Isles12

I’ve got R1s medium with labeda grippers, definitely a bigger gap than that a few mm at least. The wheels do have some use on them but shouldn’t make that much of a difference.

The hockey shop has these listed as 84a. I haven’t used the asphalt pros, but my lhs (coast to coast hockey shop) highly recommends revision wheels over anything else for outdoors. I have a set of the regular asphalt wheels, the orange ones, but haven’t used them yet.

1) yes 2) totally fine to convert. Only difference with roller boots is the added wear patches and some have extra vents. 3)Chassis: if you want an ice like feel go marsblade or sprung. If you don’t care about that any newer chassis should do. 76-80 Hilo is the most common. Make sure you get a one piece chassis they are much stronger than a two piece. Wheels: Depends on the surface you’re on. Labeda, revision, and konnix are all good brands. 4) usually 30-50 cad around here

Not sure if I’ve seen wear patches for sale separately, but they might exist. You could use two part epoxy(like jb weld) and layer it over the wear areas. Or the option I use on my outdoor skates is a small piece from a plastic cutting board. One of the cheap thin flexible ones. Just cut the pieces to size and glue them onto the wear areas. I used contact cement and it’s holding up really well. I like this option because the plastic is slippery and will slide across asphalt without getting too ripped up.

In theory yes, you’ll have a slightly shorter wheel base. The smaller wheels will accelerate faster but have a slower top speed. In my experience wheel size doesn’t make that big of a difference. I’ve skated on flat 72 chassis, rockered 72 on old Bauer h5 skates, and both 72-80 and 76-80 Hilo. The rocker setup improves mobility the most, less like being on skis as you mentioned. But only having 2 or 3 wheels in contact with the ground decreases stability too much for my liking. I’m very interested in the marsblade r1 chassis so I have a set of those on pre-order, those should provide the solution to having some rocker while having all 4 wheels in contact with the ground.

The konnix tachyons are like a 74a, good for players under 160 on sport court tiles. That said the alkali boot would be much nicer than the Bauer rs assuming it fits you. To rocker a stock 80-80-76-76 Hilo, I would suggest going 76-80-76-72 that way the middle two wheels stay in the stock positions and your front and back wheel are raised 4mm.

That chassis would be fine. I believe it’s an older 72-80 Hilo frame the newer Hilo runs 76-80 wheels, but the concept is essentially unchanged. If you’re looking to replicate ice skating as much as possible and you have the cash look at the marsblade o1 or maybe sprungs if you can find a pair. And either way make sure you get decent outdoor wheels (82-86a generally), like the Hilo clingers or Labeda asphalts.

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.

I'd go bones reds or super reds most people I know use them and like them. I don't have any experience with the other ones you've listed. Probably a good idea to invest in some lubricant (bones speed cream etc.) and clean them fairly often, just depends how dirty the surface you're playing on is. As far as Swiss vs abec goes everything I've read suggest that Abec rating is fairly irrelevant for skating. Where the bearing is manufactured is more important, generally a Swiss made bearing will be better than a Chinese made bearing. This can be confusing because a lot of manufactures sell a "Swiss" bearing that's actually made in china. It's just a marketing word for a lot of companies Also, an actual Swiss made bearing is likely out of your price range so I wouldn't worry about that.

If you've got an old stick you don't like or don't use that much you could cut it down and try out some different lengths to see what works for you