Inline skate questions

[Leif 161]

As the rinks are closed I’ve been doing inline skating each day as my allowed daily exercise during lockdown. I have Bauer x300r skates which are basic, but they fit nicely and I get no pain. I’m not interested in roller hockey, just keeping fit till we can play ice hockey again. So, a few questions. 

The skates seem to have high resistance, by which I mean I slow down quickly. Is it worth upgrading the bearings? Also I haven’t cleaned the existing bearings, what should I use and where do I get it? Finally is there much difference between my skates and higher end ones? My ice skates are Bauer 2s Pro custom ie top end, and they are amazing, very comfy and yes I do feel they make a difference to my skating as I feel the ice more and they are responsive. (I’m a low end rec hockey player but a decent skater.) In my inlines I can feel something bending when I do crossovers, maybe the tyres or the wheels, it’s odd. I skate on roads ie tarmac, and it’s not the best surface what with stones and sticks, and holes.

[Isles12 8]

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.

 

[Larry54 243]

Also figure that softer wheels will have more rolling friction.

[Leif 161]

Thanks, very informative. I think I will go for some mid range freestyle inlines once our lockdown ends and I can get to a shop for fitting. 

[Leif 161]

In the same vein, does anyone know which models of three wheeled fitness/freestyle inline skates match in terms of fit the Bauer Vapor inlines in regular width? I have feet that are widest at the front, but very shallow with narrow heels and ankles. 

https://my.volumental.com/en/bauer/2f029e24-c1e1-4885-bd8a-706f9cc01baf/?utm_medium=myvemail

I like the look of FR three wheeled skates, but if they don’t fit ... 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Leif

[hockeydad3 51]

I´m owning the Powerslide Next inlineskate. The fit of the boot is ok for me after widening the instep of the shell with a heatgun. In Bauer skates i´m fitting best into Supremes 6.5D, but missing the depth of Nexus-boots. The feeling of the Next 40/41(it seems that a lot of hardshell inlineskatesboots have multisize-shells with different liners) is a bit tighter in the heel and wider in the forefoot than my Supremes and shoudln´t be smaller. Maybe you could find a comparison between Next and FR boots. 

I had been giving the triskates two chances. First try have been my inlinehockeyskates Reign Zeus with a 3x100mm 215mm frame which i had to downgrade to 4x80mm 243mm frame because of stability and acceleration issues and second the Powerslide Next with a 3x110mm 243mm frame downgrading to a 4x90mm 273mm frame because of stability, hillclimbing and stopping issues. The three-bigwheel-design has advantages like speed and maneuverability but you have to be a decent skater in good condition and skate on a skating track with no hidden obstacles. My hockey inliners are great on a clean and smooth hockey rink but not supportive enough for me to skate around my living area. Due to the lockdown i only can skate around on sidewalks, bicycle paths and in parks with streetcrossings, stones, little branches, bumps, curbs, kids, byciclists, dogs, cars and so on around. I could compare the 4x80mm, 3x110mm and the 4x90mm frames on my Next boots which are very comfy, supportive and reactive and the 4x90mm has the best mix of stability, speed, smoothnes of rolling and controllability for me.

If the wheels on your skates are spinning for some seconds than your bearings should be ok for skating around. The quality, size(bigger wheels have lower resistance), hardness(I prefer between 85A to 88A for the street) and condition of your wheels(completely or onesided worn) and the skating style(rolling on the inside edge and not on the flat) are more of importance for the speed.

 

[Leif 161]

In case anyone is interested, I was set on Reign hockey skates, however from conversations with owners it was clear that they would be far too narrow for my 262 by 105 mm feet unless I went for an oversized pair. I bought a Powerslide Zoom Pro 100 which has three 100mm wheels and a hard shell boot with a padded heat mouldable liner and fastening straps. They are incredible, very very agile and the fit is perfect, as good as my Bauer Custom 2s Pro. I can almost stop on a dime, if not going too fast. They have a short frame length, 230 mm compared to at least 240 mm for Bauer inlines which improves agility. I definitely recommend these for anyone wanting to practice ice hockey skills off ice. 

Does anyone know if there are any regulations that apply to roller hockey skates? Clearly tri skates are allowed, as the Reign skates are in use by teams. I guess the only downside to non hockey inline skates is the weight, typically 500g extra per skate. On the plus side, the ratchet straps are far superior to laces in my view, and the comfort is impressive.

[Stewie 721]

13 hours ago, Leif said:

In case anyone is interested, I was set on Reign hockey skates, however from conversations with owners it was clear that they would be far too narrow for my 262 by 105 mm feet unless I went for an oversized pair. I bought a Powerslide Zoom Pro 100 which has three 100mm wheels and a hard shell boot with a padded heat mouldable liner and fastening straps. They are incredible, very very agile and the fit is perfect, as good as my Bauer Custom 2s Pro. I can almost stop on a dime, if not going too fast. They have a short frame length, 230 mm compared to at least 240 mm for Bauer inlines which improves agility. I definitely recommend these for anyone wanting to practice ice hockey skills off ice. 

