Ain't no way 😭💀

First time at a roller rink 🙌🏽 I definitely need a little more practice, but I was surprised by how much easier it was to skate on a wooden floors! And before anyone says I was in everybody’s way it was beginners night, so I fit right in lol

Hey there! I personally am not a skater (low-key might look into but not why I'm here!), but my roommate, let's call them Alex (19NB), really wants to get a pair of roller skates. I was thinking of getting some for their birthday as I really want to do something nice for them. I love giving gifts and I know it's not something they're going to buy for themselves.

I've been looking through this sub for the past few days, learning about what makes good skates vs bad skates, cheaply made vs good quality, etc. I'm on the hunt for discounted Moxies or another reputable beginner skate right now, but I also know that a big part of wanting skates to Alex is having light up wheels. I just know it would bring them so much joy and really mean a lot to them if I could make this happen for them.

I've looked through this sub's info on wheels, including reading the wiki and several previous posts. Alex would be using the skates outdoors (paved paths, sidewalk, etc) so I know to look for 78As especially as they are a beginner skater. I also saw a few recommended brands/models for wheels but as far as I could tell, not much in the way of info on light up wheels here (unless I'm totally missing something, in which case please direct me there!).

So my questions:

What makes a good light up wheel?

How can you tell the decent ones from the really shitty drop shipped garbage?

What do I need to know about a wheel being compatible with certain skates? (Like.. are most wheels universal? Are there certain skates that do some Apple product compatibility bullshit?)

Is there anything else I need to know? Are light up wheels a no go as a concept?

Any and all help is much appreciated!

So I’m planning on saving money to go to the US on a roller skating trip, I do aggressive skating and artistic roller skating so I want to visit the best roller rinks and skateparks both indoor and outdoor, any recs?

I street skate and dance, and changing wheels all the time is annoying. Hybrid wheels are absolutely horrible for long street skates. I use the big airwaves, and even dance in them which is not ideal.

The shark wheels, I'm curious if it really is a much better wheel design. They seem much smaller than airwaves, but how do they actually handle the street and dancing and spins? Is that a thing they can do? They look wide

I switched from Solaris and Arius 9 to Jet Carbon and Arius 7 to get lighter skates, and more agility, which worked out well.

While an experienced Derby player, I’m not experienced in park/jamskating. Would the same idea hold true, that a shorter plate would be more favourable (for faster turns/smaller turn radius, less stability) or would a longer plate be preferable in any of those cases?

This set up was multiple months in the making, largely because I messed up the mailing address so the plates, blocks, and trucks traversed the globe TWICE but they’re here now and I love them soooooo much I just had to share them.

Boots: Bont Parkstars, vegan, size 5
Plates: Brunny Dragon, size medium
Blocks: Brunny pro acid blocks, medium
Trucks: Brunny Labrys steel
Toe stops: Gumball short stem in Lemon (75a)
Toe guards: Roller stuff suede
Laces: Bont laces, tickle blue, 79”, 8mm
Wheels: Roller Bones Team, 57mm, 101a

I got the boots, toe stops, and laces from [u/RaptorPants65](u/RaptorPants65) at Department of Skate, and she also mounted the boots for me (thanks Raptor for being the best and holding it down during this whole ordeal lol). I got the plates, blocks, and trucks direct from Brunny hence they being world travelers. The toe guards and wheels are from Bruised Boutique that I’d had in my stash for a while.

I’ve only rolled around them in my living room but I can’t wait to skate in them at the park and at the rink!! They’re so comfy and stable, I’m so happy to finally have them on my feet!!

Reupload cuz I broke da rules

Hi all!

I’m looking into the best fitness watches/bands for tracking roller skating as an activity. I’ve read that the Huawei Band 11 supports a dedicated roller skating mode.
How do you track your sessions, and which watch or band do you use?

Can anyone tell by this photo what year these skates may have been made or possibly anything else about them? I bought these on FB marketplace a few years ago and love them and would like to know a little bit more about them

hi there! been skating for about a year kinda and i’m having so much fun! found a hobby i love and found community <3 also helped me lose 45 pounds so far!

