Guide To Buying Skate Wheels

DIAMETER

The diameter of the wheel means simply how tall the wheel is. Skaters

wanting speed tend to use larger wheels, although wheel size should be

determined by the skates and racing course and distance. Aggro (aggressive)

style skaters such as Vert/ramp skaters use short wheels with a high

durometer because they're more maneuverable.

In general, taller wheels will let you cruise faster but take longer to spin up.

Taller wheels also tend to be less maneuverable than shorter wheels.

Shorter wheels are cheaper, but in general don't last as long since they have

less material to wear down overall, given the same durometer. However

since many of the small wheels are for stunts, they all tend to be sold in

higher durometers anyway (they slide better), so they won't necessarily

wear out that quickly.

DUROMETER (hardness)

Durometer is a relative hardness measure frequently used for rubber and

plastic products. There are several scales, with the "A" scale (hence the 78A,

etc.) used for wheels. The number is the rating from 0-100, with 0 being no

resistance and 100 being very hard plastic. For outdoors, the softer the

wheel, the better the shock absorption. The trade-off is that softer wheels

wear out faster. Harder wheels, since they have less drag, are preferred on

indoor surfaces which are usually very smooth (e.g. hockey).

Some skaters vary their wheel durometer depending on the temperature

outside. Cold weather will mean the ground is harder so soft wheels are

more suitable. In really warm weather the road might start literally melting,

in which case a high durometer setup would be more preferable.

Anatomy of a Quad Roller Skate
by Dave VanBelleghem

This article by Dave vanBelleghem includes an exploded diagram of a quad roller skate with each of its parts labeled. For those of you that don't know a pivot pin from a speed cone, here's the biggest parts diagram I could find for you. The parts are numbered and correspond to the list beneath the diagram. This is a double action plate quad skate. 1 cushion above and 1 below the truck. Plate (made of aluminum or plastic like material) Kingpin (or Kingbolt) Cushion Retainer (made from aluminum) Cushion (made of rubber) Truck     5A. Pivot Pin       5C. Axle      6.     Action Nut      7.     Pivot Cup (made of rubber)                 7A.   Pivot Cup Hole       8.    Toe Stop (non adjustable bell type)       9.    Toe Stop Bolt       10.    Speed Cone (Washer)     11.    Bearing     12.    Spacer     13 .    Wheel     14.     Axle Nut     15.     Heel Brake                   15A.   U-Bolt          15C.   U-Bolt Mounting Washers and Nuts      16.    Toe Stop Mounting Block      17.     Boot      18.     Laces      19.     Plate Mounting Bolts and Nuts Copyright © Dave VanBelleghem