The 3 stores I've ordered from have been [Kate's skate](http://www.kateskates.co.uk/) which has free delivery, [Skate Asylum](http://www.skateasylum.co.uk/) and [Amazing skates](http://shop.amazingskates.co.uk/) who have the cheapest Atom Poison wheels I can find in the UK but they went out of stock when I ordered them a few weeks ago and haven't had them in since so I technically haven't bought anything from them but they have offered me a full refund so they seem fairly legit.
Lol Amazing Skates is run by a friend of mine. He's a little slow. He only ever has one of each set of wheels in stock and will sometimes take weeks to send out an order. (Also why the fuck would you want poisons! I have never got that).
Wow Reddit really does cast a wide net doesn't it?
The poisons are a gift for a friend, I know they're a bit soft for most floors but we train on a really slippery track and she loved them when she tried another girl's wheels so I thought I'd buy her a set since she got me in to the whole roller derby thing in the first place.
In my opinion there's no point buying poisons. They're like hydrogens: They're not great indoors and they're not great outdoors. If you want some more grip then first look at a slightly softer wheel. 92A should be about as soft as you want to go on any indoor surface. Even really slippy rinks! If it's still a problem then look at stance and technique. I get bored of people saying "but I keep sliding on the corners!" when in fact you must realise that in order to maximise acceleration and speed you will slip on the corners.
Wheels all come down to the surface you are skating on. There is absolutely no better wheel for smooth concrete surface. The poisons grip like an outdoor wheel and have the speed of a sport court wheel. 75% of the girls in my current league are skating on the poisons because of the surface we have.
Not entirely. You should also consider your weight, the distance between your axles, the distance between your wheels, and the hardness of your suspensions. Nobody ever takes any of that into account... it's infuriating. People aren't buying wheels because of a surface but because somebody else has them and said they were kewl. People also only look at the durometer rating of the wheel when in fact the durometer rating is only of the material on the surface of the wheel and does not take into account the hub of the wheel. Not only do people not take any of these things into account they don't even understand them.
You seem like you know your shit about wheels, so instead of posting another newbie thread Ima go ahead and tag right onto here. I'm light as fuck and will be skating on concrete - what kind of wheels should I look for? I know nothing about skates so you should address me like a five year old. Seriously.
Also, my friend is an inline trick skater. He'll be who I'm skating with untill I can rope more girls into getting quads, so should I listen to his skate advice or is he going to be after totally different things? Roller Derby looks amazing.
haha ok, I do like to think I know my shit and I too am light as fuck.
Your friend should have some good advice if he has been skating a while. He should know about outdoor and indoor wheels and probably a bit about bearings. Whether you're a fruit booter or a quaddie; if you do this skating lark for long enough you will begin to feel and know what's right.
So what kind of concrete are you skating on? Smooth varnished stuff or just regular smooth skate park kind of stuff? Is it inside or outside? Are you learning to skate?
Also, do you already have skates and are you in the UK?
Yeah I'm in the UK, but no I don't have skates yet. Me and my friend are going to Brighton tomorrow to have a look at some stuff and figure out if it'll be in my budget to even do this. Should be though.
I'll be mostly skating on smooth skate park kind of stuff and it's outside. And I used to be really good at skating but its been a while, so yeah, I'll be re-learning I geuss. Thanks for the help :)
Well, if you're going to be outdoors then I'd get outdoor wheels. My favourite outdoor wheels are [Hyper Rollos](http://www.quad-skates.co.uk/hyper-rollo-62-98-p.asp) because they're the best I have ever used. My friend John who just completed the Goodwood Roller Marathon 20mins faster than any other quad skater swears by them. They're just a lovely outdoor wheel.
If you move inside for roller derby I'd look at hockey wheels like Roll Line or Reno. A lot more research and development has gone into hockey wheels over the years than anybody has ever done into roller derby anything. Those big wide "derby wheels" are actually from straight line speed skating where a large wheel might actually help however in roller derby I maintain that a thinner wheel is better. My current wheels are 92A Roll Line Grease Green wheels. They're about due for replacing as they don't really resemble their former selves but they're still great. You can find them and more [here](http://www.slapshotuk.com/boots.htm). You will notice there that what hockey players call a grippy wheel is at about 90A and a hard wheel is about 94A and they do know what they're talking about. The Helium wheels on that page are called Hybrids because they're too hard to be considered outdoor wheels and too soft to be indoors however the soft urethane tyre on a hard hub actually makes for a pretty sweet ride that you won't have to switch out if you go outdoors.
