Selecting the right aggressive skate is essential to your skating experience. Due to its importance, it is imperative we provide some information so that you can make the right decision on a skate for you.
Finding good aggressive skates is important for several reasons. First, a good skate will offer you great support, comfort and protection. All of these features will make skating more enjoyable while offering security as you lace tricks. Second, a good skate will actually make performing tricks easier with less hang ups from equipment failure with durability that will keep your skates around for more sessions.
Video Tutorial: Buying Aggressive Inline Skates
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The boot of an aggressive skate is the outer shell that holds the liner of the skate. This is a very important part of the skate as it takes a lot of the abuse brought about from grinds and other tricks. There are a couple different variations of boots and liners which fit different skating styles, here we will go over some of the differences.
A soft shell aggressive skate is a boot constructed with material for support yet has a more malleable shell giving these boots a great flex and feel. A soft shell skate works well for linking grinds together and having superb control being able to feel the skate like an extension of your foot. Softer boots still offer good support although if jumping gaps and stair sets is your style a harder shell boot may be up your alley.
A hard shell boot is what started it all, although variations have come out through the years. A hard shell boot is basically a plastic shell wrapped around a removable liner. These boots are very protective and are typically stiffer than a soft boot. Beginner and inexpensive skates use this style but can also be found in higher end models depending on the model.
Skeletal Shells are newer and use aspects of both hard and soft shell boots with other features. These wraps use sneaker type shoes called foot wraps. This lightens the weight and offers more maneuverability while still offering support like a hard shell boot. Some models of skeletal boots will allow the skater to actually use their own shoes with the shell offering ultimate customization.
Any skater will tell you one of the most important pieces of a skate is the liner as it serves very many purposes to the art of skating. The liner holds the ankle tight and offers support for the rest of the foot. There are many differing liners for different skating styles as some like a lot of room and a loose fit while others like having a stiff wrap design that offers ultimate support. Most all skates can be modified with aftermarket liners to alter fit or offer more padding and support. In most of the higher end skates there will be a company separate to the skate manufacturer whose liner they will use to ensure the ultimate combination.
The frame of the skate is the piece which holds the wheels and is used to grind with. Aggressive frames will have an area between the two middle wheels used to lock grinds, this piece in the middle is called an h-block. A good frame is key to locking grinds and will aid this by being smooth and durable.
There are several types and style of frames made by several companies. Frames are usually the first piece of a skate that will either need replacement due to wear or for simple customization. Most all frames are able to be removed and can be replaced by a new frame using the UFS system. UFS stands for Universal Frame System meaning that any brand skate can use pretty much any type of frame making customization a breeze. Stock frames are strong and durable but just like liners the aftermarket models are typically stronger and faster for grinding.
Wheels and bearings are just as important in aggressive skates as they are in any other form of skates. Wheels must be able to take the heat and abuse of hard pavement and be able to perform on skate park obstacles. The bearings have to be built very tough to take all the jolts and impacts from a skaters maneuvers. We will get into what makes these wheels and bearings able to take such misconduct and some different types.
Standard wheels are the wheels in which you actually roll on and have grown leaps and bounds over the years. These wheels need to have durable and thick hubs ensuring they do not crack under exertion and will hold up for the life of the wheel. These wheels typically range in size from 50 to 60 mm making them much smaller than wheels used for other inline activities. Aggressive wheels are also very hard measuring from high 80a to low 90a, the "a" refers to durometer of the wheel. The durometer rating goes up to 100a and the higher the number the harder the wheel, aggressive wheels need to be hard to sustain all the abuse that they are sure to see. Most all wheels are a urethane which holds up well, look out for glossy plastic looking wheels which can be found on cheaper skates, these will slide and crack when used.
Anti rocker wheels are the center 2 wheels used in most set ups, these wheels are very small and do not actually roll while you skate. Anti rockers are used primarily to help guide grinds and give the skater a bigger area to land tricks with. These wheels are typically between 35mm to 45mm and have a durometer of a high 90a to 100a which makes them very small and hard. These wheels are only intended to touch over extremely rough terrain and to guide grinds. The hard durometer ensures that the wheel does not catch and will slide on a rail, curb or ledge. More and more skates are being sold with anti rocker wheels already set up, if not you can purchase these wheels separate and use the same bearings that were in the regular wheels your skate will come with.