Does anyone know if there are any regulations that apply to roller hockey skates? Clearly tri skates are allowed, as the Reign skates are in use by teams. I guess the only downside to non hockey inline skates is the weight, typically 500g extra per skate. On the plus side, the ratchet straps are far superior to laces in my view, and the comfort is impressive.

I played a few seasons of inline when I was young, before restarting later as an adult. My first season I did great! With a pair of k2 zspecials that I souped up with good bearings and wheels. I got invited by one of the guys on the house team I was on to play for a sponsored team that was really good. Thinking my roller hockey career was about to be serious, I bought some inline hockey skates (missions) and didn’t do near as good. Part of this is because they were too large for me, but also just something about the comfort of those Zspecials and the fact that I skated everywhere in them, I moved a lot better. Team still won every game by a ton, but I didn’t play Inline again for the next 16 years

[hockeydad3 51]

I own a Reign Zeus (3x100mm/215mm, 4x80mm/243mm frames) and a Powerslide Next (3x110/243mm, 4x90mm/273mm frames). The Next is comparable to your Zoom, only the boot is 10mm higher. For inlinehockey on a smooth and clean concrete(outdoor hockey rink in summer) I prefer the Zeus because of the manueverability and weight. For urban djungle I prefer my Next because of the stability. On both skates i didn´t like the three wheel setup in case of stability issues, giving me the feeling like beeing on stilts. The rachets could be a risk of injury compared to a hockey-inlineskate. Maybe the official regulations require s special hockeyinlineskate like a hockeyskate for icehockey.

Edited May 31, 2020 by hockeydad3

[Leif 161]

9 hours ago, hockeydad3 said:

I own a Reign Zeus (3x100mm/215mm, 4x80mm/243mm frames) and a Powerslide Next (3x110/243mm, 4x90mm/273mm frames). The Next is comparable to your Zoom, only the boot is 10mm higher. For inlinehockey on a smooth and clean concrete(outdoor hockey rink in summer) I prefer the Zeus because of the manueverability and weight. For urban djungle I prefer my Next because of the stability. On both skates i didn´t like the three wheel setup in case of stability issues, giving me the feeling like beeing on stilts. The rachets could be a risk of injury compared to a hockey-inlineskate. Maybe the official regulations require s special hockeyinlineskate like a hockeyskate for icehockey.

I prefer my Zoom Pros to my Bauer inlines, it might be heresy to say it here but IMO they are very poor skates: poor wheels, poor bearings and a soft unsupportive boot.

Further to your comments, the Powerslide Next is also much narrower than the Powerslide Zoom Pro. Clearly you have narrow feet.Most Powerslide skates are narrow as far as I can see, the Zoom Pro being an exception. The fact that the Next has a 243 mm frame will make them less agile than the Zooms with a 231 mm frame and far less agile than your Zeus. My Rollerblade RB 110s with a 255 mm frame are much less agile. 

I’ve never seen a written requirement for a hockey skate in ice hockey but it must exist, a figure skate would be too dangerous. 

Edited May 31, 2020 by Leif

[hockeydad3 51]

17 hours ago, Leif said:

The fact that the Next has a 243 mm frame will make them less agile than the Zooms with a 231 mm frame and far less agile than your Zeus

My Zeus with the 3x100mm/215mm frame and the 50mm lower hockeyboot is more agile than your zoom. But if you can´t use the agility because of a significant lack of stability in gaming situations, than the 4x80mm setup is the better choice for you. And my skating abilities are far away from Bill Stoppard.

17 hours ago, Leif said:

I’ve never seen a written requirement for a hockey skate in ice hockey but it must exist, a figure skate would be too dangerous. 

It was part of the IIHF regulations some years ago.

 

17 hours ago, Leif said:

Clearly you have narrow feet.Most Powerslide skates are narrow as far as I can see, the Zoom Pro being an exception.

I have Bauer Supreme 6.5 D hockeyskates, the Next is a little bit narrower in the heel an has way more room in the midfoot/toe area and the Zeus(Powerslide) is between them. I even coudn´t slip into Vapors.

[Leif 161]

Fair point, I have no idea if I could handle the Zeus or similar. Anyway the Powerslide Zoom Pro 100 is more than good enough for me. 

[MarshaHarrison 0]

If you feel something bending during crossovers, it might be related to the frame or chassis of the skates. Check for any visible damage or misalignment. Upgrading to a more rigid frame may help in providing better support during crossovers.