Picking the correct chassis, bearings, and wheels ?

[Cove 38]

Im looking to put a roller chassis onto my RBK 9k's for an inline hockey league in the spring. I was wondering, how do I find a good chassis ? What should I look for ? Same with wheels and bearings, what should I be looking for / paying attention to ?

[kukakid 0]

It all comes down to personal preference. Your main choices for chassis are Mission Vanguard (either Magnesium or Aluminum), Labeda Humer, and Sprung. The Sprung is way different and less traditional than the other offerings but many ice players (and inline players for that matter) like them better than traditional chassis. Check out some of the other threads for more information.

For the most part wheels are, you get what you pay for in my opinion. Some of the better companies are Hyper, Labeda, Rink Rat, and Revision. Personally I skate on Revision but all of the companies make good wheels. Just try to match the wheels to your price point and what surface you are skating on.

Bearings are a much touchier subject. Lots of people swear by the "faster" ABEC 7, 9 or Swiss bearings while other people say that these aren't necessary for hockey and an ABEC 3 will work. Again it depends on the surface, if you are playing outdoors you want a closed walled, cheap, grease filled bearing so that dirt and grime impacts it minimally. As it turns out most of the lower ABEC 3 and 5 bearings fit this description. As for companies I tend to stick to BSB but if you can find comparable bearings from another company for a lower price I doubt you will notice a difference.

Really it just comes down to how much you want to spend. If you are just getting these skates for a couple house league sessions and aren't going to be doing anything to competitive I would go with the following (Basically just based on price/perforance ratio):

Mission Aluminum chassis: ~$70, cheap and will get the job done

Rink Rat Hot Shot or Revision Ghost: ~$50 for a set, decent but not overpriced wheels, should work great for most people

BSB ABEC 5 or 7 bearings: ~$40 Good quality bearings that should work with minimal maintenance (just make sure to air out your skates, I don't know how many bearings I have seen seize up because someone didn't air them out and they got moisture in them)

Obviously some changes to this can be made for how much you want to spend or what kind of performance you want, but those are my recommendations.

[LoXish 0]

Keep an eye on places like Hockey Giant too -- when they close out wheels they are like a steal. I got a whole new backup set of Hyper Trinity wheels -- retail 12$ each for 1$ each... 8$ for an entire set of wheels. Can't beat that with a "holy shit" stick.

[Cove 38]

Whats the difference between 608, and 688 core wheels ?

[_HSB_b345t 0]

608 cores are wheels designed for the standard 608 bearing. The 688 cores are wheels designed for the smaller 688 micro bearing.

The 688 bearings are smaller, thus reducing the overall weight of the skate, but, also due to their smaller size aren't as efficient at dissipating heat and are more prone to breakdown -- from personal experience and observation.

I'd stick with the 608 standard bearing wheels.