How Do I Choose the Right Wheels?
Inline wheels are one of the most important pieces of gear that you'll purchase as a roller hockey player. Your performance is directly affected by the type and overall quality of wheels you choose for your inline skates. It isn't simply a matter of going out and purchasing the most expensive wheels and hoping for the best. Each wheel is designed specifically for a certain playing surface, whether that's inside on sport court tiles or hard wood floors, or outside on smooth concrete or asphalt. And then once you have a wheel that's appropriate for the surface you're playing on, you have to make sure that the wheel durometer you choose is a good fit for your weight. These are just a couple of the things you have to consider when purchasing inline hockey wheels.
In addition to the durometer, you also have to pick out wheel sizes that fit the wheel configuration of your hockey skate chassis. Most inline hockey skates have 4 wheels in each chassis with as many as 4 different wheels sizes. The most common wheel sizes for senior skates are 80mm, 76mm, 72mm and for junior skates you'll likely need 72mm, 68mm and 64mm wheels. Just make sure to check the sizes of the wheels on your skates before you purchase a new set of wheels or else you'll end up with wheels that simply won't fit inside your chassis.
What About Bearings?
Lastly, you have to choose between 608 standard bearing wheels or 688 microbearing wheels. Your skates will already have one of these two sizes of bearings and wheels mounted to the frame with a specific type of axle and spacer. Unless you're adamant about making the switch from standard bearings to microbearings or vice versa and you're experienced enough to know which parts you'll need, we recommend that you stick to the size that you already have on your skates.
We at Rink Rat pride ourselves in giving you the best tools for the trade, so that you can go and enjoy your game without having to worry about your performance.