Light up wheels

[Arilee]

Hi
My 6yr old has some entry level Rio quads. For her birthday I'm looking to get her some light up wheels. The wheels on her skates are 54mm but most of the light up wheels I'm seeing are 58mm I'm just wondering if it will cause her a problem?

She's learning some artistic skating if that's relevant.

[zebra1922]

I don't see any particular problem with a change from 54mm to 58mm wheels. The smaller wheels will be more manoeuvrable and better suited overall to artistic skating but 58mm wheels will also work.

One thing about light up wheels is they tend to be softer, around 78a. This is less important for a 6 year old than it is for a rather weighty fella like me, but you might want to compare with the hardness of your current wheels or speak the coach to check whether the hardness of light up wheels suitable for artistic skating.

Regardless you could buy a set and use them for the more fun skating sessions and swap back to the 54mm for lessons/practice. If you do this I'd advise buying bearings as well. It's easy to change a set of wheels, its a bit of a pain if you have to swap the bearings as well.

[Arilee]

thank you

[zebra1922]

Originally Posted by Arilee

thank you

And rereading your initial post, the wheels you currently have are likely to be a similar hardness to the light up ones, so shouldn’t be a problem swapping.

A set can be relatively expensive, I use eBay to find cheap second hand skates that also have light up wheels. You can normally find some for £15 or less, take the wheels then resell the skates. Wheels cost net less than £10 that way instead of around £35-40 for a. Rand new set.

[Doc Sk8]

Light up wheels are not good for any kind of serious sk8ing. Too soft and the power to light them up come out of the roll. I would advise against it.

[leshomes]

Thumbs Up

[zebra1922]

Originally Posted by Doc Sk8

Light up wheels are not good for any kind of serious sk8ing. Too soft and the power to light them up come out of the roll. I would advise against it.

True, but we’re talking about a 6 year old wanting to enjoy skating. Yes non light up wheels will roll better, but sometimes it’s just about the fun. I’d advise to go for it!

[Mort]

This is Doc's specialized forum, and it's common courtesy to allow his response to a question in his forum first before adding a response of your own for the OP. That is , after all, why this portion of SLF exists. To ask an expert.

Originally Posted by zebra1922

I don't see any particular problem with a change from 54mm to 58mm wheels. The smaller wheels will be more manoeuvrable and better suited overall to artistic skating but 58mm wheels will also work.

One thing about light up wheels is they tend to be softer, around 78a. This is less important for a 6 year old than it is for a rather weighty fella like me, but you might want to compare with the hardness of your current wheels or speak the coach to check whether the hardness of light up wheels suitable for artistic skating.

Regardless you could buy a set and use them for the more fun skating sessions and swap back to the 54mm for lessons/practice. If you do this I'd advise buying bearings as well. It's easy to change a set of wheels, its a bit of a pain if you have to swap the bearings as well.

Personally, I'd buy what I could afford, and try to add lights on the skates separately of the wheels. This maximizes performance and aesthetics. Both the lights and the wheels can be transferred to a new skate setup. They can also be turned off if the skater wishes. Also, the urethane will eventually haze, and the lights dim. Light up wheels dont ususlly last a long time , and they have to be tighter on the axle which causes drag in itself.

The better the product you buy to start with the more likely you can succeed at a resale.

Better wheels roll and perform better and will resell easily compared to cheap ones.

The right cushions make a huge improvement on how a skate handles, one can use flat washers instead of cupped retainers for instance, lots of ways to help a little kiddo make the skate work for them.

Bearings, dont spend big money here. Get cheap ones. If you must be choosy, get the ones with plastic retainers(the things that hold the balls) buying high dollar bearings is the last thing I'd ever do.

[zebra1922]

Originally Posted by Mort

This is Doc's specialized forum, and it's common courtesy to allow his response to a question in his forum first before adding a response of your own for the OP. That is , after all, why this portion of SLF exists. To ask an expert.

Good grief, a forum where you're not allowed to post an opinion or ask a question without waiting for Godot first. How bizarre.

You've got to be pretty insecure to complain about people posting on a forum answering a question. Don't want me to post on the forum, put a block on.

[Mort]

Originally Posted by zebra1922

Good grief, a forum where you're not allowed to post an opinion or ask a question without waiting for Godot first. How bizarre.

You've got to be pretty insecure to complain about people posting on a forum answering a question. Don't want me to post on the forum, put a block on.

I'm not the boss here. I'm just giving you the right information. This is taken from the top of every post contained within this forum.

"Ask DocSk8 (Expert Indoor Skate Building Advice)*This forum is different then the other SkateLog forums in that it is not a discussion forum, but rather a place you can ask skate building expert Fred "DocSk8" Benjamin about building and repairing indoor speed, derby, and jamskate quad roller skates. Please start a new thread for each new question."

The purpose of this forum is for a professional to give feedback to a user who wants a professionals reflection on their question.

You'll get the hang of it, more specifically this is a special part of SLF where people seek Doc's input, if they wanted everyone else's theyd ask in the main or other forums.

It wouldnt matter who replied, I'd tell them the same as that has been told to me. You're not getting any special treatment, just the same reply everyone would get. No need to get offended or feel special, or singled out. It is what it is.