What's Up With BLANK? LIVE w/ Wheel Scene

They just dropped the entire Spanish team.

Social media is whack.

I think it’s safe to say as of the state of Rollerblading, for awhile now I feel it’s the Elder/OG skaters are mostly supporting the industry. I believe there’s many factors, the state of economy is not great & many don’t have a whole lot of disposable income. Skates aren’t very cheap so level of entry for many young skaters can be a bit of a struggle. For most of us whom are older skaters or have been skating for many years, most of us have multiple pairs of skates for various purposes/types of skating or personal preference. We also tend to skate our boots as long as possible, we aren’t retiring them quickly & many components/parts that take the most wear are replaceable so we may skate the same shell/liner for a very long time while maybe replacing wheels/bearings, buckles or soul plates. The modern skates aren’t cheap & the quality is a lot better than back in the day, especially with the intuition liners. They hold up for a long time & can be used throughout many shells. If the shells & liners are lasting longer, we’re not going to seek out & spend money on new boots or liners as often when we don’t need them. It’s a tough deal because as for business they are providing quality products which is good.. but it’s hard to move large units when we’re not buying a whole new setup every couple months. Plus we have things like blade trade where if we’re wanting to try something different or in search of something specific we’re going to seek second hand deals, trading & selling privately amongst the community.

In order to grow sales & the sport it really comes down to more consumers, getting the youth/younger generations involved & wanting to try blading. Unfortunately rollerblading doesn’t get much mainstream exposure. For most young generations it’s sorta out of sight out of mind. It’s hard to gain an interest in something you you don’t see often or may not even be aware of. They see skateboarding everywhere, motocross, bmx, snowboarding, regular sports ect. so if they see it & find something like that interesting they’re going to want to try it.

Most of the money for the major companies in the rollerblading industry like Powerslide, Rollerblade ect. probably comes from fitness & rec/free skating, bigger market to make & sell skates for/within.

Me and Dave love the same skaters. I don't know many people who have the same favorites as me. Cody Lampman is the reason I started skating again and Alex Sams/Josiah Blee are two of my biggest inspirations. I knew there was a reason I liked Dave so much. 😅

Canada is definitely part of North America mate 😂😂

We need more Dave collabs on stream, always appreciate his frank and honest industry commentary !

You’re bout to bring Tom back out Ben haha

Canada is part of North America. I want to see a rap battle between Dre Powell and Jon Bergeron 🤣

woodland is the worst pro , sloppy tricks , ticks I know he can refilm to do better and all his stuff looks half ass aside from his gaps . I heard that the sk was over manufactured didn’t sell , the next pro model is ready to go but they won’t till they sell more sk …..

Austin Paz rides Blanks super well

Best interview agree with all of Dave's points even the one about Ben concerning kelso in a prail match Ben your better than you say you are believe in yourself we all know it we see it

Forget my ignorance but Rollerblades Blanks are extremely comfortable. Finally a comfortable aggressive skate for me.

ice those heels buddy. it helps alot

love dave’s blade appreciation/banter for ben

Australia has eBay. Not sure what Dave’s on about. People use Marketplace more for secondhand goods. But we’ve had an Australian eBay for twenty plus years.

I know Rob G had health and dental for sure, but that was 2009-2016ish

Fantastic conversation 👏🏽 very on point! Absolutely love this ❤

I think more people would support RB if they release a NEW TRS , Id buy a TRS, Like a Alpha TRS Style , not this blank stuff

Dave with the brutal honesty.

Great chat, towards the end was hilarious 😂

Love when you two get together! Two of my favs! Really bummed to hear Platform is coming to and end. I understand why, but man I love that series!

Agree Tony deffo not pro level

Dave is the adult in the room. Let’s face it,most bladers have no clue how to manage their life and are pretty dumb (like most pro athletes)

This was a great straight to the point. Here is why things dont work pdocast. Refreshing to see in rollerblading, nobody is willing to speak on the repeated flaws.

More adult conversations in Aggressive iInline please!

Some really interesting topics raised.

I was very surprised however to see the claim that Tony Woodland wasn’t deemed to be of acceptable pro level. For the exact reason it seems Sean has been let go, in total contrast, Tony seems to promote the brand a lot better than Sean. In this day and age, ignoring someone’s ability to connect with people through their ability to promote a sport as well as participate in it, is not something companies that support athletes tend to do.

This seemed to match both your thoughts, was interesting Tony was used as example. Skating seems to have changed for the better in my eyes, Tony would be a great example of this

David McNamara I get what you're trying to say but I don't think you understand that Tony injured his back about a year and a half ago and rollerblade definitely did not pay for that they had a GoFundMe made to help him get help and yes he's back on blades but that was a back injury.

Wheelscene: ‘People get dropped from teams all the time and there’s no official announcement so expecting a brand to suddenly start doing that just isn’t going to happen.’

This is misleading. It is correct that no brand will magically become transparent because someone ‘expects’ it to. For Wheelscene, though, this is enough to dismiss people’s instincts as ‘knee-jerk reactions’. The point isn’t to ‘expect’ transparency but to demand it.

