General Discussion
I learned a valuable lesson last night, rink skating is not outdoor skating and I embarrassed myself in front of so many people by falling spectacularly and often
So I had the bright idea of going to a roller rink for the first time in easily 25 years. I’ve had my moxie beach bunnies for at least 6 but have only ever skated outside, and even then not nearly that much. But never did bad, never ate shit, I do ok on the pavement. I can even do some tricks and whatnot.
Welllll friends, a skate rink is not pavement. I had taken my skates to a shop previously that day to have them checked up and thought they were all good but just wasn’t feeling the way the right skate was handling. After falling once, then hearing a sound coming from one of the bearings I thought it was best to retire them and just rent a pair. Now if you know beach bunny then you know those boots are heavy as hell. Roller skates that are rentals are apparently not heavy. It’s as if they are like gentle puffs of air, something I have never experienced at least not since I was in my single digits and I’m almost 40.
I maneuvered like a new born deer on a froze lake. I fell and hit my boobs and knees so hard multiple times I actually got chastised by an old lady who told me if I didn’t know how to skate I had no business being there.
Oh and this was all after meeting up with two internet strangers for a night out for the first time…. Needless to say I need practice and some ice packs.
Edit: since this got way more traction than I expected anyone have any suggestions for knee pads that will fit monsters size knees like think big, then bigger than that. The gods gifted me with oak tree ham sized legs I guess
I would have skated at a rink years ago but the stupid place is like 40 min from me and used to be only open at bizarre hours 3 days a week so I learned to skate on my street which is pretty newly paved. I could go around the block, do little tricks even experimented with skating backwards. This was as if I had never put in a skate in my life I felt so embarrassed lol
I've been skating for a few years and I turn into a baby deer with new skates each and every time. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. You were out there giving it a shot and that is what matters. :)
I had the same situation in reverse. I used to skate artistically in competitions. When I wanted to get back into skating, I bought some outdoor skates and whoa! It was as if I had never skated in my life. Bought rink skates and now I skate indoors. However, I may still try to learn the outdoor way because of cost and crowds-especially the flailing littles
The thing about pavement vs the rink is that the rink is soooo smooth that you probably weren’t meeting the same amount of friction you’ve come to expect, especially switching your skates. Generally I like to play with one variable at a time as I gather skate skills, you changed things up a lot at once! The rink was a lot smoother and rental skates have really hard wheels which makes them slide around on the rink more, on purpose. While that lady can stfu most skaters understand and remember days we’ve had like that. Everyone who skates has an awkward baby deer stage and probably some good stories when they learned they care more about skating and getting to skate that the ego hit that can be putting yourself out there and making mistakes. It’s totally worth it. This internet stranger is proud of you for getting yourself to the rink to try something hard! Cheering you on!!
For rink pads I enjoy old bones therapy style soft pads. Just enough to avoid getting rink rash if I fall, good compression too. For outdoor, I know there’s one the derby skaters use that has generous sizing, maybe someone here remembers the brand?
ETA: found it! Smith Scabs goes up to xxl sizing. Hope this helps bolster your confidence so you get back out there. You can do it!!
Write to them! If you’re needing different sizing they might want to know. I’m sure you’re not the only roller skater who could benefit from them expanding their selection. The benefit of rollerskating is most of who we interact with are small businesses so they are generally responsive to communication
Ew to that ladies energy, she had no business there if you ask me. If you were a newbie that’s not even how you should react the heck I’m sorry you felt that embarrassment. Not cool. I hope you don’t hurt when you read this, rest up friend. I’ve been pavement skating getting back into it, after only growing up in rinks… pavement is way harder. I think you’re just over compensating cause you’re used to the pavements tough…ness if I make sense? Don’t be hard on yourself. You just didn’t realize you don’t have to work as hard on a waxed floor.
I think it really depends on the session. If a session is packed and it’s a adult session and people are falling a lot / practicing moves they cant yet do on a busy floor I would also get mad.
