Inline Skates Categories and Buying Guide

There are a lot of different types of inline skates and some are better suited for certain activities than others. Below we will try to cover all the main types there are and help you find the right one for you!

Slalom

The discipline of slalom inline skating is about slaloming between cones set at a certain distance apart from each other. This discipline is most often practised on inline skates with four wheels of 80mm. It is also practised with sometimes smaller wheels of for example 72mm or 76mm. Rarely it is practised with three bigger wheels of 90mm. The most important aspect here is manoeuvrability and control and much less speed. That is why 80mm is an ideal sized wheel for this discipline. Another aspect found often on slalom inline skates is the rockered set up. This means the middle two wheels are touching the ground and the outer two wheels are a bit higher up. This makes it easier to make sharp turns. A very good model for slalom inline skating is the FR Igor which comes with a rockered wheel set up. Good models for people that want to combine a rockered set up with a flat are the FRX 80, FR3 80 and FR2 80.

Urban

Urban skating revolves around skating in the city, jumping on pavements and avoiding obstacles on the way. It is one of the most commonly practised disciplines. The inline skates most often used for this discipline have hard shells with a removable liner. The hard shell protects the skate from hits against obstacles and are usually very customisable. This means that if a certain part of your skate gets damaged you can replace it independently without needing to replace the whole inline skate. For this discipline most often wheels are used of minimum 80 mm and above. Wheels smaller than 80 mm are usually too slow. Also triskates with wheels of 100 or 110 mm are used in this discipline. A good inline skate for urban skating is the FR1 80 or the FR1 310, they are the most customisable. Also the Powerslide Imperial Black Crimson 80, the Powerslide Next Core 80 and the Rollerblade Twister Edge W are very good choices for urban skating.

Fitness

Skating for fitness goals revolves around skating a lot of kilometres. Next to how fun and effective it is, inline skating puts a lot less pressure on your knees and joints than for example running due to the lower impact of the rolling motion. With fitness skates it is very important not to have wheels smaller than 80mm. People that purely practise fitness often take even bigger wheels such as 90mm and often tri skates with 100, 110 or 125mm wheels. This is because bigger wheels allow you to go faster and make long trips easier. Another aspect of fitness skates is that they can be both soft and hardshell. Softshell boots look less bulky than hardshell but get damaged more easily. However in fitness the point is to inline skate a lot of kilometres and therefore it is of less importance that the skates are sturdy. A good fitness inline skating model is the Powerslide Firefly 125. For a model with four instead of three wheels a good option is is the Seba GT 90 and the Bladerunner Formula 90.

Aggressive

Inline skating in skateparks is called aggressive inline skating. Usually these skates have small wheels and places to grind on the frame and the boot. The wheels most often found on aggressive inline skates are 60 mm. The smaller wheels develop less speed but are a lot more stable than the bigger ones, making them good for landing tricks and jumps.  Additionally aggressive inline skaters usually have their preferred wheel set up. The anti-rocker set up is often found on aggressive inline skates. This means the middle two wheels are smaller (called anti-rocker wheels) than the outside two, so you skate on your front and back wheel and have a bigger gap in the middle of your frame to do grinds. Another wheel set up variation is the freestyle set up where you only have two wheels, the front and the back, and the whole space in the middle is one big grinding surface. This is often used by people who want to grind big and rough objects on the street and need as much grind space as possible on their frame. Also the flat set up is used in aggressive inline skating. This is the normal inline skate wheel set up with all four wheels touching the ground. This gives a little bit more speed and control. A good aggressive inline skate is the Seba CJ model. Also one of the most used aggressive skates are the USD Aeon 60 and the Roces M12.

Off-road

This is a fairly new discipline that came up with the development of inline skates suitable for rolling in the forest and on dirt. Most often it is practised on BMX parkours or mountain trails. The wheels of these skates are usually big like 125mm and sometimes even bigger in order to be able to roll smoothly over rough surfaces. The wheels (unlike on the rest of the models) are inflatable much like bike wheels. People that practise this discipline buy specific inline skates for it that have the above mentioned features and use other ones for in the city since skating the city on inline skates with inflatable wheels can be really tiring.  Good models for this discipline are the Powerslide Next Edge 150, the Powerslide Next Renegade 125 and the Powerslide SUV Metropolis.

