Rollerbladers inline skate for a variety of reasons. Some rollerbladers skate for fitness and health reasons. Others inline skate for the love of the rollerblading, and while some of these inline skaters do not worry about numbers, others make a lot of fuss about figures and are obsessed by numbers. Sometimes, these inline skaters boost about running for a longer mile than others.
Speed is one thing that makes rollerblading fun and exciting. The idea of rollerblading 5, 6, 7, or 8 miles per hour, with the air gushing over your face and your body is something exciting, and this is one of the reasons why many riders are lured into rollerblading in the first place.
The real question here is, how fast can you go on roller blades? Have you ever wondered how fast an inline skater would go in a certain time frame? You are about to find out in this post.
Inline skaters run at different speeds and how fast a rollerblade would go is dependent on a lot of factors that we will discuss as this post goes on. A skater might be anxious to know his tracking overall speed, distance, average speed, and so on. He would want to know if he had made any improvement since the last time he inline skated.
Average Speeds for Inline Skaters
In a study conducted by rollerblade, inline skaters tend to rollerblade at speeds in the region of about 8 – 16 miles per hour, depending on the skater and level of experience. For instance, if you belong to the slow skaters category, you should be able to skate one mile in about eight minutes. If you are an intermediate skaters, you should be able to skate one mile in about five minutes and thirty seconds. If you belong to the fast or experienced category of skaters, you should be able to skate one mile in about three minutes.
Naturally, the faster you go, the more calories you burn. A 180-pound skater can burn around 7 calories per minute skating at eight miles per hours, which is the minimum. And if the skater is rollerblading for 16 miles per hour, expect such person to burn about 19 calories per minute.
Max Speeds for Various Locations
Typically, for fitness or recreational skaters, the average speed can vary between 6 – 20 miles per hour. In other routes like downhill and uphill movement, the average speed can increase and decrease respectively. Some skaters can reach an average speed that’s as high as 40 miles per hour.
In 21 February, 2016 in Brazil, an Italian skater named Sandro Bovo entered the Guinness Book of World Records by finishing with an average speed of 124.67 km/h in downhill skating. This is the fastest speed ever recorded in downhill skating.
In uphill movement, the average speed may range between 6 – 15 miles per hour.
You can achieve high speed in inline skating if you maintain balance with speed. Once you have this, you will enjoy skating at high speed, whether you are rollerblading or skating on quad skates.
Factors Affecting Speed
As we previously mentioned, the speed of the skater is dependent on a lot of factors. This include skill level, surface condition or pavement, wheel durometer, wind, size of the wheel, and bearings.
- Skill Level
Your skill level is the major factor affecting your inline skating speed. As a beginner, you might not utilize fully your leg power and may not likely know how to maintain balance. Remember, to achieve high speed in inline skating, you need maintain balance and speed. These two go hand-in-hand in all ramifications.
- Surface Condition/ Pavement
The texture of the surface you are skating on plays a critical role in inline skating speed. Rough or coarse surfaces or pavements tend to slow down speed. For instance, asphalt looks smooth and clean, but it’s sticky, which may pose resistance in slowing you down, especially in summer periods. Since the road is sticky, when you try to skate speedily, you will stumble and fall.
- Wind
This can work in two ways. It’s either the wind is exerting a push in your favor or is against the direction of motion, thereby reducing. So in this case, your speed is affected negatively. In the positive aspect, especially in downhill movement, the wind can propel you to accelerate faster and it may seem fun, but it isn’t. It is extremely difficult coping with the speed in a windy situation, and if you are a newbie, you may lose balance.
You should only skate if the wind is reasonable. Else, it’s advisable you consider skating and decide if the weather will be favorable to you or not.
- Size of the Wheels
No doubt, the larger the wheels, the faster they cover grounds. Typically, skate wheels have a diameter of 80 mm. However, if you feel the size is not large enough, you can increase the size by purchasing skates with the frame suitable for bigger wheels.
