BEST OF '97



Well, with the end of the year right at the end of the corner, different retailers were asked to vote on what they thought were the best of '97 in different catagories. Here is what they said.

SKATES

BEST SKATE LINE:
1. K2
2. Rollerblade
3. Roces
Honerable mentions: Bauer, Mission, Oxygen, Technica, Ultra Wheels, Roller Derby

BEST OVERALL SKATE:
1. K2 Flight 76
tie2. K2 Power X 5.0
tie2. Roces Majestic 12
tie3. K2 Backyard
tie3. Rollerblade CI-5
Honorable mention: Rollerblade Fusion, Rollerblade Spiritblade, Rollerblade Synergy, Mission Proto VSI, Rollerblade Lightning TRS

BEST FITNESS SKATE(more than $200):
1. K2 Flight 76
2. K2 Power X 5.0
3. Rollerblade Fusion
Honerable Mention: Rollerblade Fusion MX, Rollerblade Synergy, Roces LAX

BEST PRICE/VALUE REC SKATE($100 to $199):
1. Rollerblade Spiritblade ABT
2. K2 Flight 76
3. Rollerblade Nitroblade
Honerable Mention: K2 ZSE, Rollerblade Lightning, Rollerblade Macroblade, Oxygen XE 3.1, Roller Derby BX4000, Bauer F3

BEST ECONOMY SKATE(under $100):
1. Rolerblade Spiritblade
tie2. Roller Derby Montego
tie2. Rollerblade Macroblade
tie3. Ultra Wheels Sonic
tie3. Ultra Wheels Sting
tie3. Ultra Wheels Vision
Honorable Mention: Roller Derby The Rail, Roller Derby BX7000, Bauer V3

BEST AGGRESSIVE SKATE:
1. K2 Fatty Pro
2. Roces Majestic 12
3. Rollerblade Dirk
Honerable Mention: Rollerblade CI-5, K2 Backyard, Rollerblade Edward's Daytona, K2 Fatty

BEST CHILDREN'S SKATE:
1. Rollerblade Xtendblade
2. Rollerblade Microblade
3. Roces Tokyo Jr.
Honorable Mention: Roces NRT Jr., Bauer F-2, Roller Derby Charger, Rollerblade Bravoblade Jr., Ultra Wheels Lite Mite

BEST RACING SKATE:
1. Rollerblade Fusion 10K
2. Miller
3. Roces Paris
Honerable Mention: Bont Hustler, Rollerblade Marchese Equipe, Simmons, Tecnica CT R

BEST ECONOMY HOCKEY SKATE($199 or less):
1. Mission Proto V
2. Mission Control XI
tie3. Bauer NHL Breakout
tie3. Rollerblade Sniper OT
Honerable Mention: Mission Proto V(E4 chassis), Bauer H-3, Bauer H-5

BEST HIGH-END HOCKEY SKATE($200 or more):
1. Mission Proto VSI
2. Mission Proto VSX
tie3. Bauer Comp 5000
tie3. Nike Air Agitate
Honerable Mention: CCM RH755, Bauer RH4000, Mission Mod 4, Nike Air Pursuit

BEST LOOKING SKATE:
1. K2 Flight 76
2. Rollerblade Synergy
3. K2 Power X 5.0 Honerable Mention: K2 Fatty Pro, K2 Freedom, Rollerblade Edward's Daytona, Mission VSI, Tecnica CT 7

BEST BRAKING SYSTEM:
1. Rollerblade's ABT
2. Standard heel
3. No Brake
Honerable Mention: Oxygen PBS, Ultra Wheels DBS, Bauer Force Multiplier, Roces Tartaruga

WHEELS

BEST RECRATIONAL WHEELS:
1. Hyper Superlite
2. Kryptonics VR Series
tie3. Kryptonics Rampage
tie3. Hyper X-360 Cross Fit
Honerable Mention: Kryptonics Adrenaline, Labeda Ice Lites, Black Hole Inner Power, Black Hole Klear Color Perfoemance