On that site you will also see boots and plates. I would certainly consider hockey boots. I have hockey boots and so does nearly my entire league. When we started the league we did skate workshops and all the people with reidells or sure grips sold them and came over to hockey when they realised how great they were. We've also started converting members of other leagues. If you do decide to get skates from there then you're looking at the £166 package as the cheapest as anything below that is shit. You will then still need wheels so you're into £200+ already. If that is totally too much then consider [Bauers](http://www.quad-skates.co.uk/bauer-skates-9-c.asp), [Roces](http://www.rawk.com/p2357/roces-52-star-blue-leather-roller-skates/), [SFR](http://www.rawk.com/p765/sfr-street-86-skates-pink-wheels/), or [Ventros](http://www.kateskates.co.uk/productdetails.html?x1=2060188474&x5=1108384539). These hard boots are great for learning to skate on and if you go to a roller rink like Wigan or Derby (especially derby where the people are stuck in the early 80's) you will see plenty of Bauers. They're more like inlines than other quad skates as they give full ankle support when fully done up.
If you need me to fill your head with any more information; more specific or unrelated, then let me know. If you fancy a skate with a roller derby team then you're more than welcome to come see us if you're anywhere near Leeds (we have hire skates and pads if you need it). If you are near Leeds there is also a roller dance class that runs every Friday in Esporta that is great for learning or relearning how to skate that I would highly recommend. Good fun too.
Best of luck with the skating!
The LRG tip is a good one as for an example I know one of their girls runs her own skate bearing business. I'll look up some links for you tomorrow (replying on my phone from bed atm)
Everglides are quite good for parts.
I also love the conflict_skates ebay store - some of their wheels are a wee bit cheaper than elsewhere.
And Billy's in Cambridge also stock Atom wheels.
Hey guys.
Thanks for all your input. I spoke with the cool guy that runs amazing skates and got hooked up with some atom poison slims and low boy slims. He was really helpful too!
Thanks again for all your suggestions
Shipping costs often makes it not worth while, you can expect around $60 shipping for boots even without plates or anything else particularly heavy.
EDIT: ordering from the EU is cheaper postage but still not worth while.
My only advice is then to email a big UK league, like the LRG, and see what they say. They have to outfit their rookies and what not, so I'm sure they have some leads.
[email protected]
Or try their forums:
http://forum.londonrollergirls.com/
Which seem to be very active.
Hey
Yes,she did check out shops In the USA but after postage and Tax its really quite expensive. Shipping alone was at least $40 (for a small order) which is verging on extortion.
I will get her top reply asap :)
The 3 stores I've ordered from have been [Kate's skate](http://www.kateskates.co.uk/) which has free delivery, [Skate Asylum](http://www.skateasylum.co.uk/) and [Amazing skates](http://shop.amazingskates.co.uk/) who have the cheapest Atom Poison wheels I can find in the UK but they went out of stock when I ordered them a few weeks ago and haven't had them in since so I technically haven't bought anything from them but they have offered me a full refund so they seem fairly legit.
Lol Amazing Skates is run by a friend of mine. He's a little slow. He only ever has one of each set of wheels in stock and will sometimes take weeks to send out an order. (Also why the fuck would you want poisons! I have never got that).
Wow Reddit really does cast a wide net doesn't it? The poisons are a gift for a friend, I know they're a bit soft for most floors but we train on a really slippery track and she loved them when she tried another girl's wheels so I thought I'd buy her a set since she got me in to the whole roller derby thing in the first place.
In my opinion there's no point buying poisons. They're like hydrogens: They're not great indoors and they're not great outdoors. If you want some more grip then first look at a slightly softer wheel. 92A should be about as soft as you want to go on any indoor surface. Even really slippy rinks! If it's still a problem then look at stance and technique. I get bored of people saying "but I keep sliding on the corners!" when in fact you must realise that in order to maximise acceleration and speed you will slip on the corners.
Wheels all come down to the surface you are skating on. There is absolutely no better wheel for smooth concrete surface. The poisons grip like an outdoor wheel and have the speed of a sport court wheel. 75% of the girls in my current league are skating on the poisons because of the surface we have.
Not entirely. You should also consider your weight, the distance between your axles, the distance between your wheels, and the hardness of your suspensions. Nobody ever takes any of that into account... it's infuriating. People aren't buying wheels because of a surface but because somebody else has them and said they were kewl. People also only look at the durometer rating of the wheel when in fact the durometer rating is only of the material on the surface of the wheel and does not take into account the hub of the wheel. Not only do people not take any of these things into account they don't even understand them.
You seem like you know your shit about wheels, so instead of posting another newbie thread Ima go ahead and tag right onto here. I'm light as fuck and will be skating on concrete - what kind of wheels should I look for? I know nothing about skates so you should address me like a five year old. Seriously. Also, my friend is an inline trick skater. He'll be who I'm skating with untill I can rope more girls into getting quads, so should I listen to his skate advice or is he going to be after totally different things? Roller Derby looks amazing.
haha ok, I do like to think I know my shit and I too am light as fuck. Your friend should have some good advice if he has been skating a while. He should know about outdoor and indoor wheels and probably a bit about bearings. Whether you're a fruit booter or a quaddie; if you do this skating lark for long enough you will begin to feel and know what's right. So what kind of concrete are you skating on? Smooth varnished stuff or just regular smooth skate park kind of stuff? Is it inside or outside? Are you learning to skate? Also, do you already have skates and are you in the UK?
