What are important things to know before buying roller blades? whats the difference between skates and blades?

You might need to know the sizing, just in case they don't run true to size. Rollerskates have their wheels set up like a skateboard with trucks. Rollerblades look like ice skates with wheels on them. But, truthfully, the words "blades" and "skates" get thrown around a lot and used interchangeably.

What are important things to know before buying roller blades? whats the difference between skates and blades?
Inline skates (Rollerblade is a brand name like Kleenex rather than a type of skate) are the more common version of roller skates. The other version, with 4 wheels in a rectangle, is now called quad skates.





First decide on how you want to skate and how much.


Most people fall into the recreation/fitness catagories. They skate on streets or trails to go some distance.


Unless a skate is labeled for a specific use (hockey, agressive, racing, figure) it is going to be rec/fitness.





There are two major brands of rec/fit skates in the US.


Rollerblade (they created the first modern inline skate and made it popular) and K2. They have the money to do research and engineering on new features and it shows. There are some minor brands like RollerDerby that are good but not as good and then there are some discount store brands that are store specific and tend to be really poor.


The smaller brands may cause you problems when you try to find replacement brakes or other parts.





Larger wheels roll better (also over objects) than small wheels. 80mm is the smallest wheel size that has a large variety of replacements. Unless you have a real reason (slalom or dance moves) to want small wheels, I recommend looking for 80mm or larger.





A metal frame is better than plastic. A single piece extruded frame is best.





The difference between recreational and fitness is very blurry. Fitness skates are for skating faster and farther. Their boots tend to be a couple inches shorter for more flexibility. They usually have 90 or 100 mm wheels and extruded frames that are longer than the cheaper rec skates.





Fit is critical. Loose feels good in the store but causes problems later.


You want the skate to be a part of your foot. It should be snug all around the foot without pinching your toes.


Try on as many skates as you can find in your range. Different models and brands have different foot shapes in mind. Try both men's and women's skates. The companies use different foot shapes for them and the "wrong" one might fit your foot better.





Get a helmet and wrist guards. I have known a person who died after hitting the back of his head in a fall. I know others who went through months of headaches after helmetless falls.


Your hands will hit the ground in almost any fall and wrist guards can save you a lot of painful road rash.



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