When it comes to skating, there are several factors that you need to consider to ensure that you have a smoother ride experience. One of such factors is knowing which type of wheel that would work best in your environment. The fact is the type of wheel that your skate possesses will go a long way in ensuring that you don’t only get a good skating experience, but you don’t get injuries whiile skating.
There is no doubt that most people would love to skate outside. Outdoor roller skating is an awesome way to enjoy nature and everything that it provides, but can you skate outside with indoor wheels? Most, if not all skaters admit to changing their boots from indoor to outdoor when they want to skate outdoors, but is there any risk of skating with indoor wheels outdoors? What’s the deal? Read along to find out.
Buying Roller Skates
New to roller skating? There is every possibility that you will find it daunting to choose your first pair of skates. Whether you want indoor skates or outdoor skates is the reality that you will face once you have made up your mind that you want to try skating. However, the choice isn’t too hard if you know where you love to skate.
Buying your skates will save you a few bucks on rentals. Not to mention the privacy and the freedom that you get from skating whenever and wherever you want to.
Indoor Skating
Many people are familiar with indoor skating as skating that is usually performed on a skating rink or roller rink as some call it. A skating rink is a hard, smooth surface, and the environment is favorable to indoor skates. The floor offers a smoother and faster ride for indoor skates due to the design of the wheels. The wheels are harder, which encourages faster skating. This is one of the reasons why it’s not suitable for outdoor skating.
Outdoor Skating
Outdoor skating is almost everyone’s favorite. That’s because the skater gets to enjoy nature and experience all that comes with the natural scenery. It’s also a great way of exercising. It’s also the favorite for skaters who love to try out new skating tricks and skills. However, it’s unwise to roller skate outdoors with an indoor skate and here is the reason.
The design of indoor skate wheels is only suitable for hard and smooth surfaces. Outdoor skate wheels, on the other hand, have soft wheels. This makes it easy for the skate to thrive on non-smooth or uneven surfaces. Outdoor wheels provide better grip and hold and provides shock absorption due to the rubber texture. Because of the nature of the road or surface that it’s rolling on, that’s why it was designed in that way.
However, skating outside is more hazardous than skating inside. Like we stated, the nature of the roads are uneven and are mostly sidewalks and streets. So you will need to wear safety gear like knee pads, elbow and wrist pads, as well as a helmet. Safety gear will ensure that you are protected as much as possible.
Differences Between Indoor and Outdoor Skates
The major difference between an indoor skate and that of the outside skate lies in the wheels. The outdoor skates have soft wheels, which gives you a smoother roll on rough or non-smooth surfaces such as streets. Indoor skates, on the other hand, have harder wheels, which makes it easy for you to skate on very smooth surfaces.
Size is another factor that differentiates the two skate wheels. Indoor wheels measure about 56 mm to 61 mm, while outdoor wheels go bigger than that. Outdoor skates have larger wheels and more power than indoor skates to overcome the uneven terrain, bumps, and everything on it. Indoor skates only need less power. So in essence, indoor skates possess hard wheels, while outdoor skates have soft wheels.
So in terms of hardness, indoor skate wheels are harder than outdoor skate wheels.
If you want to move from indoor skating to outdoor skating, you need to change your indoor boots to an outdoor one. That means buying and having a separate skate whenever you decide to skate outdoors or indoors.
Price is another factor that sets the two skate wheels apart, even though it’s only minimal. Usually, skate wheels aren’t that expensive and you can get a good indoor skate wheel for about $50 and an outdoor one for about a few dollars less. However, professional or high-grade wheels can cost several hundreds of dollars.
Types of Skates
Indoor and outdoor skates are divided into some types of skates. It’s important that you choose the right type of indoor or outdoor skate for maximum comfort and convenience. Also, your skill level and experience will determine which type of outdoor or indoor skate that you need.
This is a very popular type of roller skate. It’s a traditional skate that most people have used at one time and are still using. A quad skate had two axles – one in the front and one at the back with two wheels on it, similar to a vehicle.
The wheels are fastened to skate through an axle nut. Most quad skates come in high-top skate boot, but you can find a low-top skate boot.
For beginners, it’s best you go for quad skates, whether you are skating outdoors or indoors. They provide better balance and comfortable on the feet. However, if you want something speedy, they might not be your option.
Rollerblades
Sometimes, rollerblades are used synonymously with inline skate because of the way their wheels are lined up.
Rollerblades are skate boots with a single axle along the length of the boot. Unlike quad boots that have two axles that have two wheels on each axle, the wheels in a rollerblade are lined up with 3 – 5 wheels. The wheels are secured by an axle nut and also, there is a brake at the back of the boot for easy stopping.
Most rollerblades come in high-top boots.
Inline Speed Skates
For skaters who love speed, this is the type of skate that you should go for. It’s also used by competitive skaters and this makes it unsuitable for beginners, unlike quad skates. It’s driven towards high-performance skating, so if you are not a speedy skater, you should avoid this type of skate.
Inline speed skates, unlike quad skates have a single axle with three to four wheels attached to it by the axle nut. Most of these inline speed skates come in low-cut boots to make it easier maneuverability.
Roller Skating Vs. Rollerblading: What Are the Differences?
Most people are actually confused if there are any differences between rollerblading or inline skating and roller skating or whether they are the same as outdoor skating and indoor skating respectively. We are going to clear your doubts about this.
The difference, and probably the biggest difference between roller skating and rollerblading is the way their wheels are set up, just like indoor skates wheels and outdoor skate wheels. Their wheels also affect how the skate work and the surfaces that they prefer to roll on. Roller skates have four wheels, two in the front and two at the back, supported by two different long axles. The wheels are thick with rubber brakes directly in front of them.
Rollerblades have the same four wheels, but instead of being in twos, they are lined up in a single row. The wheels are thinner and is less stable and the brakes are located in the back, unlike roller skates that have theirs in the front.
Roller skates are better at roller derby, jam skating, etc. Rollerblades are more suited to speed skating, roller hockey, etc.
So technically, roller skating is the same as indoor skating, while rollerblading is the same as outdoor skating.
Can You Skate Outside with Indoor Wheels?
The answer is pretty straightforward. The working principle of indoor wheels will make it difficult for you to perform well on outdoor surfaces. Indoor wheels, when used on outdoor sufaces will wear out the quickly and won’t guarantee a smooth ride.
The same goes for outdoor wheels. They are unsuitable for use on smooth surfaces and will wear out likewise.
Can You Change the Wheels of Your Boot To Accommodate Your Skating Activity?
If you can’t buy two separate boots for your indoor and outdoor skating, you can simply buy and change the wheels. Quad skates, for example, allows you to change your wheels depending on the activity. So you are not limited to just one type of wheel. There are also hybrid models that can accommodate both indoor and outdoor wheels, but they are not so durable.
However, if you are more of outdoor skating than indoors, going for high-top boots is highly recommended.
Conclusion
Skating is an excellent activity to engage in at anytime, but not without the right skate. Skating with the right boots will make you enjoy skating better and even prevent some injures from occurring to you.
It’s important to choose a skate that meets your interests and preferences without neglecting the surface or area at which you want to skate on. Some love skates that will enable them perform one or two tricks and stints, while others prefer speedy skates and one that suits their style.
If you want to roller skate outdoors, choose outdoor skates that will enable you skate excellently outdoors. If you want to roller skate on rinks, choose nice indoor skates that will skate perfectly indoors. Choosing indoor skates for outdoor skating won’t just go down well. It won’t cut it. If you want to maximize your skating experience, you can ride outdoor and indoors with both outdoor skates and indoor skates respectively.