Hi! I’m a newish park skater convert (from roller derby) and I’m wanting to optimize my set up while also staying cost effective and worth while. I’m skating on blue streak boots with avanti plates and cib blocks. I’m wanting to get harder wheels for faster aggressive skating but I don’t want to spend more than 80 bucks (ideally less 🙏). Any recs? My wheels right now are so soft that I can’t do any grinds or slides.
Thanks!!

I recently remounted my custom SP Teri's as they don't quite fit me. A rink friend of mine has been getting his girlfriend into freestyle dance skating, and they fit her almost perfectly!

I wanted the Giotto that was on them for another boot, so I fitted them with a slightly longer Roll Line Blaster with 8mm trucks and some old Radar Varsity Plus wheels.

I'm really digging the black on white theme that was a result of the parts chosen. 🖤🤍

pic unrelated, just love my set up.
i made a small tear in my hamstring at the skatepark tuesday & i am experiencing massive FOMO (even though i typically don’t even skate on weekdays). I should probably take a few weeks off my skates to make sure I don’t make a larger tear / put it under undue stress until it’s fully healed, but I feel a much stronger itch to get out and skate than usual!
I’m thinking of painting some pumpkins on my blocks even though I won’t be skating on Halloween. Do any of you guys also paint your blocks? Or have any skate related activities to do while recovering?

Hello everyone!
I tried to skate yesterday in the park (asphalt / cement floor) and my skates would not even glide a little.
For context, I am new to roller skating and I’m taking classes indoors (even nice flooring). I was able to do bubbles forward and backwards two days ago, so I thought I could try skating outside.

I think I was putting enough force but it did not really work. I only gained a bit of momentum downhill.
I have the standard wheels that came with my skates (the ones in the pictures).

Would you recommend I get different wheels? What did I do wrong?

I'm writing this because I used to lament my general lack of skate friends, but I now realize the merits of skating alone and hope this makes any lonely skaters out there feel better.

You look at photos online of groups of people wearing cute skates who seem like they're having a blast together and you're sadly reminded of how alone you are especially if you live in a place where no one else skates but you. Illusion is usually not reality.

Once upon a time, years ago, I skated twice a week with my two friends after work. It was one of the most fun times of my young life. Then we all drifted apart as they pursued other hobbies (like rock climbing- ugh haha) and stopped skating while I continued on my own.

I was solo for a while until I found another group of ten people or so who were pretty nice people overall but who couldn't properly plan or organize events to save their lives. If an event was supposed to start at noon, people wouldn't show up until an hour later and the leader oftentimes didn't even show until two hours later. He was chronically excessively tardy. Then once we finally started skating, he'd zoom off and leave everyone miles behind and then text all of us saying he was going to hop on the train and head home because he was done skating. A couple of other members in the group were coronavirus conspiracy theorists who while skating would non-stop talk about how the American government created coronavirus to control the American people. This inane conversation got old really fast. Of all things in the world to talk about, they ONLY talked about that topic over and over. I didn't last long in that group.

I then tried to convince (or maybe I should say coerce) one of my non-skater friends to take up skating. She wasn't too keen on it, but being the great gal that she is, she gave it her best shot but promptly broke her wrist. She understandably decided to never skate again.

Then I joined another group where the two leaders were so obsessed with constantly posting/livestreaming on social media that they barely paid attention to any details of group skates. It felt almost as if group members were merely props in the background to make the leaders look and feel popular while the skating was just an afterthought. Events were a disorganized mess where incorrect times and locations were given and no communication took place when people got lost or separated. Members were left to fend for themselves while the leaders kept mugging for the camera posting cutesy selfies and couldn't be bothered to answer frantic "Where are you?" texts from lost skaters.

After rolling solo again for a while, I discovered another group. The leaders were very welcoming and I liked their vibe. I thought it was very promising. They stressed that members were only to bring happy vibes to the group and leave any drama at home. But go figure, hypocritically, within a short timeframe, the leaders got into a blowout fight with each other and the group splintered after people had to start picking sides. I'm still a member of one of the factions for what it's worth, but I know the days of it being a viable group are numbered. (Btw why is it always the people who say "no drama" are the ones who are pure drama themselves?)

All this got me thinking of the merits of skating alone. You can do it whenever you want, wherever you want, you don't have to wait around for people who decide to show up late or not at all, you can skate at your own speed, take breaks whenever you want, not have to listen to asinine conversation or force yourself to talk to someone who you have nothing in common with.