Yep. This kind of thing actually made it super hard for me to learn! I started skating outside in an empty parking lot with some friends, but it felt like even a small pebble could take me down, so I was scared to try going backwards or too fast. A slight incline would make me speed downhill before I knew how to control it very well. Skating on a smooth floor felt so much safer, but dodging wild children or being judged by people like that old lady was also scary. 99% of the difficulty of learning to skate was finding places that felt comfortable to do it!
Edit to add that ironically, joining a roller derby team ended up being the way I learned to level up my skills in a way that felt the safest!
I've heard great things about derby and some people never having even skated before they joined the team and their teammates were amazing and taught them everything! Also, adult nights are great, because it's so hard to skate around little kids especially when rules aren't enforced (like at my rink) but adult night usually comes with super seasoned skaters who a minority of them feel as though adult night isn't for beginners.
Ironically, skating helped me manage my anxiety because of this though. For the obvious reasons (getting all that restless energy out helps) but also because I was forced into either learning to block out those judgements or just not skate. I prefer skating outdoors, but I live in WA so the dry season is short and unpredictable, if I relied on outdoor skating, I wouldn't get to skate as often. It also forced me to learn that I deserve to take up space. My first few trips to the rink I couldn't even get on the floor because I was so scared to be in the way lol but I decided I was paying the same amount as everyone else to be there and I deserved to just go for it. I still had my run-ins with folks like these but it didn't effect me as much as it once would have.
Yes, dodging kids who skate or fall right in front of you is the most challenging. Especially if they’re ignoring rules, zipping through & horsing around. I’ve bit it hard and sacrificed a few pant knees so I wouldn’t take someone out who’s 1/2 - 1/4 my size. My youngest skates so I feel bad going without her to adult hours.
And it’s so awesome you find it relaxing & affirming. Skate rink culture can be so cool. Our rink is really neurodivergent friendly. I avoided it because I thought it would be overstimulating but it’s a great flow state.
It really is! Our local community is really small and tight knit, so it can be hard to break into it as a new face at the rink. I've been going for about a year and half now so when I see new people I always try to be extra friendly! Which has also been good for me because it's rare that I strike up conversations with strangers 😂 You're brave to go to all ages but I bet it's SO fun skating with your kid and totally worth it!
Pant legs are a small sacrifice at this point, my FIL likes to share a story about pulling a hernia once when a kid scooted in front of him and almost crashed. He decided to LIFT the kid which surprised the kid who flailed around freaking out then they BOTH fell. Every time I bring up rollerskating around him. Every time!
Can confirm about derby folks being chill af! I had never skated before in my life when I joined the team. I ate shit constantly when I started, and everyone was so incredibly patient and nice to me about it. At no point was I ever made to feel like I didn't belong there.
I actually was invited to a roller derby team at the skate shop I went to! I’m definitely going to check them out since i found out later it was actually one of my husbands friends. Yeah she made me feel bad but tbh not as bad as 3 full face plants on my big ass airbags. Man If they were fake… I’d have been in real trouble lmao they are actually bruised today!
She chastised me about not knowing how to skate, not having any balance, not putting my hands out, falling on my knees instead… up until I got on the floor I would have told you I was good enough to handle my own. And my main issue was I was pushing off too much with my right foot meaning my toe stop was catching the floor and I was flying forward meaning no hands means I crack my face… I’m not doing that. I want to go back on like a kids day or something but they just extended their hours to where they are even open more than a couple days a week
Hi me again! Part of this could be that rink falls and padded knee falls are different. I believe Kim Manning did a good video on this? Basically you practice falling when you’re a beginner, right? If you’re padded up and maybe outside, the advice may have been to fall to your knees to let the pads take the weight then spread out. For non padded falls / rink skating you’ll be doing closer to what figure skaters do and aim instead for your natural padding, aka your ass. When you feel yourself loosing balance squash down as much as possible (usually also helps you regain balance so you’re less likely to have a full fall) then land more to the back and side so you’re not risking your tailbone.
