Finally, the first park wheels for roller skates carry the name of an actual quad skater. On Halloween night (depending on where in the world you were), Wildbones dropped the Skate Wytch Pro Model Wheels. Kathleen Macias aka @skatexwytch has been riding for Wildbones for a while now but it only took a night for these witchy green wheels to sell out. Congrats on that!
Roller skating is still very small, especially the so-called aggressive scene, being a niche within a niche. So, it’s rare that a skater gets a pro model hardware. First one in recent years was Barbie with her Chaya Kismet Barbiepatin park skate shoe. Back in the days legend Fred Blood started a short-lived wheel company named Blood Wheels (thanks to Duke Rennie for the hint) but he and other pros never had an own wheel. And founding a brand is a very different thing from actually having a brand putting your name on a product. So, these ladies might lead the way for what other brands are going to do in the near future. But apparently there is a demand and a wish to support deserved skaters in the scene.
Skate Wytch Pro Wheels: made to fit narrow and wide trucks
We do not know the number of sets produced, but the wheels were gone within hours. Kathleen definitely is a crowd favorite. It’s difficult to try to quantify the amount of blood, love and work that individuals invest in their skate career. But Kathleen skates hard, preferably rough diy terrain, and is also very active and involved in her community; a genuine character you would like to support. Honest statements like these add to her reputation: “This wheel is for my friends who cheer me on at my lowest. This is my proudest moment to know I can stand here as a skater of color, who deals with mental illness and body image issues. To know I may not be the *best* skater in the world but that my sponsor chose me to be their first.”
Overall, Kathleen and Wildbones decided to make the wheels accessible for all skaters, in reasonable pricing and form. According to Kathleen they are made to fit both narrow and wide trucks. The art design was made in collaboration with Heretic Collective artist and Kathleen’s Wildbones teammate Alyssa Polzin. Kathleen is working on a restock but is still waiting for the manufacturer to schedule a new production. “We have planned to order a much larger number next time and we also have had five skate shops reach out to pre-purchase wheels before the next restock”, she said. So chances are that people will be able to get them at their local shop.
Words by @octopolly
Photos by SkateWytch and @dudeofleisure