Tip?

Don't use the wheel cleaning machine at the rink. It gets water into the bearings, and they rust. I learned this lesson the hard way, and will be ordering new bearings this week along with the new pads that will hopefully save my knee next time I take a spill. And new wheels. And a new mouth guard. And a helmet because I cracked mine.

Yeah, I tend to learn lessons the hard way.

My advice to newbs regarding your first gear purchase is simple: Don't take the "I'm gonna buy cheap stuff in case I don't stick with it" approach. Cheap shit gets you hurt. Find the team member who's obsessed with knowing every detail of every piece of equipment on the market, and ask her for advice, then buy decent equipment. I ended up with cheap shit not because I wasn't sure if I'd stick with it, but because I didn't know it was cheap shit when I bought it. I walked into the sporting goods store, said I was playing roller derby, the guy started pulling shit off the shelves, and that's what I bought. Research? Ha! Now I'm having to replace my gear, and I'm hurt. That's way more expensive than just buying decent gear to begin with.