Inline Skating Wheel Set Up Guide

There are lots of different wheel set ups for inline skates but which one is ideal for you? Let’s take a look at what each one offers.

Freestyle

The freestyle wheel set up is when there are only two wheels on each frame one in the front and one in the back. In between the two wheels there are no wheels or bumps but a big space for grinds in the shape of a triangle. This gives more space for grinds and is especially good when skating on the street where sometimes the obstacles are more rough that in skateparks. This used to be popular set up for aggressive inline skaters but now it is less common. The wheels used in this set up are about 60mm, a bit smaller or a bit bigger but not more than 80mm. This set up is good for aggressive inline skaters who want to do tricks that need more space on the h-block to grip the obstacle.

Anti-rocker

Arguably the classic aggressive inline skating wheel set up where the outside two wheels are a bit bigger and the middle two wheels are small hard wheels called anti-rockers. Only the front and back wheel are touching the ground at all times and the middle two anti-rockers are just there to help you land your grinds. They are as hard as the h-block but they spin a bit. They help to land grinds right in the middle and not get too much friction if they touch the ledge as you would with a normal wheel in its place. The wheels used in this set up are usually 60mm, they can be smaller or also bigger but maximum 80mm. This is one of the best and most used wheel set ups for aggressive inline skating. An inline skate with an anti-rocker wheel set up is the Razors Cult Gold.

Flat

This is the classic and most used wheel set up there is. This is when all wheels are the same size and touch the ground at the same time. The wheels can be any size in this set up from 55mm to 125mm. There can also be any amount of wheels on this setup be it two, three, four or five. This is the ideal set up for most activities, you really can’t go wrong with this one and high chance that the skates you have at the moment have this wheel setup. A inline skate with a flat set up is the FR1 80.

Rockered

The rockered set up is used in slalom inline skating and is when the front and back wheel are slightly higher up than the middle wheels. This means that when standing straight only the middle wheels are touching the ground. Likewise when leaning in front only the front two wheels touch the grind and when leaning to the back only the back two wheels are touching. This set up can be achieved by achieved by having a rockered frame. It can also be achieved by putting two smaller wheels on the front and back of a flat frame. It can also be achieved by the use of asymmetrical axles that can switch your skate from flat to rockered set up such as seen on the HC EVO. An inline skate that has a purely rockered wheel set up is the Seba WFSC.

Hi-Lo

In this set up the back wheels are bigger and the front wheels smaller with all wheels touching the ground at the same time. The bigger wheels in the back give the benefit of speed and the small wheels the benefit of manoeuvrability. The fact that all wheels touch the ground gives added stability. This set up is often used in inline hockey. Thank you for reading this far! If you have any questions you can email us at info@slidingtiger.eu.