Wheel size for fittness skates?

[danielb 0]

Morning folks,

I currently have a pair of K2 Moto rollerblades (80/84mm wheels) that I use on the sea wall here in Vancouver to get some extra skating practice (mostly working on my forward stride). Which I really need as I just moved to Canada from Scotand a year ago and I've only been playing ice & roller hockey about six months. Recently I've been wondering if it would be worth moving up to a pure speed/fittness skate with 100mm wheels like the K2 Radical 100, the main reason for this is more speed as my wife doesn't like skating on the sea wall and so currently I only go out on my own to skate the sea wall (which is a good workout at 10+ km!) but in the future it would be nice for both of us to go out me on rollerblades and her on her Mountain Bike. However I'm not sure I could keep up with a bicycle on my current blades!

I already have some Nike Bauer roller hockey skates so I don't need to worry about having a fittness pair I can use for hockey. Any advice would be welcome!

[FatAndSlow 0]

Don't know if this helps but I have a friend who trains for inline races. He uses 100mm and he tells me that he routinely passes guys on bikes, even when they know he's coming. :D

[danielb 0]

Don't know if this helps but I have a friend who trains for inline races. He uses 100mm and he tells me that he routinely passes guys on bikes, even when they know he's coming. :D

That sounds very promising, I wonder if 90mm wheels would be enough to start with? I could by the 100mm skates and then downgrade the wheels to 90mm till I'm used to them, that way I can upgrade later if required. My only other concern is there seems to be allot of comments online about not going near big wheel unless your an experienced skater now I've only been skating about nine months, for most of which I've been playing roller (last summer/autum) or ice hockey (this winter) and I feel fairly competent on ice now so I hope I'd be able to handle the 100mm wheels?

[sdcopp 1]

bigger wheels = bigger speed. that's why there's that recommendation on "experts only" for 100mm. It would be an adjustment and less work in some ways to go bigger, but you could probably go for longer without burning out halfway through the skate.

What about your stride are you trying to work on? Technique or power? If power, stick with the smaller wheels since you'll have to work more. For technique and a more leisurely stroll the 100mm is fine

[danielb 0]

I'm looking to work on power, stride efficancy and technique and long distance skates look like a promising way to develop this and it would make me really focus on my stride to not be knackered by the half way mark.

How much difference is there between ice hockey skates and inline speed skates in terms on ankle support? I've noticed that my ice hockey skates (Easton Synergy 1500C) have allot less ankle support than my current inline rec/fittness skates (K2 Moto 2007) which feel much more like ski boots than my ice hockey skates.

I know inline speed skates are meant to have less ankle support than rec skates but is it roughly less or more than ice hockey skates? As I think it would be better to have support similar to the support I get in my ice hockey skates. Ankle strength is something I want more of not less, so I would think that having inline skates that would help me develop this would be a good thing?

[sdcopp 1]

speed boots like those K2's and fitness skates really aim to lock your foot in, as opposed to lower cut, non-cuffed speed and hockey boots which promote using your ankles a bit more.

I actually used to use the opposite method for power and ankle strength by skating in aggressive skates with 56mm wheels and about 3 lbs more weight.

[danielb 0]

Over the weekend I tried going out on first my Motos (80/84mm recreational fitness skate) and my Bauer Ignite LX inline hockey skates. Unsurprisingly the hockey skates felt allot more natural, my big issue with the Moto's was that they are a high cuff design and really felt like they were immobilising my ankle so I couldn't use edges for breaking without the cuff sticking into the inside of my leg in a painful manner and even then it didn't feel like the edges were being used completely.

I'm going to go out with the Motos again next dry spell I get and see how they feel again but I think I'm going to go for a lower cuff boot with larger wheels like 90mm or 100mm and probably going to avoid the boots that mix two sizes of wheels (I believe thats done to improve turning?) as this set is for skating moderate amounts of distance (10-20 KM per session).

So I'm thinking of going for one of the following:

• Rollerblade Lightning 2 - 90mm
  
• K2 Radical 90 - 90mm
  
• Rollerblade Marathon Carbon - 100m
  
• K2 Radical 100 - 100mm
  

My main query is now is going from 80/84mm Moto to 90mm too little of an upgrade and would I be better skipping straight to 100mm wheels or is 100mm too much of a leap and the 90mm wheels are more managable for a first 'speed' style skate?

[Jim A 4]

90mm should be fine for you...the biggest difference is most people push too far back and not enough out to the side to get the benefit of a lower cut boot...ie. you wind up skating only on the front 2 wheels...

while a good skater can keep up with some cyclists....realistically anything over 15-20mph depending on your ability and conditioning will be hard to maintain..

i still rock a prototype boot we did from the 2002 Olympics with an 80mm frame..it does fine on the odd day I go out on them...even with 90's on there I wouldn't be able to cruise around at 20mph at the moment

[danielb 0]

Someone suggested taking a look at Bont speed skates so I'm talking to Bont right now about their Jet skates which they recommend as having a similar level of support and movement as most hockey skates.

I'll let you know how I get on.