Aggressive skating is not always about top speed or even going fast at all so why are good bearings so important? Aggressive skates are put under a lot of pressure and need durable bearings that will not pop their seals and will perform through extensive use. Most skates will come with bearings rated roughly around an Abec 5 which is mediocre on a scale that tops at 9 being the highest. If stock bearings do not perform we suggest you switch to a Swiss or titanium which will be the most durable offering you a superb skating experience.
Video Tutorial: Buying Aggressive Inline Skates
Tags: Aggressive Skates, Buying Guides
Is it much more difficult to skate with anti-rocker wheels that the typical 4 wheels to one skate ordeal? are they okay for the street?
Hello Michelle,
As far as just skating goes it will not be more difficult with the anti-rocker, it will be slower though as you have less wheels/bearings in contact with the skating surface. Anti-rocker setups do make it a lot easier to catch on to rails and curbs when grinding. As for street skating, they will work but as I said earlier, it is going to be fairly slow with only 2 wheels in contact with the skating surface. So it can be done but I would not recommend buying an anti-rocker skate if you plan on doing longer distances when skating. I hope this info helps but please let us know if you have any further questions!
Very helpful article in terms of sizing. I am new to aggressive skating and my question is what is better for doing tricks? Like should I get a skate w/ 4 wheels or just 2 w/ the anti-rocker deal?
Larry,
It really depends on what you plan on doing with the skates. Skates with 4 wheels of the same size are going to roll faster and gain you the ability to skate faster making these great for park skating and general skating. These skates with 4 wheels the same size are not the greatest for grinding as the middle wheels can come in contact with the object you are grinding and can cause hangups. Skates with the anti rocker set up with the smaller two wheels in the center lose a bit of maneuverability and speed but gain leaps and bounds in grinding as you don’t hang up and can grind larger objects.
I personally like the anti rocker set up and have skated this way for years. It’s personal preference but I’d prefer to get used to having the smaller wheels and gain more ability to grind smoother and easier. Hope this helps! \
Thanks,
Chris
Is it true that all the anti-rocker wheels don’t really spin?
i’d rather have mine spin!
Hey,
Don’t worry – if you want four wheels to skate on, you can definitely pick a skate without anti-rocker wheels! With anti-rocker wheels, the intention is to keep you from getting caught on rails and curbs while you’re grinding, as the smaller wheels help you to ride smoothly without catching your wheels. If you’re more interested in doing more park skating or want to be skating quicker, you can still pick up a set of skates without anti-rocker wheels. Plus, in a lot of models that come with four wheels of the same size, there’s the option to switch to anti-rocker wheels if you decide you need them. I hope this helps!
Best,
Kate
i am gonna get a pair of aggressive skates over the summer and i was wondering about the size of the anti-rocker wheels. if i go down in size what would it do for my grinding? what if i go up in size?
Hey Dayman88,
Changing the size of your anti rocker wheels really won’t change the way you grind. Going with a bigger or smaller wheel will ultimately perform the same when initiate your grind. The only time I could potentially see a change is if you use very small anti rockers (<42mm, which should be fairly hard to find) you may slide out of your grind as there is less wheel touching. Other than that, anything between the 42mm and 50mm anti rocker, all sizes in between being standard, should perform pretty universally the same. I hope this helps!
Regards,
Dru
What would recommend? At the moment I skate Razor G9′s but I’m thinking about getting the USD 2 Soft Shell skates. Is this a good choice? I mainly skate a concrete park. And every now and again some street, like gaps and spins. Any advice would help. Thanks.
Hey Mark,
From what it sounds like, I would stick with the Razor’s you currently have. It sounds like you spend more of your time in park conditions, which leads me to believe that switching to the Soft Shell might be a bad idea (they are not as durable against rub and wear damage as the Genesys 9′s would be). My recommendation would be stick with the Razor’s you have for the park and if you are looking for a more street oriented skate, go for an actual Urban inline such as the Fusion model from Rollerblade. This will give you the ability to pull stunts such as gaps and spins but be able to ride out with relative speed and smoothness when in the street. I hope this helps!
Regards,
Dru