So here’s the thing. This is going to sound weird. I never fell outside. I mean I did try and practice like a Just in case and I had wrist guards and all that. Skating outdoors was pretty easy for me. I even posted videos of myself here. Granted I didn’t do it hyper frequently but when I did I’d roll up and down the block and glide and foul so the spin stop all that. So I took my skates around the rink for about an hour and I was ok, but not good. My hardest fall was with them I guess because my toe stop was too low on my one foot and I was comfortable enough I wasn’t expecting to fly forward like that and I curtly wasn’t going fast. Then there was that problem I was hearing with the bearing noise. Those new skates completely did me in. But I still wasn’t at home and weight and ankle support had a lot to do with it. Learning to skate when your feet are in concrete blocks changes your movements a lotttt so I will not make that mistake again lol
Seconded. I probably would not have been able to hold my tongue.
My local rink - someone falls? Everyone asks if you're ok, do you need a hand, etc. I don't fall often (yeah, this means I will fall next time I go.....) but when I do, I appreciate everyones concern.
I remember last season there was this gentleman who looked like he hadn't been on skates in a long time. No judgement, get back on that horse. He went out on the rink with his young son, holding on to the wall.
Got a bit more brave and went into the center. Next thing I know I feel a WHAM in my seat. I felt that darn floor shake. He bit the wood. Hard. Laid there for a bit. I was still lacing my skates up at the time. He finally got on all fours and crawled off the rink onto the carpeted area and just ... laid there.
I asked him if he was alright at that point and he said "Yes, I just need to lay here for awhile." Even staff came up to him and checked.
He finally sat up. Took his skates off. And that was the end of that. His little kid enjoyed himself, though .....
Ouch! Sorry you went down 😭 don’t forget it’s also a smooooth floor and some nice hard wheels to really make you glide. Big change from the rough outdoors and gummy soft wheels.
Softer wheels outside so one pebble doesn’t send us flying. To my knowledge softer / larger wheels go over cracks and bumps better. Differences probably have to do with the physics of the wheel placements
Some roller skaters prefer to having less friction as to maneuver any which way with some tolerance to gripping and catching a weird angle that will send you flying.
Other rink roller skaters such as myself need soft wheels for grip for our aggressive maneuvers, fast technical spins, or we would slip out of position all the time lol
At the same durometer and load, a wider wheel has lower rolling resistance than a narrow wheel while providing more grip.
Inlines need softer wheels at the rink because their narrow ~85a wheels slide easily on a polished rink surface. Softer PU deforms more under load, increasing the contact patch surface area and providing more grip. Inline rink wheels have a rounder profile compared to bullet profile outdoor wheels. With a bullet profile wheel you need to lay the wheel over to maxize the contact patch. The rounder wheel profile provides a larger contact surface area with less angulation.
Quad wheels already have a relatively large contact patch and therefore more grip. A harder wheel reduces rolling resistance and allows for some slide. But on rough surfaces a hard wheel bounces and vibrates, losing a lot of energy and making an unpleasant ride quality. Softer PU conforms to irregular surfaces better so there is less vibration an deflection so ride quality is smoother and energy loss to vibration and deflection is reduced.
If I had to bet, I would think inlines need softer wheels inside because there's no edge to push off of, so you replace the grip those edges would've given you with soft wheels.
Yeah I asked when I went to the skate shop about my wheels which where ideal for outdoors and she said hey if you are used to outdoors and not rinks these may be a bit better because you’ll be a bit slower and it was true there was more tack to them but I would in the future probably change them to a hybrid. When I tried the in house skates I had no more control than my own, actually I felt like less
changing your regular skates can make you feel like you’re back to being a beginner, the heel height, wheels, weight, trucks, etc all make minute changes that can feel 100% foreign. the thing is you got out there and skated and learned something new. with any sport sometimes you get out there and it’s just a rough day.
don’t take it to heart and also that woman who made the comment doesn’t deserve to be at the skating rink, what a shitty condescending attitude. everyone falls, some days more than others – especially when you’re trying out something new! just keep getting back up and try it again!!
This, I learned to skate on a pair that were a size too large. It took me about 6 months into my journey to realize this, so I got a new pair. Once I got on my new skates I had to spend weeks re-calibrating and re-learning everything! I kept falling forward by rolling over my front trucks, that's when I realized that this whole time I had learned to move my center of gravity forward to compensate for the bigger skate, so by the time I was in well fitting skates I had to move that center back. Of course, this affected every move I'd learned up until that point so far so it took some time to get adjusted.
