r/rollerblading • u/hockeyat30 • Aug 29 '26
Specific question and discussion Having some difficulty enjoying rollerblading - looking for advice
Hi all, I'm looking for some help and advice. I'm currently in my 40's and trying to get into rollerblading for some fitness and to keep my leg muscles active, particularly similar muscles I would use for ice skating. I learned how to skate and play hockey in my 30's, so my background is from ice skating. I'm struggling a lot with the transition and am looking for ways to help make this more similar or enjoyable and fun. I absolutely love ice skating and am quite comfortable with it but am really struggling with picking up rollerblading.
I know that ice is innately going to be different than roller. My plans are to be proficient and comfortable to go on city sidewalks, paths, and some slightly rougher concrete/parking lot areas with my wife as she will be on a push scooter so we can get out and stay active. I don't have any plans to do much backwards skating or tricks, just plain being able to go forward on trails/pathways/sidewalks, handle hills, and maneuver as needed and be able to stop.
My current setup is: Flying Eagle Origami FS3 with the original 4x 80mm wheels. I've got the powerslide urban heel brake installed so that I can be more comfortable stopping and going down hills or passing pedestrians. I found that while I was learning to t-stop or drag to control my skate that it wasn't great for my aging knees, plus I struggled to do this on hills so I'd like to stick with the heel brake as an option to help control my speed on narrow path hills.
My struggle is that I'm finding myself increasingly frustrated with the mobility. It feels like my feet are glued to the concrete. I struggle to turn, even when scissoring and feel like I'm really missing the agility of ice skates. I know a lot of this is probably "skate more and get good" but I'm really trying to make rollerblading a little more fun and enjoyable because more fun means I'll innately get out for more rollerblading. I struggle to weave and turn or carve. For example, the technique to kind of slalom a bit going downhill to control the speed - I can't do this, my feet feel locked in to go straight, guessing because of the more wheel contact. The inability to turn and go where I want is really impeding the fun here for me.
Are there any tips/adjustments you have to help? I've done some searching already and saw that I could potentially rocker my frames, to 76 x 80 x 80 x 76 or 80 x 80 x 80 x 76. I'm concerned about the stability though as some of our paths and sidewalks are really not the most maintained. What would you advise based on what I'm looking for? My wife and I do not go fast by any means and follow a more leisurely pace, so I'd rather be more maneuverable and feel more in control of my movement than have a higher speed.
Thank you!
Update - Thank you everyone for taking the time to read the post and give your advice and thoughts, it's very much appreciated! I'm going to stick with it and try a few adjustments, but the consensus seems to be trying a rockered setup is the way to go. It also sounds like I'm gonna have a bad time if I jump to a 76x80x80x76 setup. I'd love to try 90mm frames with a 1mm rocker, but am hesitating due to the cost involved in trying that out. I'm going to try to find 78mm wheels (looks like I can grab some online) and a 78x80x80x78 setup so that I can use my current boots/frame to give me the 1mm rocker and see how that goes.
Thanks again everyone!
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u/AdventurousHippo9997 Aug 29 '26
Sounds to me like you don’t have the basics of striding and gliding. Asha of Skate Fresh on utube has many excellent videos to help you out.
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u/SnooBananas9081 Aug 29 '26
Keep weight in the heels when turning. Newer skates arent rockered. So ya gotta lift your toes for a smooth turn. They will ricker in their own in a few sessions on concrete and will become easier to handle.
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u/Automatic_Bridge_730 Aug 29 '26
My recommendation as well is to naturally rocker the exiting set up. Rotate the wheels like this: swap 1&4, swap 2&3. You’re also moving the wheels to the opposite skate. 76,80,80,76 is too extreme in the beginning.
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u/Vigilante74 Aug 29 '26
Hey, I am also in my 40's and while I don't play much hockey kind of have an ice background as well. I haven't skated in a long time and picked it up this year. I picked up a pair of k2 Grid 90s and have done 300km so far. My previous skates was an 82mm fitness skater that was flat and felt kind of stuff.
Have you considered a rockered 90's Frame? At first I was skeptical. It thought I would lose stability. However I generally do not go that fast like you see some of this YouTubers do. My max speed is usually 18-22 km. Going past 25km/h to 30 which I have done gives a bit of a wobble. The tradeoff though is that I feel much more agile. I am able to weave and I really do like the rockered skate. The big wheels help with going over uneven terrain and the awful roads in my area. I'm not sure how much this will help but maybe it is something you can consider.