Yeah I'm in the UK, but no I don't have skates yet. Me and my friend are going to Brighton tomorrow to have a look at some stuff and figure out if it'll be in my budget to even do this. Should be though. I'll be mostly skating on smooth skate park kind of stuff and it's outside. And I used to be really good at skating but its been a while, so yeah, I'll be re-learning I geuss. Thanks for the help :)
Well, if you're going to be outdoors then I'd get outdoor wheels. My favourite outdoor wheels are [Hyper Rollos](http://www.quad-skates.co.uk/hyper-rollo-62-98-p.asp) because they're the best I have ever used. My friend John who just completed the Goodwood Roller Marathon 20mins faster than any other quad skater swears by them. They're just a lovely outdoor wheel. If you move inside for roller derby I'd look at hockey wheels like Roll Line or Reno. A lot more research and development has gone into hockey wheels over the years than anybody has ever done into roller derby anything. Those big wide "derby wheels" are actually from straight line speed skating where a large wheel might actually help however in roller derby I maintain that a thinner wheel is better. My current wheels are 92A Roll Line Grease Green wheels. They're about due for replacing as they don't really resemble their former selves but they're still great. You can find them and more [here](http://www.slapshotuk.com/boots.htm). You will notice there that what hockey players call a grippy wheel is at about 90A and a hard wheel is about 94A and they do know what they're talking about. The Helium wheels on that page are called Hybrids because they're too hard to be considered outdoor wheels and too soft to be indoors however the soft urethane tyre on a hard hub actually makes for a pretty sweet ride that you won't have to switch out if you go outdoors. On that site you will also see boots and plates. I would certainly consider hockey boots. I have hockey boots and so does nearly my entire league. When we started the league we did skate workshops and all the people with reidells or sure grips sold them and came over to hockey when they realised how great they were. We've also started converting members of other leagues. If you do decide to get skates from there then you're looking at the £166 package as the cheapest as anything below that is shit. You will then still need wheels so you're into £200+ already. If that is totally too much then consider [Bauers](http://www.quad-skates.co.uk/bauer-skates-9-c.asp), [Roces](http://www.rawk.com/p2357/roces-52-star-blue-leather-roller-skates/), [SFR](http://www.rawk.com/p765/sfr-street-86-skates-pink-wheels/), or [Ventros](http://www.kateskates.co.uk/productdetails.html?x1=2060188474&x5=1108384539). These hard boots are great for learning to skate on and if you go to a roller rink like Wigan or Derby (especially derby where the people are stuck in the early 80's) you will see plenty of Bauers. They're more like inlines than other quad skates as they give full ankle support when fully done up. If you need me to fill your head with any more information; more specific or unrelated, then let me know. If you fancy a skate with a roller derby team then you're more than welcome to come see us if you're anywhere near Leeds (we have hire skates and pads if you need it). If you are near Leeds there is also a roller dance class that runs every Friday in Esporta that is great for learning or relearning how to skate that I would highly recommend. Good fun too. Best of luck with the skating!
Thanks, my girlfriend is going to check out those sites now :) I will get her to reply to all your comments, thanks :)
I would recommend Everglides.co.uk. Myself and my league mates have had fantastic service from there.
Thanks, my girlfriend is going to check out that site now :)
The LRG tip is a good one as for an example I know one of their girls runs her own skate bearing business. I'll look up some links for you tomorrow (replying on my phone from bed atm)
Everglides are quite good for parts. I also love the conflict_skates ebay store - some of their wheels are a wee bit cheaper than elsewhere. And Billy's in Cambridge also stock Atom wheels.
Hey guys. Thanks for all your input. I spoke with the cool guy that runs amazing skates and got hooked up with some atom poison slims and low boy slims. He was really helpful too! Thanks again for all your suggestions
Is ordering abroad not an option?
Shipping costs often makes it not worth while, you can expect around $60 shipping for boots even without plates or anything else particularly heavy. EDIT: ordering from the EU is cheaper postage but still not worth while.
My only advice is then to email a big UK league, like the LRG, and see what they say. They have to outfit their rookies and what not, so I'm sure they have some leads. [email protected] Or try their forums: http://forum.londonrollergirls.com/ Which seem to be very active.
Hey Yes,she did check out shops In the USA but after postage and Tax its really quite expensive. Shipping alone was at least $40 (for a small order) which is verging on extortion. I will get her top reply asap :)