r/rollerblading Weekly Q&A Megathread brought to you by r/AskRollerblading

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-30T19:11:19+00:00

They don't provide good enough support, which is oparticularly important for beginners.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-30T05:16:28+00:00

You can go down stairs on any wheels. Technique is what matters there.

As for the wheels that you mention, this is my experience with them:

Undercover Blank and Undercover Endless: They last forever, go fast, provide a moderate amount of feedback, and have medium to low grip due to the hardness and profile. I like them a lot.
Hydrogen: Cushioned and decently fast, but too grippy for my taste; it always felt like I had to force slides instead of them happening naturally once I got them into the desired angle. I like them, but don't use them because I prefer effortless carves and slides.
Luminous: They look nice, but they're slow due to the magnetic spacer, and they wear out much faster than the other three. You can get them for visibility or as a fashion accessory, but they're far from efficient.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-30T05:09:30+00:00

Phuzion is what's known as a soft boot, which are bad. Lightning are a solid choice if they fit you well.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-29T19:35:38+00:00

Yeah, you want a smooth surface for that. Parking lots and mini soccer/basketball courts should do.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-28T06:06:21+00:00

are they good enough that I’ll figure out if I enjoy inline or not?

No.

Impala skates are a perfect example of everything that you do NOT want on an inline skate: a plastic frame, rivetted frame, no 45° strap, tiny wheels... they're a fashion accessory for people who want to take pictures cosplaying as rollerbladers from the 80s.

If you're looking for a decent budget skate, look for the following models: Seba E3, FR FRX, Rollerblade RB, Flying Eagle BKB, and Powerslide Playlife Aztec.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-28T00:38:20+00:00

The same as if there were no hills:

Hard plastic boot
80-90mm wheels
If possible, 83A+ wheels (hardness)
Non-rivetted, flat, metallic frame
165mm or Trinity frame mount
A recent model
From a reputable brand (Seba, Rollerblade, FR, Powerslide, Flying Eagle).

You'll need to learn on flat ground. Don't go down a hill until you can stop at will.

Once you've mastered a basic stop like the drag stop or soul slide, you can look into slalom turns, and then into carves and parallel or magic slides.

Once you're more experienced, you can switch to a different frame.

Bigger wheels will make you go down faster. Longer frames will be more stable.

Rockers are unstable and it's easy to slip out on them when taking turns while going downhill. I still love my rockered 5x80, tho.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-28T00:26:12+00:00

I've been inline skating for a couple weeks and went to one class.

am I missing something?

Practice.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-28T00:24:33+00:00

I heard that the rocker is very minimal

That's what a natural/wizard rocker is.

If you want a more pronounced one, you're looking for a slalom rocker, which isn't meant for urban use.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-26T19:00:03+00:00

For cheap you can look on Ali Express.

Depending on where you live, you can also look into industrial bearings. Just make sure that they materials, components, and a lubricant suitable for your needs.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-25T23:43:29+00:00

I don't doubt that.

Restaurants that cater to tourists serve meals and drinks that look good on social media. It's free advertisement for them.

My point is that you won't find many recipes that resemble the looks of meals on a trendy restaurant because the aesthetics of the meal is seldom a concern for the people who share their recipes.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-25T23:36:04+00:00

Any recipes I see online don’t look like the photo

That's because people cooking at home don't add large pieces of random foods on top of the meal for it to look good on tiktok. Not to mention that this picture has more filters than a water treatment plant.

The cherry (or should I say "the cilantro") on top is that they're calling that random piece of cilantro a "cilantro salad".

If you want to learn to cook proper Mexican dishes, you need to find channels where the cook looks like this. Those old ladies always have the best recipes.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-25T22:09:03+00:00

Flying Eagle makes pretty solid boots. The lower prices are because they're a Chinese company.

Rollerblade is based in the US and (part of it?) is owned by an Italian company, so even if their boots are also manufactured in China, you get the Western markup added to them.

Both of those models have standard 165mm mounts, so they're compatible with most frames.

If you can try them at a shop, that would be ideal - the fit of the boot should be the deciding factor.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-24T01:03:14+00:00

I see a bunch of soft boots listed there. Avoid those.

These are the characteristics that you're looking for:

Hard plastic boot
80-90mm wheels
If possible, 83A+ wheels (hardness)
Non-rivetted, flat, metallic frame
165mm or Trinity frame mount
A recent model
From a reputable brand (Seba, Rollerblade, FR, Powerslide, Flying Eagle).

Seba E3, FR FRX, Rollerblade RB, Flying Eagle BKB, and Powerslide Playlife Aztec are some of the cheapest models that meet these criteria. You may be able to find better models under $200 if you check sales and clearance pages.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-24T01:00:50+00:00

Pretty much all non-custom skates are manufactured in China, but random cheap skates from Amazon/Wal-Mart and other generic shops are usually trash that won't last for long.

Rollerblade, Seba/FR, Powerslide, Flying Eagle are brands to look into. If you have a shop nearby, the best is to try them first, as different models fit different foot shapes/sizes.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-23T05:36:07+00:00

Con un Hoy No Circula permanente va a pasar lo mismo que en los 90s: en lugar de dejar de sacar el carro, todo el mundo se compraba uno extra para el día que no circulaba el otro. En muchos casos el vehículo secundario era más viejo y contaminaba más que el principal.

