Knowing your inline skates – Inline skate parts

Inline skates are made out of a of different parts. Knowing what each part does is crucial in knowing your inline skates. Below you can find the definition of each and what you should look for.

Wheel profile

Wheels have different profiles. Either flat, urban or speed.

Flat is most often found on aggressive skates. These wheels have a basically flat profile touching the ground. This gives you extra stability but makes it harder to make turns. Suggested for aggressive inline skating and learning stunts.

Urban profile is most often found on freeride skates and fitness skates. This is the most common profile and good for tricks as well as speed and making turns. Recommended for most disciplines, you can not go wrong with an urban wheel profile.

Speed profile is mostly found on speed and race inline skates. The wheels have a very small surface touching the ground. This makes them good for going in high speeds but less stable than the urban or flat profile. Suggested for speed, race or performance fitness inline skating.

Bearing quality

Bearings are the round things which can be found in the centre of your wheel. Each wheel has two bearings and the bearings are responsible for how smooth your wheel turns. The bearing size is universal (308 bearings) so any bearing will fit in your wheel but there are a lot of different quality bearings.

From low to high in quality they go as follows: ABEC-5, ABEC-7, ABEC-9, Swiss, Ceramic. A Swiss bearing for example will roll better than an ABEC-7 bearing.

There are more measurement systems such as MW or ILQ but an MW7 or ILQ 7 bearing is going to be similar in quality as an ABEC-7 bearing. Swiss and Ceramic bearings are a higher class by its own. An ABEC-9 or equivalent bearing is going to be good enough for a beginner or intermediate inline skater.

Frame material

Frames are not all made equal. The main difference is in the frame material and there are three main ones: Plastic, Aluminium and Carbon frames.

Plastic frames are mostly found on cheaper skates. These frames are not as strong as carbon or aluminium frames and have less power transfer. Only consider buying a skate with plastic frames as a beginner as most quality inline skates have ay least an aluminium frame. Plastic frames are cheaper to make. The one exception where plastic frames are used even for intermediate and advanced inline skates is in stunt or aggressive inline skating.

Aluminium frames are the frames found on most skates. They are strong, solid and have a good performance. Advised for all levels of inline skaters. This is the mid-level of price and quality and you can’t go wrong with an aluminium frame.

Carbon frames are found on the higher end inline skates. They are lighter than aluminium frames and a lot more expensive. Advised for fitness, speed, race and freeride inline skate riders.

Three, four (or five wheels)

Inline skate models come with a different amount of wheels on them.

Three wheels on an inline skate allow you to have bigger wheels while still maintaining a short frame base. An inline skate with three wheels will allow you to go faster and cover large distances more easily. Mostly advised for fitness, freeride, race and speed. Three wheel inline skates or also known as tri-skates are fast but less stable than four wheel inline skates. Inline skaters who are not beginners anymore and are looking for a faster inline skate to cruise will be happy with tri-skates.

Four wheel inline skates are the most common. They offer a good balance between speed and stability. This makes them good for people who not only want to cruise, but also try out doing some tricks. Also advised for complete beginners as they are more stable than tri-skates. You can’t go wrong with four wheel inline skates.

Five wheel inline skates are very specific to downhill inline skating and in a few cases speed and race. You will not find many inline skates with five wheels because they are not common at all and even in downhill and speed and race nearly all inline skates are with four and three wheels, but it is worth mentioning that they exist!

Hard shell or soft shell

Inline skates come with a soft or a hard outer shell. You can easily identify them by feeling the outside of the skate. If it has a hard outer shell it is a hard shell, if it feels more like a shoe (soft) it is a soft shell.

Soft shell inline skates are can be found in most categories but are most common for fitness. Soft shell inline skates come in many more designs than hard shells and usually feel a bit less tight than hard shell inline skates.

Hard shell inline skates are the most common. They have a hard outer shell and a removable liner (which is soft of course). They are the most common in all categories except for fitness, freestyle, speed and race. They can take a hit a lot better than soft shells and are the most optimal way of making an inline skate.

Wheel hardness

Wheel hardness is measure in the A scale. A wheel is usually between 70-90A.

Wheels between 70-80A are ideal for indoor use, for example for slalom or inline hockey. They have a lot of grip. However they should not be used outside because they are too soft and will degrade quickly.

Wheels between 80-90A are good for outside and inside use. They come in a lot of different sizes and quality levels but as long as the hardness is between 80-90A you will be able to use them outside.

Break included or not

Not all inline skates come equipped with a brake out of the box. It is possible however to put a brake on all inline skates.

A brake is mostly advised for beginners. It helps to learn the first steps in breaking. While using a brake try to learn to brake without one.

Advanced users do not like a brake on their inline skate. They can brake in other ways and find that the brake gets in the way of their skating.