincarnation as a deck is it allowed to move at fast speeds...
when allowed, the wood will give thankless service if
allowed to flow."
yes! exactly slidey knee pillows is right definitely on the top of my list of "things to get" they are so worth it. i'm getting tired of gorilla glue all over my life every time i stick corian on my set up now.
got to try my new 187's in Austin, TX over the weekend. thanks mikeD for having vinton ship them to us there!
i feel like somebody could whack me in the knees with a baseball bat with these on and i'd still be okay. not going to test that though because my brain still works.
trusting your equipment to act predictably is pretty important. which is why we buy decks that keep our feet locked in and wheels that slide predictably and will pay more for that quality. i KNOW these pads won't slide down if i go to my knees on purpose or otherwise. i KNOW that even if my human error causes me to lose balance and not slide on the hard plastic that i won't totally shred my pads. the marine vinyl is much tougher than standard pad fabric and it won't fray or disintegrate on contact. the side pucks are perfectly placed. knowing that my knees would survive to skate another day no matter what i did instantly gave me more confidence to try new things sliding, and isn't that the whole point?
the interior portion of the pad is made with an almost fleecelike material that breathes amazingly well and feels even better. as you can see from mike's pics, it's so soft and comfy that apparently his cats have curled up and gone to sleep in them. i've had some cushy pads before. nothing like this.
last year i went through 4 sets of knee pads ranging from $50-70 a set, before modification. if these last only 6 months, i'm still saving money, but i have a feeling i'll still be wearing these at slidefest next december.
got mine in the mail monday and have done numerous types of skating with them so far. for sliding they made the confidence factor go way up for me, knowing that i can stretch my coleman pendys as low as i can go without ripping up my knee. i also am learning those karate kick coleman knee skides, or whatever theyre called. a trick i would have never attemted with my old pads. i even took a pretty gnarly bail on a heelside standup slide, and went from standing, straight to my knees, no issue. i feel like i could jump of a 10 story building and be just dandy. Vinton at 187 was super nice and when i told him i skated tranny too, he said he would put in 7/8" padding instead of 3/8".
when i first saw them, they looked a little bulky, and though theyre bigger than most pads ive worn, you dont notice it. i even put a knee down when drifting a heelside hairpin on my downhill board. good times.
Re: 1.8.7. Slide Issue Knee Pads... custom...
definitely on the top of my list of "things to get" they are so worth it. i'm getting tired of gorilla glue all over my life every time i stick corian on my set up now.