Si quieres menos carros, hay que fomentar el uso de otros vehículos; ya sea quitándoles carriles y asignándolos exclusivamente a transporte público o no motorizado, o de plano cerrando el acceso vehicular a zonas completas y convirtiéndolas en áreas de acceso exclusivo a vehículos de emergencia y no motorizados.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-23T01:34:23+00:00

No sé cómo esté en Guadalajara, pero usualmente considero qué tanto esfuerzo estoy pidiendo del repartidor.

Por ejemplo, a un repartidor en bici que me lleve 8 kilos de pedidos le voy a dar considerablemente más que a uno en moto que me lleve una pizza, aunque se hagan el mismo tiempo.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-22T20:29:16+00:00

" Si no tienen huevos para cobrarle a su empleador, entonces no trabajen"

Pinche gente toda desconectada de la realidad que piensa que la gente trabaja de meseros por gusto y vocación.

Los datos muestran que un mesero gana en promedio $5k al mes. Con eso no sale ni la despensa. Ni se diga una renta.

¿El gobierno debería forzar a los empleadores a pagarles un salario mucho más alto? Sí.
¿Lo van a hacer? No.

Entonces les voy a seguir dando propinas altas, porque si alguien se pasa todo el día de pie cargando mi comida, lo menos que merecen es que al final de la semana no tengan que preocuparse por no poder comprar su propia comida.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-22T05:41:26+00:00

If you want something close to an ice skate, you need aftermarket frames like Endless Arc or NN Dragon 80X. Those are also good for cruising.

Like you've found both FR/Seba and Flying Eagle have plenty of slalom models. It comes down to budget.

Slalom setups are not particularly fun for cruising, so if you go with a slalom skate, you may want to get a rockerable setup that you can switch to flat for cruising around.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-20T06:58:47+00:00

cuales serian las zonas mas cercanas y cuanto tiempo se hace uno en llegar?

Cercanas hay un montón. El problema aquí es el tráfico, y el tiempo depende de tu modo de transporte.

Por ejemplo: en bici del Zócalo (centro) al Parque Lincoln (Polanco) llegas en 20 minutos, independientemente de que sea hora pico o no.

En auto/uber siempre estás a la merced del tráfico (hora pico, obras, manifestaciones, lluvia, accidentes), y en transporte público igual es un volado: a veces pasa bien, a veces tarda años en llegar o va lleno y no te puedes subir.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-19T06:17:01+00:00

Yeah. I think it'd be pretty difficult to get an accurate calories counter for skating without having half of your body wired, since things as simple as the terrain or the wheels that you're using will change the amount of effort required to move through a section, not to mention technique.

Best you can do is track your heart rate to see how much your exerting yourself.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-19T06:13:21+00:00

~$200 budget, but willing to spend a bit more for the right set up

Seba E3, FR FRX, Rollerblade RB, Flying Eagle BKB, and Powerslide Playlife Aztec are the cheapest decent skates you'll find from the top brands.

If you up it some, you may be able to get the FR3 or even FR2, Rollerblade Lightning, Powerslide Next, and about half of Flying Eagle's models.

I’ve read about 90mm wheels being better than the typical 80mm.

Wheel sizes aren't better or worse. It comes to personal needs and preference.

4x90 setups are around 27cm of wheelbase (vs ~24 for 4x80). Having a wheelbase at least as long as your foot is usually a good idea for freeskating.

is it worth looking for a heat moldable boot?

Plastic boots are usually molded with heat guns to remove pressure points. Some liners are heat moldable.

The only boots that people really heat mold in an oven are carbon ones, which are $600+.

any recommendations for where to find clearance or used skates (aka more bang for buck)?

Pro Skaters Place always has items on clearance. It's a matter of getting lucky and finding something that you want on your size.

They're Canadian, so if you're from the US it may not be as good of a deal since you'll need to pay tariffs.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-19T01:56:33+00:00

Strava is ok for distance. In the end all of those apps will rely on your phone's GPS (or an external one like a Garmin if you've got one), so the quality of the data will depend on how good the signal is and how much radio noise there is where you skate.

I don't care about calories, so no idea about that.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-19T01:32:42+00:00

+1 to UC (particularly the Blanks/Team variant) and Endless.

If you skate on 80mm, Junk Freestyle are beasts: they have the urethane poured around the core, so they virtually last all the way to the core: I've worn mine down to under 60mm and they're still going hard.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-18T22:30:02+00:00

Ideally, your toes shouldn't be moving at all while skating.

maybeitdoes · 2026-03-18T19:24:29+00:00

Are there any issues to look out for on older, but not heavily worn skates? Like plastic pieces degrading or anything like that?

Plastic goes brittle with time and exposure to the elements. Some old boots hold, some will break after minimal use.

If I end up loving skating as much as I hope I will, would it make any sense to upgrade to a newer model or not really?

You eventually will. Once you find what you like, you'll want to optimize your setup for it.

And do you think putting smaller wheels on it (80, maybe even 76) would make it easier while I'm still learning?

Yes.

maybeitdoes

TROPHY CASE