A lot of people have asked if having more wheels would translate in high speed. The simple answer is it won’t. Certainly, having more wheels will result in better road grip, but the rolling resistance will increase. Thus, reducing speed. Fewer wheels provide far better speed, but offer less grip and would require more balance.
- Wheel Durometer
In rollerblading, the composition of the material and the hardness of the wheels matters a lot. They contribute greatly to your speed. Durometer is measured from 0 to 100. Wheels with grade rating of 80A and above are considered as hard wheels, while those between 70A and 79A are soft wheels. The higher the rating, the harder th wheels become.
Wheels for skating outdoors should have a grade rating of 85A due to the surface.
- Bearings
The quality of your wheel bearings can either make your skates go faster or mar your speed performance. Cheap quality bearings are bad news and should be avoided because they won’t allow you to glide smoothly. Your skates should have decent, quality bearings to aid your glide, movement, and speed.
How to Track Your Speed
If you care so much about your speed, there are so many ways to track it. One of the simplest ways to track your speed is by using a stopwatch. You can start your watch and then, start to skate. The watch will record the number of minutes or hours you used to skate that mile in every step of the way. All you have to do is take note of the time.
You can also download and use fitness apps on Play Store and Apple Store or use GPS-based trackers. These apps and trackers are designed for keeping time during skating, cycling, etc. Some of these apps even allow you to store the time you spent in previous activities, so that you can compare your time to current time. It’s handy and helpful in checking out your goals.
Different Types of Skating Speeds
Skating is broadly divided into three categories – inline skating, roller skating, and ice skating. These skating types differ in comfort, training, speed, and control.
- Inline Skating
Inline skates or rollerbladers are very good at achieving high speeds. However, they require more balance and stability, and if you are able to learn those, you can skate very fast with inline skates.
Quad roller skates might be easier in stability due to the possession of balanced four wheels, control, and easier to use, but when it comes to gaining full speed, inline skates is incomparable. You can cover 2 – 5 miles per hour with inline skate on an average speed if you are a beginner. For experienced skaters, they can go as far as 6 – 20 miles in an hour at an optimal speed. You must know that a lot of things come to play to achieve this – your stamina and the surface play great roles in influencing your pace.
- Roller Skating
This is a typical four-wheel skating activity, mostly for beginners who prefer stability and control over speed. Quad skates are designed for artistry, and you may end up hurting yourself if you try to do speed skills with quad skates.
You can roller skate on hilly and rough terrains, but you must keep your balance and maintain average speed. Else, you will fall and injure yourself. Generally, roller skates aren’t designed for speed, and you can achieve a speed of about a mile in an hour or less.
- Ice Skating
Just like inline skating, you can achieve high speed while skating on ice. The surface of the ice is usually smooth and not as steepish as others. The surface is less restraint compared to concrete, which further enhances speed.
You can achieve a speed of about five miles in an hour with ice skating if you are a beginner and about twenty miles if you are skilled and experienced.
Safety Tips
As a beginner, you shouldn’t just emphasize on speed. Instead, focus on developing your skating skills. Focus on becoming a better skater, strong, and eventually, an excellent skater. If you just focus on speed, you have just misplaced your priorities. Your priority is to skate safely. Speed is not an essential element in the elementary phase and will come later during the course of learning.
Skate safely by wearing the right safety gears. Never go about rollerblading without a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, and wrist guards. It only takes just one simple stumble and you will crash your head and body against a rock or something, and that might be the end of your life.
Learn to stop safely and use the heel brakes. Learn to do the ‘T stop’ braking technique, which is the most basic braking technique for beginners.
Conclusion
Inline skating is incredible and fun for anyone involved in it. It has some amazing health benefits, but not without its risks. How fast can you go on roller blades depends on a lot of factors as we have explained in this post. If you want to inline skate as a beginner, we advise that you focus on honing your skills, rather than focusing on speed. It would help you develop as an inline skater faster. Speed is great, only if you have mastered the art of skating.
