Nowadays, there is significant pressure to look good and stay healthy; however, many of the routes to good fitness can be a little boring! Not so with inline skates, as whilst they may be a little daunting for the beginner, learning to blade is a great way to improve fitness – and have lots fun while doing it.

If your new to inline skates, there are lots of things that you need to be aware of. Firstly, when you get a new pair, it is generally a good idea to buy a size bigger than your normal shoes size, as even if the rollerblades seem a bit loose on your feet, you can always purchase some handy liners.

Next, you’ll need to find an appropriate place to skate; of course common sense should tell you the kind of places where you shouldn’t be skating, such as busy roads etc. Luckily, in the UK there are plenty of spaces that are perfect for skaters of all hues, such as skate parks, and even boardwalks.

Whilst good technique with your rollerblades is only going to come with practise, there are some techniques that it are worth knowing from the off. For example, getting the hang of a good standing position will give you a good head start when learning more difficult “tricks.” With this in mind, try adopting a v-shaped foot position, bending your knees and keeping the weight on your heels – and before you know it you’ll be a master!

After selecting the hardness and diameter of your roller skate wheels, it’s time to start thinking about how the wheels are actually made. On our skate equipment pages at skates.co.uk you will sometimes see the term “core” mentioned in relationship to wheels. While this is generally not an issue on entry-level children’s roller skates, it becomes important when you begin roller skating at a more advanced level, as does the wheel profile.

The core is the area covered by the hub and the spokes, i.e. everything except the rolling surface. The outer hub and spokes attach to the polyurethane of the tyre. The inner hub is where the bearings and spacer are housed, the spacer being where the axle is located. The better the core design and materials, the more strong and stable the wheel will be.

The wheels of inline roller skates undergo stress from many directions, often linked to the type of skating being done. Cores vary from the solid wheels used in aggressive skating, to the lightly-built spoked wheels used for fitness skating and racing. Generally, the hub is a standard 608 size, meaning it takes a 608 bearing. However, more specialised skates may be different.

The profile of the wheel is its appearance seen head-on, where it touches the ground. Wheels may be more or less curved, allowing more or less of the tyre to be in contact with the ground at any on time. The wheels on most adult and kids inline rollerblades are 24-mm thick, but they vary in profile. Wider profiles allow more stability and traction – most kids inline skates are of this design.

We at skates.co.uk have an entire section devoted to aggressive inline roller skates. It’s important, however, that parents remember aggressive roller skating is an extreme and demanding sport, and kit their youngsters out with appropriate safety gear.

Aggressive rollerblades have very different wheels to those of recreational and fitness skates. They are generally harder, for a start. If you look at the durometers (hardness) of our aggressive skate wheels, you’ll see they average 88 – 94A. Compare this to recreational wheels, which average 80 to 84A. Indoor retro roller skates are even softer.

Aggressive skate wheels are made from extremely hard and durable urethane. This is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the product has to withstand a lot of abuse. Aggressive skaters perform drops, grinds and other tricks, landing heavily onto a hard surface. The wheels must be able to take these stresses and still keep rolling. Additionally, the wheels are much smaller in diameter than other types of inline skates, so being harder offsets the fact they wear out more quickly.

Aggressive skate wheels have to be small, as the skater needs a lot of control which larger diameters don’t offer. Although small wheels are slower, this isn’t a problem as aggressive skating is not based around speed. Instead, all the energy is gathered into making explosive, spring-like movements. Aggressive wheels are typically less than 60mm in diameter.

Anti-rockers are very small, hard wheels which we at skates.co.uk also sell. Measuring just 44mm in diameter, they are designed to go in the centre of aggressive inline roller skates, to create a better sliding surface for grinds.

When you buy inline roller skate wheels, they can be very confusing objects! Many of them come in a variety of hardness ratings (the A number) and diameters (measured in mm). The hardness is largely a matter of choice combined with the type of roller skating you plan to do, with harder durometers offering faster speeds and longer life, but less comfort over uneven ground. Parents buying rollerblades for kids often start them off on softer wheels, progressing to harder durometers as the kids start getting more adventurous.
The wheel diameter is a bit trickier. Every pair of inline roller skates we at skates.co.uk sell have a prescribed maximum diameter. While you don’t have to buy exactly the same diameter wheels as the skates were fitted with, if you go too far over this the wheel will catch against the underside of the boot.

