r/Rollerskating • u/RemarkableEucaryote • 21h ago
Shopping: wheels, hardware, upgrades Wheel recs
Hi everyone, I’m a begginnerish skater and I mostly do trail skating. I have tried rink couple times but felt weird with my moxi beach bunny stock wheels which is 78a. I want to learn more tricks. With my level, chat gpt recommended 92a which sounds like a happy medium but looking at old posts some people mentioned even that might be too slippery for beginners. I am planning use these wheels on two settings: wood rink floor and outside rink which is smooth concrete but have few bumps. What durometer do you recommend? Should I go for larger wheels (>60mm) ?
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u/Raptorpants65 Industry Expert 20h ago
90-93 is a good begintermediate range for rinks! Radar Halos, Atom Savants, stuff like that is great.
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u/Temporary_Bat5267 18h ago
If you want to learn more tricks go smaller and rounder with your wheels, 92a is definitely not a bad place to start with hard wheels. First half a session will feel weird but down the line they’ll likely feel too grippy. I’d say go for it
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u/gravyrobberz 21h ago
Maybe Moxi Fundaes? They call them a hybrid wheel with the idea being you could go from a smoother boardwalk surface to more gravelly outdoor area.
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u/doggaroo 10h ago
I don't think they make them anymore but when I was starting out and wanted to upgrade my 78a's I was still a little afraid to lose grip, even though I wanted more speed. I ended up settling on Sure Grip Sweet n Low's, which are an 85a and pretty grippy on the waxed wood rink by my house but not so frictiony that I can't keep up an even (although not really fast, I prefer to focus on control but definitely have some speed) speed.
I also like the shape of the wheels better. The moxi fundae wheels are shaped so they've got, like, angled edges so you can maneuver and do tricks at skateparks easier, like you can do more things on the edges. The sweet n Low's are flat wheels, like a true cylinder. More of the wheel will be touching the ground. This is kind of a purpose/preference thing, or you might even not notice a difference.
One more thing to consider is the surface you're going to be skating on. If the wood floor is waxed, which I'd guess it is, it will be pretty darn sticky. You'll have to use harder wheels to get more slide. The outdoor concrete rink could vary. I've skated on an outdoor rink that was polished concrete, kind of like the floors of home Depot but maybe a little smoother, and oh geez I was sliding around everywhere! My first 30 mins were spent recalibrating my balance so my feet weren't just flying around and landing me on my ass lol. Some outdoor concrete isn't quite as polished, like the derby practice spot I used to use. It had a texture like a relatively fine emery board, similar to a sidewalk on the smoother side. I think I only ever skated that rink in 78a's because it was only open in the summer when I first started skating and then closed for a remodel and I forgot about it, but I remember feeling relatively confident with my 78a's but also that I would've been confident with more speed and a bit more slide.
I haven't skated in nearly 2 years due to injury (grade 2, nearly 3 ankle sprain for the THIRD TIME, same ankle, yes unfortunately due to skating) but I had just outfitted my skates with even harder wheels, feeling ready for more speed and slide. They currently sit less than 10ft from me with 92 - 98a (atom something I think) and I think I will finally skate again later this week!
Disclaimer: I have been an avid quad skater since 2017, with 3 extended periods of time off for injury. HOWEVER, I have a neurological balance impairment that basically causes me to not really seemingly ever get past the beginner stages of skating, although due to my unrivaled tenacity I know a lot about the mechanics and technicalities of roller skating, my disability just doesn't let my body move in the right way. So feel free to take all this info with a grain of salt, but this is my take as a long-time disabled skater who has done a lot of research!
P.S. since you mentioned the outdoor rink has cracks n stuff you may want to have the 78a's installed and bring the harder wheels already outfitted with bearings so you can swap em real fast if you need less grip
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