Canadian Roll

Video Premier

Looks like the guys over at VM-Magazine were able to get a premier of The World-Be-Mag DVD. The Premier will take place in Toronto and the information is as follows (taken from the VM-Messageboard),

Featuring the WORLD - Be-Mag video premier
Where: Grace O’Malley’s (same place as the Barely Dead/Accidental Machines Premier)
When: April 22nd, 2007
Cost: FREE, bring everyone you know!

If you would like a little taste of what the video is going to be like you can check out a Youtube teaser HERE.

SHOP-TASK Messageboard

Shop-Task just put up a messageboard for everyone to drop their thoughts on, I highly suggest everyone checks it out. The Messageboard can be found HERE. A will a permanent link to the messageboard on the links to the side of the news.

Park Killaz

Seems SOL crew have decided to put up Joey’s Park Killaz section from Better Than Baseball. Very generous move for the people who have not bought the video yet, which reminds me, what are you waiting for go pick up BTB at you local shop or harass one of the Canadian online shops I’m sure they will accept you business gladly. You can check out the trailer HERE.

Tony Speaks Up

The owner of Outaline, Tony, has seen the debate I issued on Canadian Roll post # 101. Here is his response

Wow,

It’s good to see that there is at least some discussion on this. Outaline is flattered, hahaha. Just a couple of points.

First off, no ill will to ShopTask. ShopTask is a symptom of a really fragile industry right now. Unfortunately as a non-skater, I certainly will not have the connection to the skate scene that Leon has and I certainly don’t blame skaters that buy from a fellow skater. However, like somebody pointed out in one of the posts, if this was skateboarding somebody selling decks out the back of their car would have zero impact on the industry.

To be honest, even without shoptask, with the decline of the rollerblading industry in general, it was just a matter of time before it no longer become worthwhile to keep a storefront open.

Look at the number of businesses that have shut down. Mindgame shut down. Mindgame has been around forever. All the majors - Salomon, K2 and probably RB next year will stop making skates. I am pretty sure Xsjado won’t be around next year as well. I can’t even get sizes half the time when I order stuff anymore. The point I am trying to make is that all this talk about “support” and stuff doesn’t really make a difference. The volume isn’t there. Outaline would not have survived even with support because even if all the skaters in Vancouver bought ALL their skate stuff from outaline, if it wasn’t for fitness skates and rentals, the sales would not have been enough to pay the bills.

Having said that, thank you to all the skaters out there that still choose to order stuff from me - I promise to provide the best service I can - for as long as I can.

Tony

The 2007 edition of the Evo skate just hit The Conference warehouse and will be on pre-order from most shops, which means you will be able to get your hands on these skates in just a few days. If you have ever ridden a USD skate you know what to expect, great quality, smooth ride, and an excellent overall skate, plus USD is a great company that has been around since day 1. If your looking for a new set up I suggest you pick these up.

N.D

The creator of Phoenix frames sent me an E-mail telling  that he just updated his website with new information. I think everyone should check it out, very innovative design. Check out the update HERE.

N.D

Edit News

Aaron Mcinnis just posted a short edit up on VM-Messageboard. If you know Aaron you know he has great style and this edit show some great style on a drop rail. I highly suggest people check it out. A direct link to the edit can be found HERE, if you want to see the post it was in check it out HERE. Much respect goes out to Aaron, keep posting up the edits man.

Revival  

There was a few pieces of Canadian news featured on the Rolling Revival episode 37, plus a couple of interesting interviews. As always, the Revival is something everyone should check out and get a feed to your I-Tunes so you don’t miss an episode. To Adrian, Tim and Al keep up the good work guys.

**Edit Note- If it has been nice out around your area, or if it is nice out now and your reading this, go put on some blades and don’t waste the day. Peace**

N.D

Here are some responses to the question I posted in Canadian Roll # 100

Dale Phillips Wrote

outaline does have one with shopping cart credit card etc. right now even. but its true a strictly rollerblade shop will not succeed d-s has the right idea with skiing.

to have a shop and scene work out good starts with respect. truspin had such a good thing going but had no respect to the owner mark and it was over. i agree task is doing the absolute right thing by going up to kids and getting them juiced on the sport, thats a huge thing. professionalism is a huge thing in my eyes. it doesn’t seem like it to younger kids right now, but you’ll realize later how important it actually is. Richie is one of the best rollerbladers ive ever met, but if he didn’t have such a professional attitude he wouldnt be near what he is today. it shows through with d-structure as well. the are so professional and they are one of the largest shops in the world not just Canada.Julio with Valo, they haven’t even been around long and they blew up. i will probably never buy their skates but i absolutely love how he presents his company. those are some of the things i think of to make a shop successful.

