By DW Staff | July 2019
Toe stops allow you to elevate off of your wheels and onto a stable, flat surface. This allows you to stop and accelerate quickly and also gives you a platform to jump around on to get through the pack. When looking at toe stops you'll be looking at two main parts, the stopper and the stem.
The stopper is the part that will be in contact with the ground. This is the part of the toe stop that has the largest effect on performance and stoppers have a few characteristics that should be considered when shopping.
This is the shape of the stopper when viewed from the side and is split into rounded and flat.
Also referred to as the footprint, the shape refers to the face of the stopper. The most common shape for derby stops is circular but there are many options with cutouts and different shapes as well! Along with shape goes size, with smaller stops being more agile and larger stops giving more "bite" in stops as well as providing more stability. Some very large stops have the potential to interfere with your wheels, to avoid this; some manufacturers will utilize cut-aways.
Size is broken down into three labels on our site: small, medium and large. Smaller toe stops are nimble and unobtrusive while larger toe stops give a solid platform for pushing through the pack as a jammer or slowing things down while generaling on the defensive side of things.
The density of the stopper refers to how hard the compound actually is. Harder stoppers will be more durable but may not provide enough grip to stop effectively, especially on slippery surfaces. Soft compounds are less durable but can provide smoother, more aggressive stops in most cases. Density can be hard to rate since it is rarely assigned by the manufacturer, but Derby Warehouse has provided a scale based on our experience and skater feedback that can be found on each product description.
The stem is the threaded part of the toe stop that screws into the toe stop housing. Many stops have stem options that can further enhance your gameplay.
Typically referenced as "short" or "long" the normal range for toe stop stems is 17-30mm.
The stem length will help determine how low or how close to the ground your toe stop sits. For players who prefer their toe stops low to the ground, they will want a longer stem to ensure that they have enough length to keep it properly threaded. Those who want their stops close to their boot will want short stems to avoid hitting their boot by threading in too far!
Certain plates naturally stand lower to the ground than others (the Arius is a noteworthy "low" plate). In our experience, these lower plates typically perform better with shorter stem toe stops.