To All Noobs

[lee-mcdonald]

There is NO best skate, its all opinion all skates are different there are no best skates for noobs. There are skates with lots of flex and some with almost no flex, depending on what you like you should choose the skate, ask questions like that, not what skate is best.

FRAMES-
Freestyle: 2 wheels per frame, 1 in the front 1 in the back. These frames have lots of grind space and are cheapest 2 buy because you only need 4 wheels and 8 bearings in total.The wheels will wear down faster though and you will sacrifice speed and handling for grind space. The disadvantages are your tricks can look a bit sloppier. An example of a freestyle frame is the mook -
notice there are only holes for 2 wheels per frame.

Anti- rocker: anti rocker frames have 2 large outer wheels and small inner wheels that are usually harder than the outside ones. These give you more grind space but when you roll off a curb or down a ramp you wont lock up like on freestyle frame. example
notice, small wheels in the middle, large on the outside

Flat rocker: these are the frames that come with most Rollerblades, all 4 wheels in the frame. Advantages of these are you will be allot faster and have better handling, but for this you sacrifice grind space and they can be more costly to buy because you need 8 wheels and 16 bearings.


Wheels: wheels are classified by hardness and size. Before buying wheels you should look at the maximum size wheel your frame will allow and not buy larger than that or they wont fit. Hardness is how hard or soft the wheel is, softer wheels are good for smooth parks because it is, well, smooth and nothing is there to take a chunk out of your wheel while hard wheels are better for street because they can handle rougher terrain but can be slippery on smooth concrete. On web sites the wheels will normally be labeled like 56mm/90 this means the wheel is 56mm in diameter and has a hardness of 90. 56/90 is about the average wheel size/hardness. It is good for both street and park skating.

Bearings: There are many different bearing companies, from abec rated to bearings that have to rating, its pretty basic, the higher the price the better. Some may disagree but for example bones swiss ceramic bearings are 120$ for 8 while bones reds are 16$ for 8, i have used both and there is a HUGE difference between them. The ceramics destroy the reds but are very expensive. Bones bearings are good because they are strong, fast and some are cheap. Abec rating is how fast/smoothly the bearings spin, again, the higher the abec rating, the more expensive the better.

I hope this helps everyone choose skates, bearings, wheels and frames so we don't see anymore topics "best noob skate" and stuff like that

sticky?

[s243a]

Great post but I don’t think it will stop the noob post. It will though make it easy to provide an answer by just giving a link. As for beginner skates some may argue it is better for a beginner to skate with a skate that gives good support. Of course you are right that it comes down to preference.

Also I think some flat setups don’t have big enough gaps. So I’d be careful when buying a flat setup. A smaller skater with smaller feet may need smaller wheels to have a reasonable sized gap in a flat setup. A high lo setup may be preferable to a flat setup for someone with really small feet.

I certainly agree with you on your statement about bones bearings. I haven’t tried any ABEC bearings so I can’t say how useful a guide it is. In my opinion first choose a good brand of bearings and then once you have selected a good brand then I’d agree the more expensive the better. Bones bearings are good. The brand “Crap” is good for the price. I here vicious bearings are good. I haven’t heard much about renegade bearings. One thing I think is important is for bearings to have a removable shield so they are easier to clean.

As for weather you should spend a lot of money on bearings well I think it depends. If you skate mostly vert then I recommend it so you don’t tier fast. If you skate street then I would ask how clean and smooth are the streets. The cleaner and smoother the street the more sense it makes to spend money on good bearings. If the streets are rough and dirty then I wouldn’t waste money on top of the line bearings unless I had a lot of money to waste. If you are going to skate in rain or though puddles don’t spend a lot of money on bearings because you are going to go though them too fast.

[lee-mcdonald]

if some1 wants me to add information about something tell me and i will

[irishboy]

i think abec ratings refer to the precision with witch the bearings were made and not have fast they spin. i could be wrong though.

[irishboy]

i think abec ratings refer to the precision with witch the bearings were made and not have fast they spin. i could be wrong though.

[lee-mcdonald]

yea it is, but more precise the faster and smoother

[s243a]

Originally Posted by lee-mcdonald

if some1 wants me to add information about something tell me and i will

There is some good stuff here:
http://roller-nation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=236

Anyway, I think this should be a start to discussion not an end to discussion. I enjoyed reading the reviews here and it helped me decide on my skates when I started.

[SkateR174]

anything else about having just 2 wheels on your frames???i heard having only 2 wheels could mess up the frames more and will be harder to buy the anti rockers because it would be harder to put them in...

[lee-mcdonald]

if you buy flat frames and only use 2 wheels yea but if you want a freestyle setup or an anti setup buy that type of frame

[ZacC]

Hello, I'm a noob and I think it would be cool for me to go over a few more things that I wanted to know about before I bought my first skates 3 days ago.

First, if you don't have any fear and just do it, there is no real issue with buying skates that don't come with brakes. All you have to do to stop is drag a single skate's wheels sideways behind you.

Although some people say these aggressive skates require a minimum of intermediate level partly because of the lack of brakes, I am already doing power slides, basic jumps, and basic grinds.

I had never before been on any type of skate except a skateboard, but only for about two weeks before these in-lines. I decided to learn how to ride a skateboard and in-lines in the same month. I'm 20 years old and just never had the desire to do either when I was younger, I also wanted to learn how to ride a skateboard so I could more easily learn to snowboard. Yes, I'm a little embarassed about this subject, but not too much. You shouldn't either if you're old like me and stumbled upon this thread.