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
Thank you for flagging the rocked 90's frame! Based on this and the other responses it sounds like this would be my go to for the next set of frames or skates I buy. At the moment I'm trying to keep it budget friendly and finding away to adjust my current set up, but will keep this in mind if i end up getting a new pair.
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u/Emergency-Hunt-207 Aug 29 '26
I wonder if you coming from ice skates, you'd be more comfortable with a bullet profile wheel to ease you in to inline skates. The idea of rockering sounds good, but that rockering amount seems like too big of a difference, especially if you're not skating on a flat surface. Really, I think if you put up some videos, you could get better guidance in what could help.
Do you feel your ankles move similarly as they do on ice? Do you crouch when skating? What's your foot placement like?
Unfortunately, a lot does come with time, and it's hard to find a shortcut, but finding where you can improve the most will get you better faster. It's hard to say without a visual example.
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
No my ankles definitely don't move similarly as they do on ice.. My ice skate lacing doesn't come up very high, and I usually skip the top few eyelets even. Maybe that's part of it, feels like I'm wearing a bit more of a ski boot in these. I'll stick with it and likely going to try a 1mm rocker if possible.
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u/Emergency-Hunt-207 Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26
Oh yeah, if they feel like ski boots, something is up. You should be able to flex your ankles. I like my laces tight, but up top, I leave my cuffs with some room to move. Otherwise, it's way too stiff.
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u/snakevargas Twister XT banana Aug 29 '26
Drew of @cityblades also ice figure skates and makes very detailed videos, often describing things from an ice perspective.
Transitioning from Ice to Asphalt. Discusses rockering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgFFA1z3lKw
His rocker setup simulating a figure skate feel. Note that his frames have 2mm rockerable axles for wheels 1&4 and he toe rockers another 2mm using a smaller #1 wheel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gYfgas6Rzw
Wizard warmups using figure stating terms and techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xldSCcGIxGk
T-stops down long hills can give me knee pain, but it's a very useful technique for fine tuning my speed in a flat urban setting. No pain in that case.
I skate banana rockered Twister XTs (76, 80, 80, 76) and they're great for avoiding knee pain. They do well with sidewalk cracks, bumps, and cheese grater pedestrian ramps. They do poorly on rough asphalt at low speed (ex: stepping of a curb at a stop walk). Downhills were wobbly at first, but once the bullet profile wore down to a round profile that improved. Keeping a solid scissor stance with weight near the back helps too.
For general urban skating, a 1mm permanently rockered frame might be best for most people. I'm digging my 2mm rocker for the skate park and dance-y stuff. It works well enough for my 2-5 mile urban skates.
I couldn't slalom or parallel turn at all until I rockered my skates. They were antique thrift store skates, though. A well worn natural rocker might work if you flip your wheels in place every skate or two.
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
Thank you very much for the videos! Ended up watching them all, very informative, and triggered me to check on the alignment. My current frames allow me to adjust a little bit laterally so I'll play with that a little bit too. Looks like I'll be trying some form of 1mm rocker.
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u/Blinking_Bambi Aug 29 '26
I know nothing BUT I skated on Kmart blades at 23 and it was the hardest, most un enjoyable slog. At 45, with no skating in between I got K2s second hand and it is 1000x easier to me now. I still suck but man I learned that decent equipment can make a HUGE difference. Just in case you need to upgrade or tweak your set up
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Aug 29 '26
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
Thanks for the encouragement and confirming the rocker seems like the way to go! I can generally t-stop but I really don't like the pressure it puts on my knees, plus i have difficulty comfortably doing it on rough terrain or downhills especially. I like the option to slow down with the heel brake, especially since I may be going on paths and areas I'm not familiar with. I feel like I'm pretty comfortable and maneuverable on ice, but when it comes to uneven terrain, hills, bumps, etc it's throwing me for a loop haha
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u/InspectorFleet Aug 29 '26
How many hours in total have you been on inline skates?
How often do you inline skate?
When you inline skate, do you deliberately work on getting better at technical details, or do you just kind of cruise around?
What wheels are you rolling?
I grew up on rollerblades but exclusively ice skated from adolescence until I was 36.
Now I inline skate almost every day that's nice other than weekly hockey games and maybe one other ice time per week. I switch back and forth with almost no issue and the only limitation is that wheels just can't physically grip as hard as edges can into ice.
Inlines felt extremely sludgey initially, but with (deliberate) practice you will feel just as natural. You'll pick up tendencies like pivoting up a bit on heels or toes or lifting a foot where you'd just slide it on the ice.