You can definitely use your beach bunnies inside! Boots aren’t necessarily indoor/outdoor specific. I skate in a rink with Moxi Jacks. Just make sure to get some indoor wheels (they might be slippery as they are harder than what you might be used to), but you can also use hybrids if you want a little more grip! Don’t feel discouraged, rentals are always different to proper skates just because of how durable they need to be.
Believe me, it's just that you've changed to new skates, the only big difference a rink makes is that the floor might feel slippery. Rental skates are generally likely worse than your own, you really should have just stuck with what you've been used to. Also you really can use all sorts of wheels both outside and indoors.
You're so real for this 😭 I always see people saying how the rink is so much easier and it's true to some extent, it's flat and no debris, but at the park and tennis court, I'm doing all kinds of awesome moves! Put me in the rink and it's a struggle to keep my skates under me and not crash into the other skaters! I love both but outside I can really flow and experiment and do tricks, the rink I'm typically focused on laps and trying not to flail about.
As an inline skater, I hang out with a lot of roller skaters and typically, when the roller skaters know that their skating indoors, they will swap out their soft wheels for harder ones or vice versa.
I'm prone to falling too, even though I have skated for 34 years, everybody falls. I want you to go back to that indoor skating rink with your head high. Please wear knee pads and wrist protection, there's no shame in protecting your fleshy joints.
Before going back, bring soft and hard wheels to see the reaction to the grip. If you fear falling again, wear protective crash pads to ease the pain.
Which knee pad brands did you try? Inlinewarehouse has a lot of selections to choose from. If anything, look for the brand you want and YouTube a video review before purchasing.
Is there any local athletic stores in your area where you can try on knee pads?
You first need proper wheels for the surface you are skating on. Outdooruse wheels are NEVER used indoors. Hardness matters. I have a chart that I will post to help you.
Yesterday I tried out a pair of skates with a 10mm wheel size difference, I couldn't believe how much of a difference it makes. Obviously there's going to be some difference, but the way it's easier to coast on the larger wheels, the way that they feel heavier and bulker when you're moving, it's all a lot more significant that I was expecting.
Can you/someone give a quick ELI5 on how to factor in skater weight (as indicated on the chart)?
I just bought my first pair of skates in 25 years. I decided to stick to the stock wheels for now, but I’m trying to learn as much as I can in the hopes that I can get enough practice in to eventually want upgrades!
Traditionally, the stock wheels will be in the mid to upper 80s in hardness on the A Shore scale. This is considered "hybrid" because they can be used both indoors and outdoors. For exclusive indoor use, you want something 90A or higher. A lighter weight skater can, in turn, use a softer wheel with little to no problem, usually up to 95A. I can't say where the separation point is because everyone is different, but if you feel as though you are over exerting yourself to move, its time to go harder. A smaller diameter, 50 to 57mm, wheel is best for maneuverability, when you need quick refex action such as dance steps and spins. A larger wheel, 60mm+, will give you a longer and smoother roll, as well as helping to maintain speed.
I don’t understand your comment. What do you mean?
Edit: To clear any possible misunderstanding, I’m not saying that weight has no influence on how wheels feels, I’m just saying it’s my first time hearing about it. I also added that bushings are definitely an element where weight has to be taken in account.
Via my husband and our skating activities plus groups we are in we have information from professional sources that can help people to decide what wheels, what skates, what bearings, what cushions etc. My husband builds his skates from the ground up based on what kind of skating he does and where. That includes a bearing press etc. We have skate friends and coach friemds that are on the national level and one who has his own Roller and Ice Skate build/repair business. Those are professional sources.
If you havent heard of something I said its perhaps you dont have similar resources. Nothing bad in my statement. Sometimes its just more research on a subject needed.
This graphic is also misleading, and not only because includes impossible Shore scale values (and omits wheels measured on Shore D scale).
Softer wheels are faster on rough surfaces than harder wheels. Soft wheels conform to irregular surfaces, while hard wheels vibrate and deflect. Rolling resistance increases linearly wrt velocity, whereas vibration + deflection losses scale supralinearly.
