Jiil
Age: 2023
Total Posts: 0
Points: 10
Location:
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You have decided to take up roller skating and went either to a skate store or online to look at the different kinds of wheels. Most people who begin roller skating think that they need to decide mostly what color wheel would be best, but fail to realize that a lot more detail is needed to get the right wheel. For an example, you can select a wheel with a beautiful color and want to use that wheel outside, but unfortunately with a 97A hardness it will make your experience anything but enjoyable.
Here are some basic guidelines to follow depending on the kind of skating you want to enjoy.
If you want to use your skates for speed skating, I would suggest a wheel that has a hardness of 94A and higher. Speed wheels are always harder wheels and because they are hard it enables the skater to travel at higher speeds with less physical effort. Most speed skaters pick a wheel that is not smaller than 62mm in diameter but also not much larger. They also typically like the width of the wheel to be about 40mm. Of course these wheels would be used indoors.
If you are not into speed skating, but regular skating on the rink, I would look for something that has a hardness of 90A or higher. Unless you are a very experienced skater I would stay with a wheel that is about 62mm in diameter and a width of 35 to 44mm. But if you are more experienced and into artistic skating a wheel 55 to 65mm is common. Also, you would want a narrower wheel to allow you to easily move around the skate floor. A 30 to 32mm wheel in width would work. Artistic skaters also like their wheels very hard. They typically like them to be somewhere between 97A and harder. But the big difference between the artistic skater and the regular skater is the smaller and narrower wheel they would pick.
If you plan to use your skate outside, you want a wheel that is a lot softer that will handle the pebbles and cracks in pavement that you will experience. In order to do that, you need to select a wheel that has an hardness under 90A. Most outdoor wheels range from 78A to 85A. I also would suggest a wheel size of anywhere from 60mm to 70mm. The larger the wheel the faster you will go. Also, the width could be anywhere from 32mm to up to 42mm.
Some like to get a wheel that would be good for both indoors and outdoors. There are a few wheels like the Atom Poison that might be workable but usually it is better to pick a wheel for outdoor use and another for indoor use and just change your wheels when you change surfaces. All you need is a skate wrench.