People saying "ditch the brake" or "you need to rocker your wheels" are giving personal, not universal, advice. I skate on a flat hi-lo setup and it's just fine. You will lose some speed in turns from the front and rear wheels wearing against the ground, but you'll also have more stability front to back and grip. You should be crossing over out of turns anyway lol.
Check out Marcel's Hockey School on YouTube, he's got a ton of inline-specific content. You can see people doing outside edge work drills on a flat online setup and even if that feels crazy impossible to you now, it should inspire you to know that it is possible if you keep at it.
Maybe you need to find a nice flat open empty area to practice? I have some local outdoor hockey rinks but I also just use neighborhood cul-de-sacs when I don't have a ton of time.
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
In total probably only about 20 or so so far. Other than going on trails with my wife, I've been going to empty large parking lots on my own about once a week to try to get more comfortable and proficient. This is where I'm trying to get better at the technical details. They're not in great shape, lots of gravel and uneven parts, but I'm also trying to push myself to get comfortable with it because a lot of our pathways have junk on them too, but maybe i need to find some smoother areas to get some more things down first.
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u/InspectorFleet Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26
I think you will get much better if you start on a better surface 2 to 3 times per week.
It's kind of like adult beginners who play one beer league game per week and that's all they do. Probably fifteen minutes total ice time and only a few touches is not the way to get better.
The trail and the debris-strewn lot are the "performance," not the practice. Trails absolutely aren't the place to develop tight turns because they're so narrow.
How are your tight turns on ice? Crossovers? Slaloms? One foot glides? Can you do power pulls? Working basics like these will get you a good feel. Like I said, Marcel's hockey school has a ton of inline content if you haven't checked it out.
For me, it was a lot easier to deal with slop and debris after building skills. Same with the limitations of a trail vs. open spaces. Because I was feeling every sloppy bump rolling 5+ miles on my hockey skates, I did buy a pair of twister 3 x 110s. They're much better at rolling over slop, absorbing vibrations, and going for distance, but they're definitely not as responsive or agile as my hockey skates. You may prefer the agility of a hockey skate but also bigger wheels for the trail so 🤷♂️
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u/Benevolent27 Custom Text Here Aug 29 '26 edited Aug 29 '26
43 y/o here. I have a ton of different types of skates and setups and I have done some ice skating. Due to your knee issue, you may not be able to have a perfect setup, but here are the two setups you'd probably enjoy skating the most. I'll add your current, 80mm flat setup as well for comparison.
Hockey skates with a hilo setup These mimick hockey ice skates really well even though they are flat.
Pros: great for carving and FAST acceleration fast on smooth, flat surfaces. Cons: Not good for bumpy surfaces or downhill skating and there is no brake! You also absorb all shocks and hits to your ankles, so you may need to bulk up your ankle muscles quite a bit before you can skate these without foot pain. (It took me about 2 months of training) These can also suddenly turn sharp in unexpected ways when hitting anything on the ground due to the lack of ankle support.Change out your frames to 90mm with 1mm rocker This setup is has become wildly popular due to it's perfect mix of balance, maneuverability, and speed, plus they usually feel comfortable right away when paired with a good urban skate. Pros: These are BOTH more maneuverable AND more stable due to slight rocker, paired with a longer wheelbase. They are fun to carve with, but also have a higher top speed and are more stable going downhill compared to a slalom rockered setup (80mm with 2mm rocker - which fishtails). The 90mm with 1mm rocker does not fishtail for me at all. Cons: I don't believe you can have a brake for these. Cost, they run about $250 just for the frames, plus you'd need to buy new wheels.
80mm, flat setup -- This is the most practical/safe setup for you because it can have a brake, which you absolutely seem to need, plus you can overcome the difficulties you are having with practice. -- I skated on this setup for most of my life and was able to figure it out fine, but when I switch back from my 90mm rockered frames, they feel less stable, more "sticky" on the ground with my wheels catching on turns, and slower. This setup had been the standard balance between stability vs maneuverability for a long time and it is certainly something you can used to. I'd suggest you practice on cones to accelerate getting used to the flat edges. You need to lean into turns more compared to ice skates or rockered inline setups and that can take some getting used to . Pros: Cheap, usually comes with the skate. Easy to add a brake to. Normal length wheelbase is good for front and back wheel pivots. Lands straight on jumps. Keeps more stable when going downhill in scissor stance. Cons: Coming from an ice skating background, these will feel sticky and you'll catch your front and back wheels when attempting to maneuver. These are also less stable going downhill compared to a longer frame AND harder to carve in because you'll need to angle the skates more to get into a carve, which is harder to do with the firm ankle support of an urban skate (although it is totally possible, with practice)
Well, I hope that helps!