Speed

People in this discipline practise making medium or long distances in fast times. They use skates with long frames since these provide good stability when going fast. The minimum size on inline skates for speed are 90 mm and most often 100, 110 or 125 mm. The weight of the skate is also very important and therefore the skates for this category are usually lighter. This discipline is usually practised on very smooth surfaces and without many obstacles so the cuff can be a bit lower since ankle stability is less important. As such the weight of the skate is reduced and the legs can be pushed further sideways.. For the same reason these inline skates usually have a soft shell. A very good inline skate for this discipline is the Powerslide Swell Road Grey 125 or the Grand Prix. Also the Seba Marathon 100, the Seba Marathon 110 and the Powerblade GTM 100 are very good.

Race

The racing discipline is a very specific discipline where inline skaters race for the best time. The inline skates used here are designed to be as fast as possible. The cuff is always very low or non existent. Additionaly the shell is made out of carbon to make the inline skate extra light and maximise power transfer. Carbon is a material that is harder and lighter than other materials used to make inline skates. Another aspect found on inline skates for racing are long frames. These make it harder to turn but give added stability when racing at high speeds. Finally inline skates for racing nearly always have wheels of minimum 100 mm. Good models for racing are the Powerslide XXX 125 and the Powerslide Wind 125 Triskate.

Hockey

Inline skating hockey is very much like ice hockey and often played in an indoor hall. Two small goals are placed on either side of the pitch and two teams try to score with a small plastic ball or a puck. If playing with a puck, it is very important to have a lot more protection than when skating in the city, such as thick gloves, shoulder pads and shin pads. Inline skates used in hockey have a very hard shell to make sure you don’t break your toe from a fast incoming hockey puck. The fit they have is very similar to that of an ice skate since many ice hockey players practise inline skating hockey as off-season training.  The wheels used for inline hockey vary from 4 x 72 mm to 3 x 100 mm. A wheel set up often seen in inline hockey is the Hi-Lo set up where the front two wheels are smaller than the back two wheels. This setup puts the foot in a forward leaning position and makes it easier to accelerate quickly for small sprints. Good inline skates for this discipline are the Reign Helios and the Reign Triton.

Two more special mentions

Kids

Kid skates are a category on their own. It is not a discipline and that is why they are in the special mentions but they do have something different than the rest of the skates and that is that they can change size. Since kids feet grow quickly  (and it would be a shame to have to buy a new pair every few months) kids skates usually have a button with which you can make the skate smaller or bigger. This is done by pressing a button and sliding the shell out or in. Some kid skates use other techniques to support multiple shoe sizes such as 3 in 1 inside soles (where by taking one inside sole out, the inline skate becomes a size bigger). Kid skates go up to maximum size EU 42. The wheels are also usually smaller than on adult inline skates. There are slalom and aggressive inline skates for kids. A good kids inline skate is the FRJ. Also a good kids inline skate is the K2 Raider which has a one size bigger shoe size range than most kids skates. For a kids skate with bigger wheels the Powerslide Phuzion Universe kids is a good choice.

Transport

This is not really a discipline either but rather a special category of inline skates used mainly for transport.  This inline skate is made so that you can step into it with your normal (walking) shoes and tighten the buckles and straps to your foot. It makes it very easy to switch from shoes to inline skate since you never need to take off your shoe. Compared to other inline skates they are a bit less stable and tight around your foot but very well suited for commuting to places without having to take your shoes off. A good inline skate in this category is the Doop Classic 2 and the Doop Swift III.

Thank you for reading this far! If you have any questions you can email us at info@slidingtiger.eu.

Browse further on https://www.slidingtiger.eu/en/Home/Skate or visit our store.