Leaderboard

Usually lower end skates don’t have bearings that you can clean. They’re a sealed unit and you would just replace them once they wear out. Better bearings would definitely help... it’s up to you whether it is worth it and how much you want to spend. And yes there is a large difference in skate quality. For starters the boot and outsole will be made of cheaper more flexible materials so that may be the flexing you’re feeling. Also, lower end roller skates usually have a two piece steel chassis, which is weaker and can allow more flexing. The mid and higher end inlines will feature a one piece aluminum or magnesium chassis.

As I found when I started my journey without laces, skating backwards was a totally different kettle of fish than skating forward. Sure, I could glide backwards, do crossovers and turns and stops without any issues but as soon as I really drove hard onto the inside edge to generate power, my foot (due to my pronation) would collapse on me. This was still going on a long time after I had pretty much mastered my forward skating without laces. Even today I still get caught out occasionally, on my last skate 2 weeks ago I was at a stick and puck doing 1 on 1 D work against some ex pros, every now and then when I drove hard off the inside edge it would partially collapse on me. Backward skating power moves are the ones that expose any weakness in your foot mechanics the most. As you can skate without laces / untied I'd suggest that, once rinks are open again, go for a skate this way. If you find your foot collapsing on you doing whatever move it is that causes the pain then this is a good guide as to where you need to do extra work to correct it.

The only company that made a true intermediate blade was Easton with the blue hosel Synthesis blade to be paired with their intermediate shaft. Otherwise, 99% of intermediate shafts took senior blades.