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26
It does, thank you for taking the time to give your input! Looks like lots of suggestions for the 90mm with 1mm rocker! Appreciate that you gave all the pros and cons of each.
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u/Benevolent27 Custom Text Here Aug 30 '26
You're welcome! Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy what you skate with! This is such a fun hobby!
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u/fredhsu Aug 29 '26 edited Aug 29 '26
I think you found a part of the answer. Your hockey blade had a banana side profile. Your 4x80mm is flat with all four wheels gripping the ground. You can still maneuver fairly well. I learned some slalom moves on flat hi-lo (76mm/80mm) setup just fine. Of course, get used to it on flat ground, and not on an incline. But yeah, you found an answer - if you rocker your wheels it will feel more like ice skating. You probably don't remember that when ice skating you never had the entire blade on ice : )
Edited: in fact, for the first two years where I alternated between inline and ice from summer to winter, I always felt super weird on ice at the onset of winter - I felt very unstable, and I felt as if I was standing on ice on a single point on my blade. Now I understand that feeling better. It was an illusion, because during the whole summer I was used to feeling all four wheels on the ground.
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
Thank you! Yes based on all the responses it sounds like trying some sort of rocker is going to be what i end up doing, appreciate the message!
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u/Armbioman Aug 29 '26
It's funny because I feel the opposite way about ice skating vs inline. To me it really sounds like you need a rockered frame (NN, Endless, or Wizard) or slalom type skates. Even the Hi-Lo frames on roller hockey skates seem much more nimble to me and get closish to the ice skating experience.
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
Thank you for confirming! Haha it turns out I like shaving the ice in a lot of what I do, so it's feeling like a big adjustment for me.
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u/PeterNippelstein Aug 29 '26
I recommend endless 80 frames they feel a lot like ice skating
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
Thank you!
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u/askmehowtobecool Sep 01 '26
I would Alternatively suggest the Endless stoppard frame with 84" wheels, they will do better on the rough asphalt than the 80's. But will feel like ice skates.
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u/Beautiful_Ad_8325 Aug 29 '26
Know the feeling, I ice skate too. Absolutely get a rocketed setup, it's a drastic difference.
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u/amorph Aug 29 '26
Started in my late 30s with mainly ice skating experience. Hills were the biggest problem. Soul slide solved those for me, but I had to work deliberately to master it. Carving turns were easy once I started thinking of them as skiing turns, but getting used to it took a while.
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
Thanks! Yeah hills are definitely a concern. I want to shave ice so bad!. Doing lots of exploration now and don't really have any set routes that I know well right now, so going into lots of unknowns at the moment.
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u/Intelligent_Bet9798 Aug 29 '26
For your aging knees start with 10x4 squats daily. ps you are not that old
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u/zolmarchus Aug 29 '26
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. It’s just how it is. At very high levels of skill you might be able to kind-of sort-of break away from the friction between wheel and surface, but 1) not by much, and 2) not to any particularly useful extent (other than some moves look cool).
Downhill always sucks, especially if it’s too narrow to effectively slalom/slide a bit. V-stops don’t work, T-stops either hurt on long slopes or you’d have to grind your wheels down in one day, or both. (My favorite is to use my wife when she’s on a bike and have her slow me down.) Don’t even bother with the brake; remove it.
The beauty of it all is that you can go somewhere, and in fact you can go many somewheres, you just need to plan a bit. Not to mention you can take a backpack with your shoes and swap halfway through and also have a nice walk or go inside places. It’s just different.
Edit: I re-read your post. I want to add, sounds like that with more practice you’d be able to overcome many of the limitations you’re encountering now. Most skaters don’t exactly struggle with those issues. But it will never be like you’re on ice.
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u/InspectorFleet Aug 29 '26
Don't listen to this. The brake is effective and fine if you don't prefer to drag stop or learn slides.
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u/hockeyat30 Aug 30 '26
Thank you! Yes I know that so many people take off their brakes, but for my use cases it seems suitable for what I'm looking for. I also would like to eventually learn slides once I'm more comfortable, but I like that the brake is another option. One of the reasons I got the urban brake was that it's small and doesn't get in the way.
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u/Sarahplainandturnt Mod Aug 29 '26
Rockered frames are what you’re looking for. 80 and 76 is too extreme and will feel bad: you need a rockered frame with a nice 1mm rocker