BEST AGGRESSIVE WHEELS:
1. Senate Randy "Roadhouse" Spizer
2. Hyper Midgets
3. Senate Arlo Eisenberg "Lone Star"
Honerable Mention: Kryptonics Mescal, Kryptonics Boulder, Cozmo Jon Julio, BullzEye Voodoo Shrunken Heads, Realm, fr line

BEST RACING WHEELS:
1. Hyper Shock
2. Kryptonics Diablo
3. Hyper Bank Robber
Honerable Mention: Hyper X-360 Cross Fit, Hyper Circle R, Hyper Superlite, Ultimate Energy Plus

BEST INLINE HOCKEY WHEELS:
1. Hyper NHL Pro 250
2. Hyper Formula G
3. Kryptonics Mr. Sticky
Honerable Mention: Labeda Grippers, Hyper Power Edge, Kuzak Pro Extreme Grip3

BEST WHEEL GRAPHICS:
1. Senate Randy "Roadhouse" Spizer
2. Hyper Superlite
3. Black Hole Klear Color Clear
Honerable Mention: Labeda Grippers, Kyptonics Mr. Sticky, Senate line, Kryptonics line, Hyper line, Cozmo line

ACCESSORIES

BEST BEARINGS:
1. Boss Swiss
2. Black Hole Killer Bees
tie3. Boss ABEC 3
tie3. Bones Swiss
Honerable Mention: Boss ABEC 5, TwinCam ABEC 3, Boss V8 ABEC 5, Kryptonics

BEST RECREATIONAL PROTECTIVE GEAR:
1. Rollerblade City Gear
2. Dr. Bone Savers
3. Triple Eight Saver Series
Honerable Mention: Oxygen Fitness Gear, Harbinger, Ultra Wheels, Rector, Rollerblade Standard

BEST AGGRESSIVE PROTECTIVE GEAR:
1. Harbinger
2. Tripke Eight
tie3. Boneless
tie3. Rector
Honerable Mention: Pro-Designed, Rollerblade Aggressive, Lazzy Legs Extreme, Oxygen

BEST INLINE HOCKEY PROTECTIVE GEAR:
1. BiltRite
2. Bauer
3. Koho
Honerable Mention: CCM, Cooper, Easton, Mission, Itech

BEST HELMET:
1. Pro-tec
2. Bell
3. CCM
Honerable Mention: Bauer, Rollerblade, Cooper, Bell Vert XT, Rad's Flyaway, Giro

BEST GRIND PLATES:
1. CDS Detroit
2. Senate
3. Fifty/50
Honerable Mention: Sonic, Scribe, Black Hole, Kryptonics

BEST VIDEO:
1. Hoax IV
2. Hoax III
3. VG6
Honerable Mention: TBTV[T-Bone Television], Hoax I, My Daily Routine, VG5, fr Forever

BEST SKATE BAG:
1. Transpack
2. Rollerblade
3. Senate
Honerable Mention: K2, Oxygen, Kryptonics

BEST INLINE HOCKEY STICKS:
1. Koho Street Revolution
2. Koho Ultimate 2100 Series
3. Koho composite
Honerable Mention: Easton Ultra Lite Series, Bauer, Titan

OTHER

BEST NATIONAL SKATING EVENT:
1. ESPN'S X Games
2. National In-line Skating Series(NISS)
3. North America Roller Hockey Championships(NARCh)
Honerable Mention: NHL Breakout, ASA Pro Tour, Athens to Atlanta, Triple Crown

BEST INLINE CELEBRITY:
1. Arlo Eisenberg
2. Chris Edwards
tie3. Aaron Feinberg
tie3. Randy "Roadhouse" Spizer
Honerable Mention: Wayne "The Great One" Gretzky, Champion Baumstimler, Eddy Matzger, Chris Chelios, Jon Julio

BEST MOVE ON INLINE SKATES:
1. Misty Flip
2. Backflip on Pipes
3. Misty Flip into a Disaster Porn Star
Honerable Mention: Moves on top of half pipe, any rail grind down multiple group of stairs, downhill races at X Games, backflip with half twist, alley oop porn star down hand rail, double flip on quaterpipe, when the guy behind the net scores

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