You may have heard of Heelys – sneakers that have wheels built into the bottoms allowing you to transition from a walk to a roll by shifting your weight to your heel. I had always thought that they were just for kids, but come to find out – they’re not! Heelys has an entire line for adults, too.
There are a few different kinds of Heelys. For younger kids – or us older kids that might need a little practice before cruising down the road, you can try out the Heelys HX2. These have two wheels per shoe to give you a little more stability (closer to a traditional roller skate). Once you have the hang of them you can remove the front wheel to convert them to the traditional Heelys. The Nano gives you a footboard for your front foot so you can build momentum with your other foot. This loosely equates to a skateboard that’s strapped to your foot (see below).
I received a pair of black and pink “Wave” Heelys – mock toe court styling with contrast color piping and embroidered logo. They’re made with synthetic nubuck and a synthetic leather upper. They also have a fats low-profile wheel with ABEC 1 bearings. Are you lost yet? Yeah, a lot of that is probably the kind of terminology used by people who skate, board, etc. Basically they’re black sneakers with pink contrast that you can insert a big, fat wheel into the bottom of each shoe.
It had been years since I’d been on roller skates; roller blades were a much more recent phenomena that I remember participating in. So these took a little bit of time for me to get used to. I think having a set of wheels on my shoes could be useful, though, for keeping up with Baby C. now that she’s crawling all over the place. Black and pink are also two of my favorite colors so I can see myself wearing the sneakers even without the wheels (especially if I were trying to gain a little “cool” cred with the younger set).
If you’re thinking about getting your own pair, check out the General Heely’s Skating Information page at Heelys. There are how-to videos on skating, tips, tricks and more. If you shop between November 25th and 28th, get a 2nd pair of Heelys for $25 when you buy the 1st pair at regular price – and get free ground shipping on all orders. Or if you order the Nano, you get a pair of Heelys for $25.
Heelys easily convert to a normal pair of sneakers by popping the wheel out with the wheel key. So even after the excitement of being able to roll yourself places wears off (or if the kiddos wanted to wear them to school, for example) you still have a usable pair of shoes.
I received a pair of Heelys in order to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are 100% that of my and my family.