Your manual will tell you what range of wheel sizes your roller skates can accommodate. In both adults and kids inline skates, this can vary with the boot size, For example, our Stateside Bronx kids skates can hold up to 64mm size wheels in the smallest sizes, 70mm wheels in the medium sizes and 72mm in the largest sizes. These sizes are dictated by the wheelbase of your skates, so if you’re planning to go up or down a size from the original wheels your skates were fitted with, it’s important you know the size range your wheelbase will accommodate.

Remember, we at skates.co.uk can always offer telephone advice, if you have any doubts over what roller skate wheels to buy.

Kids inline skates are equipped with the same sort of skate wheels that adult skates are fitted with. Provided the wheels are removable, they can be replaced. This comes as a relief to parents, since the wheels on new children’s roller skates tend to be soft, and thus wear out quickly.

It’s important to know that harder skate wheels last longer – but are harder to control and less comfortable on uneven surfaces. They are rated by durometer value, also called the ‘A’ rating, which is the degree of hardness. The lower the number, the softer the wheel. The wheels of inline roller skates range from 74A to 88A, with most recreational skates falling between 78A and 82A. Within this range you get good traction and control, and smooth rolling ability.

So what if you have a choice of two wheels for your kid’s inline skates, say a 78A and an 82A; which do you choose? Well, the harder wheel will be better for skating fast on smooth surfaces e.g. tarmac; it will be more durable so lasts longer; it will be better for heavier children, but will vibrate more on rough surfaces e.g. pitted or gravelly paths. The softer wheel will be better for lightly built children; offer better traction on smooth or wet surfaces; offer greater shock absorption and grip on cornering, and have an enhanced rebound.

Some parents buy two sets of wheels for their children’s roller skates, one for summer and one for winter, as temperature also makes a difference to the wheels. We at skates.co.uk sell a range of skate wheels at extremely low prices.

Both adult and children’s roller skates vary in the type of wheels they are fitted with. However, unlike the boot skate wheels can be changed – we at skates.co.uk have a wide range of both inline and quad skate wheels, to fit both adult and kids skates.

When it comes to inline roller skates, the wheels have the greatest effect on performance so it’s essential you are kitted out properly. Wheels vary enormously in size, shape, composition and hardness, owing to the wide number of roller skating styles that exist, and the range of skaters’ sizes and ability levels. Even when you are buying rollerblades for kids, you still need to think about their body weight, skating style, ability and comfort zone (i.e. the speed they feel safest travelling at).

Manufacturers can often bury simple facts in complicated jargon. We at skates.co.uk try to remove the mystique, explaining things in an easy-to-understand manner. Nonetheless, to buy the best skate wheels for your needs it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the terms used to describe the physical characteristics of different wheels.

The four key properties of roller skate wheels are size, core, profile and durometer, (hardness). All quad and inline roller skates carry a wheel durometer value, telling you how hard the wheels are. The higher the value, the harder the wheel and the longer it lasts. However, against this must be weighed the fact that hard wheels have lower shock absorbency and roll at faster speeds – something to consider when buying wheels for kids roller skates.

If you want to see some crazy “Don’t try this at home” stunts, you can’t go far wrong with Myth Busters, the superbly successful “science faction” program originally aired on Discovery, which so far has reached almost 150 episodes. Amazingly, it doesn’t run short of ideas. One episode had Jamie on inline roller skates, wearing a jetpack made from several leaf-blowers taped together, which gives you an idea of how crazy the programme is.

Recently, the team decided to test an ice hockey myth – would a sumo wrestler make a good goal keeper? They actually managed to find a sumo wrestler who was able to wear hockey ice skates, and though he wasn’t exactly fast on his blades, he certainly had a big enough presence.

However, even when he lay down across the goal mouth, blocking it completely, he couldn’t stop the pucks getting in – the scorers simply sent them flying over the top of his head! When one of the team then donned hockey ice skates himself – plus a fake “sumo suit” - and squared up alongside the goalie, the pucks still managed to find a chink in their armour. Result? No matter how large the goal keeper is, he can’t stop a determined player from scoring.