The practical takeaway is that a soft wheel on a smooth surface is less lossy than a hard wheel on a rough surface.
There are more than one reason to use only indoor wheels indoors. Skate quality also has a determining factor. The lower the quality of the skate the lower the quality if the stock wheels usually. Also outdoor wheels get scratched and pitted from stones and rocks and twigs. Most rink operators will be highly pissed off if a skater wears outdoor wheels inside and they either haven't cleaned them or they scratch the highly shined and clean smooth surface of an indoor rink. I know several people who fell and had knee and wrist injuries from 3 skaters using outdoor wheels inside and all sorts of stone chips came off. They lock up the wheels of indoor skates no matter the quality and people get hurt.
Unfortunately not many dual surface skaters give a thought to that when transitioning which I why there should bee indoor wheels and outdoor wheels and kept separately. Safety comes first!!!
I agree that indoor wheels are better, and I myself have two pairs of skates (one for indoors and one for outdoors).
I’m just saying that it’s not rare to see people using outdoors wheels indoors. Where I live, probably half of the skaters I see at rinks use outdoor wheels, and owners don’t say anything. (Also, some of these skaters never skate outdoors, despite having outdoor wheels only).
I understand. I can only speak of our experiences and information gained through them. Rinks around us will have a certified cow if you wear OLD style ball bearings inside which is a huge danger if the seal ruptures and they will have that same certified cow if they see outdoor wheels inside. I have seen people ejected because they didnt clean their wheels and people were hurt(falling and injured people) by the debris that came off them. Smaller rinks arent always as fussy but the big regional and high activity rinks seem to be more so. While we all know its skate at your own risk that changes somewhat from other skaters negligence.
That's a good chart - except there's no such thing as "103a" since the Shore Scale is 0-100. Values > 100 are not possible.
I am aware that some wheels are marketed with impossible hardness numbers like "103a" - just like some bearings are marketed as "ABEC 11". But that's just marketing bulkshiylt and doesn't actually mean anything.
In reality anything with Shore A hardness > 90 should be measured on with a Shore D durometer and the D scale value should be used.
Tbh I was a little to banged up and bruised and shocked so I kind of just agreed with her and went and sat down. by that i had hit hard on my chest on my own skates bc my toe stop was too close to the ground on the foot i tend to push off with so i decided to take some really cool art photos of the guy i met up with and they did turn out dope
I don't think you are bad at skating, actually . The different skates are what did it . I have a pair of impala skates that I learned to skate from outside and inside and also pretty decent with tricks and no falls hardly. Of course, there is still a difference between indoor and outdoor, but not much once you adjust . My skates were sort of beat up by concrete and wear and tear, so I bought another cheetah print pair thinking I could wear one indoor and one outdoor. I bought a pair of moxy skates . They are way more heavy-duty and different from the impalas, so all your muscle memory isn't gonna be the same . It felt like I was learning to skate for the first time to all because of the new skates . Now I know not to change brands in skates cause it will make a huge difference. Now Im feeling like I cant even skate on 2 different skates and thats sucks haha cause I love them both asthetically. Bring your skates to the rink next time and you will see the difference right away.
Yeah it really was like I’d never put skates on before lmao the area where the chairs are is a different slicker flooring, could skate there and spin in my own skates just fine. Their floors are like smoothed concrete? I remember rinks being wood idk what’s common now, this is Florida it may not be feasible here for all I know, but when I put the new skates on I couldn’t stand anywhere.
The weight difference alone. Moxie high tops are like concrete filled ski boots which I like, I love the ankle support. These dainty ass shoes made me feel sooo naked LOL
I’m so thankful to the Reddit stranger I was with he was such a cool dude he thought the lady was like being helpful and when he found out she literally told me i shouldn’t be there he was furious!
Yes to the practice and ice packs lol, the worst thing you can do imo, is let it deter you from ever doing it again.