Coming back to the original subject, I'd say the main concern you should have when buying your noob skates is fit and how breathable the liner is. These things make my feet sweat like hell. This is personal preference so just try to find a store and wear the skates for 10 minutes, if you're like me you'll start to sweat in 5.

The skates I decided to buy were TRS Downtown iii's. I didn't think they were the best skate for me, but they were the only real aggressive skate that Sport's Authority offers and I don't have any in-line skate stores within a reasonable distance of me (they also match my normally dark color scheme). The TRS' do have plastic brakes on the side, but they wear like butter and are slightly harder to use as brakes than the wheels because you have to stick out your leg more to obtain the proper scrape angle.

It is also possible to easily obtain an entirely new oem set of frames, bearings, and wheels for these skates for 35 bucks online, which is a nice bonus. Also, even though the plastic brakes wear like butter it is possible to stop in a very short distance and with no pain by dragging one skate's wheels, side brakes, and the plastic ridged piece found in many wrist guards. This may come in handy if you ride on very sloped terrain and with a lot of traffic, as I do.

Another piece of advice, I regret (after only 3 days) not buying the best production aggressive skates available (which of course is personal preference, but everyone would agree that my TRS iii set is not the best). At the same time, I can already tell that my wheels and frames are going to be eradicated in no time flat, so I'm very glad it will only cost me 35 bucks to replace the entire assembly on both of my skates.

As a complete editing sidenote, in my opinion the rear wheel on the TRS skates stick out too far. I could definately be more graceful in my moves if they weren't so far back. I can also tell skating will be much easier in the future as I build certain muscle groups that I've never really worked before, especially the damn tendon at the rear of my foot.

[Deca]

OK on aggressive skates, you don't want brakes. Period. They'll get in your way and hurt you at some point.

As far as OEM replacements, you shouldn't be overly concerned with that. Stuff wearing out on your skates, especially if youre unhappy with them like you mentioned, is a chance to replace them with superior hardware. UFS is pretty much the best thing ever.

As far as buying a first pair goes, I'd have to say its best to spend about 200 dollars if you're buying something that isn't used. You'll only wish you had better skates if you don't, I've seen a few people go through that and I haven't even been in the community that long.

You're first skates will last longer than you probably think, so you might as well get something good and something you really like.

[ZacC]

Most new skater guides recommend buying skates with brakes, I'm saying in my experience it's ok to just jump right into aggressives.

I'm not really unhappy with any of the stuff that's wearing out except for the side plastic brakes, which in my understanding require purchase of a new boot??? Is that true?

[CherryFlavoredJustice]

Originally Posted by ZacC

Most new skater guides recommend buying skates with brakes, I'm saying in my experience it's ok to just jump right into aggressives.

I'm not really unhappy with any of the stuff that's wearing out except for the side plastic brakes, which in my understanding require purchase of a new boot??? Is that true?

What do you mean by side plastic? The Side of the Boot? In that case, you should just have to buy a new boot. The Frame? Just buy new frames. The UFS System is great

[s243a]

Originally Posted by Deca

OK on aggressive skates, you don't want brakes. Period. They'll get in your way and hurt you at some point.

I skated vert for a year on my fitness skates and never took the break off. You can do it but it is not the best. It makes a lot more sence on fitness skates then agressive skates. Aggressive skates are slower, give a lot more support and are a lot easier to stop on without a break. There is really no need for a heal break on agressive skates.

[s243a]

Originally Posted by Deca

OK on aggressive skates, you don't want brakes. Period. They'll get in your way and hurt you at some point.

As far as OEM replacements, you shouldn't be overly concerned with that. Stuff wearing out on your skates, especially if youre unhappy with them like you mentioned, is a chance to replace them with superior hardware. UFS is pretty much the best thing ever.

As far as buying a first pair goes, I'd have to say its best to spend about 200 dollars if you're buying something that isn't used. You'll only wish you had better skates if you don't, I've seen a few people go through that and I haven't even been in the community that long.

You're first skates will last longer than you probably think, so you might as well get something good and something you really like.

I agree the 200-300 dollar range is a good place to start when buying skates. My cult 6s would only cost 150 if I didn't change anything but I upgraded the frames so they cost more. I am very happy with them as a skate. I wouldn't mind having a second skate anyway later on if I wanted to try Remz for instance. That way I could have one setup flat and one freestyle setup.

[lee-mcdonald]

what is this side brake your talking about, the dt 3's have no brake, are you using the soul plate as a brake

[ZacC]

Yeah, I've seen them called brakes on the downtown iiis before. Maybe it was actually a screw-up on the little sports authority sign . . . Even so, just found out they are changeable so that's good, hah. I like to use the soul plates and the wheels at the same time, super quick.

Sorry for the confusion yo.

[irishboy]

i used to stop by dragging one foot too lolol.

as far as breathable liners goes, the new jug big j liners or ninja liners or whatever they're called claim to be more breathable then previous neoprene liners. they're pretty expensive at 89 bucks but you should check 'em out anyways.

and nearly everything on your skates, and most skates for that matter, is replacable so i wouldn't worry too much about wear.

but depending on where you live, you're probably gonna wanna buy your stuff from online shops. they're have the best products and prices, and the people who work there know what they're talking about so they can help you out. they usually have some pretty sick deals too.

[ZacC]

Appreciate the advice

[armysk8er]

hey i just got the down town III too and i like em those so called breaks on the side of the boots are really cheep grind plates lol if u read ur owners guid it says that some where. i just snow plow to stop either that or just kinda do a circle