Simply put, ice hockey is a game of skill and manoeuvrability. Much as the goalie may look as if he isn’t doing anything most of the time, he is in fact a highly skilled player, with extremely fast reaction times. Hockey ice skates, such as those we sell at skates.co.uk, are built with this in mind.

Many people buy quad roller skates because they love the retro look – and it’s true that retro roller skates are generally quads rather than inliners. They also buy them because they think quads offer more stability and balance. This is also true – most roller discos insist on kids’ quad skates for beginners, only allowing them to use rollerblades when they’ve mastered the basics.

The one thing that puzzles people is – how on earth do retro roller skates turn and manoeuvre? It’s not like they’ve got a steering mechanism. Actually, they have – a quite ingenious one. Unlike inline roller skates, quads have a steering function built into the skates themselves, via the trucks and king-pins. Steering is achieved by the skater applying pressure to one side or the other as they are moving. In this way, the trucks twist around the king pin, offsetting the wheel axles relative to the centre of the plate.

The front and rear trucks of quad skates are arranged back to back, reversing the action of each axle. Applying pressure on the left side causes the left-hand wheels to move closer together, while the wheels on the right move further apart. The end result is that the skates steer to the left. Evidently, pressure applied to the right causes the opposite effect.

Quad and vintage roller skates are extremely manoeuvrable, and this sensitivity can be altered by loosening the king-pin nut or altering the hardness of the wheels or rubber bushings. We at skates.co.uk have one of the widest selections of quad and vintage roller skates on the internet – at very attractive prices.

Whether you wear fitness inline skates or ice figure skates, you must remember that all skating is a form of exercise. You are more likely to become dehydrated in the hot weather, but whatever the time of year you should always carry water with you. There are skate bags specially designed to hold sports water bottles – it’s a good idea to buy one.

Dehydration is a particular problem in the summer months, when lots of people take up street skating to lose weight and enjoy themselves outdoors. The human body has a very narrow temperature range, and roller skating generates a lot of heat. We tend to sweat more in hot weather anyway, so you can see how wearing inline or quad roller skates in the summer months will speed up the rate at which fluid is lost from the body. This doesn’t just mean water – it means essential salts as well.
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Dehydration leads to tiredness, disorientation and loss of athletic performance. Left unchecked, it can lead to collapse, kidney damage and heart irregularities. What’s more, it can occur just 20 minutes after strapping your fitness skates on, if you skate hard. We at skates.co.uk cannot stress strongly enough how important fluid is to your skating ritual. This especially applies to children, who lose body fluid faster than adults. If your child comes home flushed, dizzy and dry mouthed it’s time to be alarmed.

The answer is to invest in one of the backpack skate bags that we sell at skates.co.uk, and always take at least one sports bottle, filled with water, out with you.

If you’re like us, you look for roller skates and inline roller blades whenever you turn the TV on. It’s odd, but there’s something mesmerising about the whizz of skate wheels, even when they’re only virtual ones. Quad and inline roller skates feature are a useful “prop” for film makers, both adult films and child-orientated genres like Japanese anime.

While parents may baulk over ultra-violent, live action films like Rollerball, they can’t complain too much over the wide-eyed heroics of movies like Ghost In The Shell and Super Robot Wars. The Japanese love putting inline roller blades into their scripts. They’re easier to portray than motorbikes and remove the need for moving arms and legs. To create more suspense and speed up the action, all lazy animators need do is add rocket boosters! Giant Mecha robots on skate wheels are a common ploy in anime sci-fi, as are pre-teen heroes on magically powered kids rollerblades.

If your youngsters are still at the entry-level kids quad skates age, it’s a good idea to vet the movies first. The “Westernised” films, such as those dubbed by Disney, are generally the safest – look for the U certificates.

Among anime movies featuring roller skating youngsters, we can name the young rocket-powered heroes of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and Card Captor Sakura. Conventional inline skates are used to good effect in Alien Nine, Paranoia Agent and Kaleido Star. Mechanoids on skates often look like they’re wearing Heelies – we at skates.co.uk have a good selection of these as well!