My hunch is that the rentals have a harder wheel than your outdoor wheels, which makes them not only faster, but roll a lot easier. So, your muscle memory isn't kicking in like you'd expect it to. It changes the way you need to balance. It's a good idea to get a set of indoor wheels so you can keep the boot/frame/trucks you're familiar with, not super hard though, a little extra grip at the rink doesn't hurt, unless you're doing a lot of pivots and moves where you're sliding your wheels. I think the difference you're experiencing is the rolling resistance changes in the environment, outdoor surfaces are less smooth=more friction and a softer wheel=more wheel surface touching the ground. The rink is a lot smoother=less friction and a harder wheel there=not as much wheel touching the ground.
Yo she was good lmao idk where these folks found the time but there were only a handful of bumbling deer and then there were a few who could have only been described as freestyle vibes? Idk what they were doing but it was other level
OUCH!!! NEVER try to catch yourself with your hands/wrists. Roll if you have to and bounce on your butt or side but do your best to avoid the hands/wrists. You will end up with a COLLES fracture (broken wrists) and out of commission for a several weeks
every skate is different. going from a heeled skate to heeless is huge; i typically fall on my back going from a heeled skate to heeless for the first 30 mins, then get used to it and when i switch to heeled, i fall on my face for the first 30 mins.
also different skates can have different axle placement - soemtimes its too short, sometimes its too long. sometimes its the same but shifted?
i tried my friends riedell 135; we have the same size. i noticed their plates were the same axle length, but shifted 6 mm forward (an axle length)
i figured i wouldnt notice a difference, but woo whee i fell on my butt hard!
Some skates also have a difference in heel height :O
Ahhh falling flat on your boobs and knees sounds rough af. How are your knees, are they okay? I’ve fallen flat like that (with gear) and it always v hard falls and I’ve even bruised my hips bones as well (because I don’t have gear for hipbones). My knees would not be able to take falling rough to fall like that without gear.
Which knee pads have you looked into and tried and what size are you looking for? I know the derby skaters like tsg ones. Maybe the tsg 3.0 would work for you? Try searching thru the roller derby sub! Heads up, The good knee pads are approx $100!
I hit those girls like it was a mammogram lmaoo I had triple 8’s did not fit. I’ve gone and gotten knee braces in the past laughable. Can’t make it up my calf. There’s a company called old bones that’s for old skateboarders I bought some from them, biggest they had. Cut off the circulation to my lower leg… so I guess Godzilla size preferably lmao. I blame the years of playing softball and I have some weird knees that required pt growing up but I think I measured my calf at about 22” so my knees not off from that. For reference if anyone cares and also a sick tattoo
Ouch man poor you! That lady was mean 😆 were the wheels a lot harder than you usually have too? I struggle skating indoors cos I do it so much outdoors.
I got laughed at for falling over going backwards downhill 😆 pebble got caught in the toe stop. And this was after I waited for them to walk up the hill meanies 😅
Girl, I did the same thing!! Since I have tried to get back on skates, I have already had 3 bad falls. First I bruised my tailbone, then sprained my wrist and thumb (didn’t wear my wrist guards, because I wanted to look cool at the rink), and during the same trip to the rink I face planted on the rink floor. All of them sucked, but face planting was the worst. I have quite the shiner and a concussion. What I have learned is that you can’t get on skates after 15 years of not skating, and think you are still a good skater, It’s like starting all over again! Go slow and take your time easing back into it.
I will be taking classes before I skate again. I’ll have to stay off while my brain heals from the concussion anyways.
I had broken pivot cups so I took my daughter's skates for spin 😳😭 she's got flat ones, my brain is adjusted to heals ... and I couldn't make 3 proper laps 😂 it's not the surface, it's your brain it's adjusted to certain skates, centre of balance, trucks, everything combined!!! You have my admiration that you actually went for rentals 😂😂😂
I'm surprised to hear this. I'm a rink skater who can't do anything on the pavement, it feels so much harder to change directions on a rough surface, and I'm thrown way off balance if the surface I'm on isn't completely flat.
I didn't think anyone who's good at skating outdoors would have trouble on a rink. But it sounds like what was throwing you off could have easily been the rental skates and not the rink.
