Shops in Greater Toronto Area for Inline?

[mrusse01 0]

I hope this in the right forum...

Anyways, I drove around to two National Sports, 1 Sportchek, and the Just Hockey on Steeles and was absolutly disgusted with the selection of inline products, especially wheels. First of all, Just Hockey didn't have a single wheel in their entire store, and the manager told me he 'couldn't get any in' which I find a bit curious considering there are like a dozen brands at least.

Sportchek was garbage, all they had was full sets of outdoor recreational 76mm wheels, and some old Labeda Grippers (solid green and solid white) which were actually the best wheels I saw all day by a mile but were still like $50 for 4 which is insane considering how old they are, not to mention they didnt have a full high/low set-up.

Both National Sports were terrible as well, with zero decent indoor wheels at all, and a set of 4 overpriced Kryptonics outdoor 72mm which I finally bought just because I'm playing outside with some buddies tommorow and my front wheels are destroyed.

Is there some haven of inline products that is monopolizing all of Southern Ontario that I just don't know about, or is this stuff only available online? In all four stores there wasnt a pair of blades over $200. If anyone knows of some small shop or something anywhere near Toronto I'd greatly appreciate it, otherwise I think I am going to email a bunch of manufacturers and see who distributes their product (if anyone) around here.

[sogaduch 0]

to be honest inline hockey is really hard for shops to carry in torotonto just because suplliers want you to order thousands of dollars worth of stuff and all the accessories and theres no real money in it. like i work at J.H and I know were not bringing anything inline at all just because the window to sell all the thousands of dollars of inline stuff is 3 months. your best bet is online man

[mrusse01 0]

Yeah I figured online was the best bet, but I was curious if there was some speciality inline store somewhere that I just don't know about...thanks for the response though...what J.H. do you work at?

[artvandelay 0]

I spent a long time trying to find a good shop in Toronto, and eventually gave up - now I only look online for stuff. I've used epuck with great success as well as tgm skateboards for bulk wheels (I used to go through a lot, so me and my team would order by the box).

[mrusse01 0]

Not just wheels, I couldn't find ANY high end inline equipment. I guess online is the way to go now, I mean I would like to support local shops if I could, but if they don't even carry anything decent it is nearly impossible.

It's pretty sad when I see a Synergy SL in four different places for $269.99, and I just bought the same thing on eBay brand new for $99.99 US. With the strong dollar, internet shopping is just that much more easier.

[Sichy 6]

Hey mrussel01, I feel your pain, I bused around this past Friday to Just Hockey, Sport Chek, and National Sports looking for a mid-to-high end inline hockey boot, and didn't find anything either. At Just Hockey, while the sales rep?/manager? was busy fitting himself in his Nike Bauer Supreme One90 Hockey Skates, he told me they weren't going to get anything new for inline hockey skates.

Two weeks ago at National Sports, a manager told me they were not going to get any mid-to-high end inline hockey skates and instead they were trying to filtered out hockey and recreational inline hockey skates. As for Sport Chek, it's likely the same thing considering both National Sports and Sport Chek are owned by the Forzani Group.

Though, the National Sports on McCowan and Sheppard is now carrying the Mission D2 Inline Hockey Skate now. LOL. They are selling it for approximately $379.99, kind of funny to say the least. They are carrying a 04' Mission Inline Hockey Skate, yet they are selling these skates at such a ridiculous price.

[HeatleyRules 0]

This is my league's store...it's got high end stuff...you can visit rosemount arena and they have a bunch of stuff there

TriumphInline

[NuggyBuggy 0]

You might try Toronto Hockey Repair.. When I was thinking about picking up inline last summer, I looked long and far for a place in the GTA to buy an inline girdle and pants. I couldn't find squat, except at THR, and even there, their selection was fairly meager, although I got the impression they have access to a little more stuff. It seems National Sports sporadically stocks some inline protective, but they didn't have anything when I looked.

I also looked for a place to buy wheels and bearings and that was a complete waste of time, I don't think THR had any and noone else had anything that wasn't 3-4 times as much as stuff costs in the US. Just Hockey had a few sets of wheels but noone there knew anything about them, I think it is crazy that they sell inline skates (at least the last time I looked) but then their guys pretty much space out when asked about the sport. Contacted some guys who run a local inline league and found out that they pretty much all buy their stuff online through American friends or relatives. Ended up having to do just that.

[mrusse01 0]

Thanks for the replies...that Triumph Inline site looks like they have a good line of Mission products, and its nice to know I'm not the only one going nuts trying to find a decent shop.

The funny thing about the one National Sports I went to today is that they had probably 20 girdles for sale and maybe 75 shells to wear over them, yet they didn't have ONE decent set of wheels in the entire store. Figure that one out.

[sogaduch 0]

Yeah I figured online was the best bet, but I was curious if there was some speciality inline store somewhere that I just don't know about...thanks for the response though...what J.H. do you work at?

i work at both, i thought wed bring in the rbk line but when 4 of us were in boston we decided that inline is a waste of money when we can bring in more ice hockey stuff with the money wed spend on inline gear

[mrusse01 0]

Yeah I guess inline just isn't as big around here as it is in some parts of the States.