Rob F wrote

i’ve thought about this a lot since dekalz died.

a store front in unreasonable. skaters can’t make a living off of selling only rb gear. so therefore they have to work other jobs and can’t give the commitment needed to keep a store front running. there’s just not enough sales.

why is it that no one starts a damn webstore, I mean look at all of us we are obsessed with skating, we are on the forums on be-mag, on rollernews, we’ve got vm here, we’ve got canadian roll, it’s not like people don’t look at this shit they buy online first anyway.

we need a webstore with a shopping cart, credit card payment option, COD option and a paypal option. if kids parents won’t buy online, who cares. they will if it’s the only option. god knows every fucking rollerblader seems to be an editor, or designer in some capacity, so it wouldn’t be that hard to get a slick site going.

if task set up a webshop tomorrow they could own Canada. but it would have to be updated regularly (ahem, every shop\skate site in Canada, besides d-structure, update your shit), have stock listed, and you’d have to be able to call them and talk to them, just like you can now.

now I don’t know anything about getting distributors on board. so maybe what I am saying is easier said than done. but one way the distributors could save the industry would be to only sell to one shop in ontario, one in quebec, one in the west, one in the east, and I know that sounds like communism but it’s the only way we can survive.

ok, now rip that to shreds.

-RobF

Two insightful opinions, keep them comming.

N.D

If you go by The Conference website you will see that Xsjado is officially a Powerslide company. This means it will be a part of one of the biggest distributors (Deshi, USD, Kizer, Undercover Wheels, Sifika, Stymga). This means that hopefully some new Xsjado products hit shops soon. A big congrats goes out to both Xsjado and Powerslide, I look forward to supporting the supporters.

N.D

The Debate

Alright this is a miserable way to bring in Canadian Roll’s 100th piece of news, but I think opinions on the matter should be heard as it will be for the betterment of Canadian skating. If you go by the VM-Messageboard you will see two posts one labeled “coincidence?” and the other “Outaline” what these posts essentially have to deal with is Outaline shutting down its storefront and the possibility that Shop Task had a hand in contributing to lower business. Now I personally support both shops to their fullest and I encourage everyone in Canada to do the same, support your local shop, support any Canadian shop. But the problem arises at store fronts, in such a small industry are they valuable? are they needed? are they too big a business risk?

Dekalz was an amazing shop in Ontario, but after a while many kids just stopped going there. Outaline has been established since 1992 and it could not find enough customers to justify keeping its doors open. Gangstore shut down completely. BNS skateshop found no profits to warrant having a store. When looking at these facts one has to question if store fronts are even plausible in such a small industry. Lets face it, rolling is small, rolling in Canada is even smaller.

But I want to hear everyone else’s opinion, if you believe differently please let me hear it, if you agree please let me hear it, if you have a plan of action that may benefit Canadian rolling I want to hear it. I refuse to believe refused that with so many kids passionate about rolling not one has a solid idea on how to improve the situation.

So I will make this notification now, Anyone who raises a valid point on this subject will have their idea posted as a article of Canadian Roll News. Also, go to the VM-Message board and make your voice heard. I think this is a subject that needs to be dealt with and needs to be addressed. Saying “oh another shop closed, that sucks” is not going to help Canadian rolling, its time for some solid ideas.

**Lastly, and most importantly, support Outaline, support D-Structure, support Gangstore, support Shop Task, and if you have a local shop support them too.**

N.D

Title says it all, and picture provides the proof. Mindgame’s loss is M1’s gain. M1 gave out this information on the Be-Mag message board, post can be found HERE.

N.D

Reasons To Buy Richie’s Frame

Beer supports the frame, are you better then beer?

The frame has 6 grams of fat or less, you cannot beat that.

…I have no caption, I don’t know, something about babies. Just buy the frame.

If you buy the frame your perception of the world will be altered making it seem 1000x more cool. What other legal substance can do that? None.

**Note: All pictures taken from the Outaline messageboard and posted by Dustin.Direct link to the post can be found HERE.**

N.D

Eulogy wheels just picked up J.C Rowe as the newest team rider. No word when a pro wheel will be dropping but It is good to see J.C making waves. If you want to see the post go HERE. Also, if  you would like to see J.C’s page on the Eulogy website go HERE, but it is not up yet.

N.D