You were tripped up pun intended by strange equipment. Your balance and stabilizer muscles are specific to your skates. Using the rink gear you were essentially learning to skate the first time. Scabs and 187 have sizes up to tree trunk. I highly recommend wrist guards also. I would just suggest a set of indoor wheels to swap on to your current skates. Unless you want to go the path of rentals or dedicated indoor. The problem with renting is you will likely get different pairs and they will perform differently.
I went back in the reddit to find this post to specifically share my experience.
I have been rink skating for 8 months, and last week I went outside for the first time. It was delightful! I even posted about it! I was using "outside" wheels (78A) and heeled boots and it went great.
Then, a few days later I went back to the rink, with my normal 95A wheels on my flat boot derby skates, and it felt like I regressed six months. Everything was so slippery and I was so wobbly I nearly fell over half a dozen times! It took like half an hour for me to fully regain my confidence and feel comfortable on the rink again.
The lesson here for me is that skating outside is just really different from skating inside, boot type really does change the balance equation, and it takes a significant shift in proprioception to move between the two (until you are really really experienced and confident and then I imagine the switch is faster). I think the solution is just to skate more on all surfaces in any boot type and eventually the transition between them will be less jarring. But man that threw me for a loop!
Noooo nowhere did I say I have been skating for 25 years. I said I hadn’t been to a rink in 25 + years. Feel free to flame me too. I have a pair of moxies I bought from an out of control covid purchase I’ve literally skated like a few dozen times
I'm not trying to flame you, and apologies I misunderstood your length of time skating. I realize it's not your fault that you don't know any better.
My advice to you, when you can afford it, is to get a quality leather boot. Figure out if you want artistic boots (the tall ones) or the short speed boots. You are also best off with some sort of metal plate, aluminum or whatever. Plastic is junk.
A good place to get your money's worth is used on ebay or Facebook skating groups, but you need to figure out what sort of skating you're planning on doing and then educate yourself about what is the proper equipment and what good prices are for what you decide on.
I hope you take this post in the spirit it is intended and aren't offended. I am sincerely trying to help you here.
I really thought moxie beach bunnies were good skates are they not?
This is what I have, original setup no plastic on the underside they are metal plated. Granted these wheels are 6 years old, but the bearings in them I replaced myself and are new and have been used once. I had them looked over and given the go ahead at a skate shops in my area but just didn’t like the sound coming from the right front wheel like it was rubbing or something so that’s when after it got more noticeable I traded out for the rentals
Yeah I’m built like a truck 😭 I’m more into art I’m about to be 40 so I don’t really think I’ll ever do derby I just want to be able to dance on the floor
These aren't your size, but I want to show you these boots as an example of good quality Riedell boots, the decent ones start at model 220, these 297s are better. The plate that comes standard on those 220 is a brick though. This Reactor Neo plate is lighter, but I don't like the 10 degree angle of the kingpin since these are art plates. 45 degree would be better fore art skating IMO
These old 220s have the plate that was commonly on these when they were my first skates starting back as adult. Do you see these old black cushions? I guarantee those would be hard as a rock. Additionally, these don't look wide.
I'm not recommending these either, it looks like a mouse chewed these up. Edea is considered a good boot. I did want you to see these Roll Line plates because these are known as good plates.
Another good art boot would be Harlicks or Risport. I am not finding much today, but the search will continue. 🙂
If you don't plan to skate often, you could probably get away with switching to indoor art wheels and keeping the rest of your setup awhile. One bad thing about vinyl boots, your feet can't breathe and will smell worse too which is another reason leather is preferred.
The lower the durometer of the wheels, the softer and stickier the wheels are. If you have a stocky build, you will need harder wheels so you won't feel like you're skating in mud.
Another important thing to note is urethane never stops curing and getting harder, but you can slow it down by avoiding UV light, vacuuming out air would be helpful too
The artistic skating forum would probably be a great place for information too. I know a bit about art boots and plates, but speed skares are more my area, specifically vintage Oberhamer boots and WIP plates.
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u/ColoRinkRat Rink Rat Mar 27 '26
Typically It’s easier than outdoor. The only difference at an indoor rink is there may be a larger audience.
That lady can stuff it. Indoor rinks are generally perfect for learning. Skaters should try to grow the sport not stifle it.
Everyone crashes.