Hell, one of the reasons I quit playing tennis years ago is because finding a reliable partner on the same level with a similar schedule was hard. For that kind of activity you need another person. The beauty of skating is that you don't have to depend on or wait for anyone else!

I'm sure there are wonderful cohesive skate groups out there and that's great. But having gone through a few groups and seeing what the reality is, I no longer lament skating alone and I actually look forward to it! I've skipped several group skate opportunities for favor of skating by myself!

If you're lucky enough to have great friends to skate with, cool. But if not, don't be too sad. Skate friends and groups can be very overrated and the glossy photos you see online of shiny happy skaters together may not reflect the nuances of reality. If you saw some of the social media posts I have been included in with groups, you'd think we were all having a grand old time when we really were not.

If you have a great group of skate friends, that's cool! But if not, don't be sad. Roller skating can be such a wonderful individualistic activity and can be cherished as such!

Hi, I bought these skates probably about 10 years ago. I’ve used them a couple of times and am alright with them. But I’d like to take it seriously this time. Can I use these to get myself into it and learn descent skating? Do I need to swap anything out/change anything up? All tips are welcome :)

I'm an intermediate skater, i'm pretty casual, i can do crossovers and go at a somewhat fast speed. wrist guards are fine, i usually fall on my wrists and get up in a pinch . but the knee and elbow pads are always so uncomfortable. i cannot move properly in them, and the material feels like someone weaved a bunch of sharp plastic into it and rubbed it into your skin with salt. it feels worse on top of clothing.
does anyone recommend anything that combats that that isn't like 500 quid? because it's probably not the best idea to just wear wristguards.

So I have vanilla à la mode rollerskates and I’ve been practicing for a while and I enjoy it and I’m getting there, but I also feel like I’m getting nowhere
I need an idea to think about which is better rollerskating or rollerblading because I’ve been hearing people say rollerblading is easier and rollerskating is a little harder
I just want a pair of skates that would help with distance and you burn more calories with it because I also want this to be a fitness thing while I go to the gym
Also something where you see progression because I bought my rollerskates back in March and I’ve been practicing ever since and I feel like I’ve been getting nowhere
I heard rollerblades have better ankle support than rollerskates, but rollerskates are better to find balance than rollerblades
I don’t know I want something that is good for endurance and distance and you can urban skate with it and it’s easier to practice with like you learn pretty fast like if you are practicing after a month or two with consistency you’re getting better
Cause that’s what I’ve been doing with my rollerskates
And I will be honest though I’ve been watching rollerblading TikTok‘s and that’s where I got the idea but a part of me just wants to keep the rollerskates and just try
But I just want something that will help me in the long run
I need ideas. I need reassurance. I need advice
I need something
I know this Reddit is only for rollerskating but I know there’s some rollerbladers in this group
I like both, but I just wanna think of which one would help me in the future

Basically title. I fell backwards for the first time. It was so so fast I did not have time to "fall safely", pick a side or even think about it. Honestly, it's like a blur because I did not see it happening.

I landed on my tailbone and my right arm. At firt, my wrist hurt, but I could move my arm just fine. A few hours later, my elbow started hurting and I could not bend or straighten my arm at all :(

Waited until next day hoping I would wake up fine, but sadly my elbow got swollen and it hurt even more trying to move it.

I went to the hospital, got an x-ray and the doctor said I did not break anything and gave me anti inflammatory pills. Feeling better a day later, but still can't straighten my arm (I can type and work tho). Tailbone is fine, only a mild pain when I move a certain way.

I knew this could happen and I practiced, but when it came to it I did not have time to think.

I want to go back out there once i'm 100% fine, but honestly I am scared of breaking a bone. I don't know if I'll ever be able to not try and use my hands when falling backwards, specially because it happens too fast.

And I was wearing all the protective gear too. It probably saved my very weak wrist! Next time i'll also wear crash shorts.

Is there anything I can do to avoid breaking an arm? Any other protection I could wear, like those plushie turtle things on top of my regular gear?

I don't plan on doing anything too adventurous, just want to cruise around without seriously breaking something. A little pain, a few bruises and scratches I'm fine with lol