In this particular case, Rollerblade fans are right to be pissed off. Fans liked when Hyser told Jump Street that he would support Sean because he ‘stuck through the crappy times.’ That backing of Sean was a selling point. If Rollerblade want to risk losing that selling point, that’s fine. That’s their business decision. It’s also fine for anyone to get mad as hell.

Wheelscene: ‘The fact is, like, if anyone was going to get chopped from the team he’s kind of first in line.’

Why is this a fact? Why wouldn’t it be Tom Hyser, who only 2 years ago predicted, on record, that the blading boom was here to stay? Two years later, his company can’t even supply replacement soul plates. Nor can it successfully manage its best employees, like Sean. Clearly, then, Hyser could also be first in line. That’s how decision making works. It deals with different possible options. If decision making was as obvious as Wheelscene believes, there would be no need for management. If so, management itself would be first in line. Simply replace all decision making with AI, or — even better — run it on Wheelscene’s free advice.

Wheelscene: He has had persistent serious injuries which again sucks and is unfair, but the fact is if you’re regularly injured and you can’t produce content you’re of no value to the brand.’

Is Sean Keane of no value to the brand if he produces no content? This can only be known with hindsight. Will rollerblade lose sales after firing Sean Keane? If they lose sales from his firing, this proves that he was most certainly of value to the brand.

Is it likely that skaters will support Rollerbalde less after the firing of Sean? It’s certainly more likely if people trust their so-called ‘knee-jerk reactions’. For skaters who have paid attention know that without Sean rollerblade may never have saved its ‘brand’ from a long history of corny-as-fuck marketing and — as Wheelscene reminds us — the many times it has spontaneously fired skaters, including an entire pro team. If Sean Keane had not been loyal through the bad times, there may never even have been a Blank brand. For this required some support from street skaters, support that Sean Keane did the most to create.

Why, then, does Wheelscene dismiss the so-called ‘knee-jerk reactions’? These should not be dismissed. These are the feelings of the people who actually pay for skates. As many comments make clear, firing Sean has ABSOLUTELY devalued the brand.

Wheelscene: ‘I really like him but I completely get it from the company’s perspective. I think it’s perfectly justified.’

Let’s take the company’s perspective. As Hyser himself has said:

‘When collaborating with diverse creative talents, it’s crucial to allocate ample time for each individual to share their insights before reaching a conclusion.’

Why, then, did Sean’s firing come as such a surprise? Why was there not an allocation of ample time for Sean to share his insights before a conclusion was reached?

From what Sean has said, his frustration with being fired had nothing to do with the money. From what Hyser has said, Sean has a 14-year-long record of sticking through the hard times.

It doesn’t take a genius to conclude from this that there were more than the two options of (1) randomly firing Sean and (2) not changing a thing. Clearly, there was the option of Hyser’s very own LinkedIN neo-liberalism: check in with his ‘diverse creative talent’. It is possible that Sean might have accepted a new contract that better suited both parties. Pay could have been cut in exchange for reduced social media expectations.

If taken, rollerblade would have avoided damaging its brand, but saved money to spend on worse skaters than Sean, skaters who would gladly throw all standards aside to post rolled top sides. Of course, maybe Sean wouldn’t have agreed to this. Maybe this was discussed and he declined. How would I know? All I know is that Wheelscene doesn’t know either and yet — with no evidence — is backing the corporation.

Why? Why should skaters so swiftly bow down while a company forces tik-tock marketing on us? The one thing that has stayed constant for rollerblade for over a decade is Sean. The company has had its ups and downs, but Sean stayed consistent. He has always prized making good, quality skating, not high-quantity trash. It is precisely this dedication, coupled with 14 years of loyalty, that changed so many skaters minds about Rollerblade. For Wheelscene, this is all discarded because Sean ‘offers no value’. Any criticism of this is a ‘knee jerk reaction’.

This is some crazy toxic energy to put into the universe, and skating community. I’ll let the disrespect on my name slide this time, and hoping for the downfall of skate companies or brands is pretty petty. We gotta do better. Wanting to see people fail or not succeed is child’s play, grow up. I’ll pray for y’all.

Dave, get your head out of your ass. Tony’s content BY FAR surpasses 95% of rollerbladers out there. Everyone who watches this video is questioning your opinion and your credibility is shot. Name another rollerblader who has skating footage on one of the giant screens in time square or been in international commercials. Name someone who has worked harder for longer. I’ll wait.

i know what you mean i dont ;like to feel like im wearing high heels when i skate either lol i had to take out the shock absorbers in my sway 58s its much better but i wouldnt mind a couple more mms of heel flatness

fwiw, I bought the blank liners and I think they are absolutely great liners for the price

TRS Details with the Velcro flaps flying like a cab going down the street with its doors open. It looked awesome like a double puffy tongue.

After watching to this am ordering xxxl sweatpants and matching t shirt🤣🤘

Saying someone shouldn't be pro is wild. Do you HAVE to like an edit? no. Do you Have to like the the brand? no.Even the style ?no. Thats all personal opinion(which is fine). But openly and confidently saying so is a large discredit to the skaters talant and the risk involved. Theres reasons why someone would be picked up on a team. In addition to brands potentially cutting you on a whim and the stability/profitability of the industry can/could be motivation killers.