Riedell skates are regarded as among the best roller skates in the market. At the Riedell skates factory in Red Wing, Minnesota, a strong team of skilled crafting personnel has been producing top quality skates in the industry for more than 70 years. Their manufacturing process involves more than 125 production steps, and they take a labor-intensive approach to combining skill, artistry, and technology to make world-class skates.
Riedell roller skates come in a variety of sets, matching the different skating styles. The sets include Riedell Derby Skate, Riedell Jam Roller Skates, Riedell Outdoor Roller Skates, Riedell Rhythm Roller Skates, Riedell Artistic Roller Skates, and Riedell Rink and Speed Roller Skates. All of the skate sets come complete with high-quality components; boot, wheels, plate, cushions, and bearings.
The Riedell Roller Skates History
In 1945, Paul Riedell, a former Red Wing Shoes employee and his wife Sophie Riedell, saw an opportunity to convert the love for roller skating into a business. They started Riedell Shoes, Inc. in Red Wing, Minnesota, with one objective in mind: to produce and offer only the most excellent quality skates available in the market.
Over the years, Paul and his wife Sophie produced only high-quality hand-crafted skating boots and created a reputation for supplying the world’s most excellent skates with unprecedented fit and comfort. With the emergence of roller rinks in the late 1960s, Riedell rose to the occasion and started producing durable rental boots to the rinks all over the country to complement the already available resale skates.
Riedell has matched the changes with changing times, producing new and exciting skating equipment and services to meet the needs of roller rinks and skaters. Today, Riedell is excited to celebrate over 70 years of re-inventing and producing unequaled roller skates and skate components.
They create hand-crafted skates that make use of the best materials and designs to achieve the most excellent comfort and performance. They also offer complete packages of skating equipment that come with top-quality components, which include Radar Wheels™, PowerDyne™ plates, and KwiK™ bearings.
To date, Riedell is still a family business, owned and operated by grandsons Paul’s grandsons Scott, Bob, Paul & Dan Riegelman, following the same primary philosophy – to produce and offer nothing but the finest quality roller skates for skating enthusiast globally. Riedell is committed to continue producing hand-crafted skates using only the best leathers and materials by skilled personnel.
Riedell Roller Skate Products
Some of Riedell’s most popular skate products include Riedell Dash Skate Sets, Riedell Dart Ombre Skate Sets, and Riedell Citizen Skate Sets.
1. Riedell Dash Skate Sets
The Riedell dash is suitable for beginners and casual skaters. This skate set combines excellent comfort with long-lasting components consisting of sturdy nylon plates and smooth wheels. It features a two-toned canvas upper and a soft, cushioned lining to offer comfortable skating experience.
Riedell dash skates come in Green/White and Aqua/Orange colors.
Riedell Dash Skates Components:
- Boot: Dash
- Plate: Dash nylon
- Wheels: Dash 60×40 mm, 91A
- Bearings: ABEC-1
- Toe Stop: Bolt-On Black
2. Riedell Dart Ombre Skate Sets
Riedell Dart Ombre has been designed for recreational and rink skating. It’s unmatched durability and comfort make it an excellent tool for both experienced skaters and beginners alike. This skate fits into your foot like a sneaker. The boot is hugely padded and narrow at the toes to offer perfect shielding from collisions with fellow skaters without compromising comfort and ankle maneuverability. The Ombre combines versatility with utility and unmatched performance.
Riedell Dart Ombre Skates come in a variety of amazing colors, including Purple-Green, Black-Red, Purple-Pink, and Neon Green-Black.
Riedell Dart Ombre Skate components:
- Boot: Dart Ombre
- Wheels: Dart 62mm, 93A
- Plate: Die Cast Aluminum
- Bearings: ABEC-5
- Toe Stop: Adjustable Black
3. Riedell Citizen Skate Sets
The Riedell Citizen is suitable for beginners and recreational skaters. This outdoor skate set features long-lasting boots made from soft vinyl that blends exceptional ankle support and superb comfort. The Citizen also makes use of Sonar Zen roller skate wheels that are ideal for gliding across asphalt or concrete.
Riedell Citizen Skate comes in white or black colors.
Riedell Citizen Skate components:
- Boot: Model 111
- Wheels: Sonar Zen Pink or Black
- Plate: PowerDyne Thrust Nylon
- Bearings: ABEC-5
- Toe Stop: Black Bolt On
Riedell produces meticulously developed roller skate sets for skaters who are committed to particular skating disciplines. Designed to meet the requirements of derby players, roller dancers, speed racers, and unprofessional skaters, readymade sets of Riedell roller skates are classified based on their application into:
Outdoor quads, the include Diva, Zone, Citizen, and Celebrity skates. Outdoor skating can expose skaters’ boots to various jarring environments with mud, dirt, and water. Riedell outdoor skates are made of high-rebound urethane wheels designed to absorb surface disfigurements and plow through the elements to keep skaters rolling. These skates come with high-top boots with superb ankle support and soft wheels to facilitate finer grip on uneven surfaces. Outdoor Riedell roller skates are designed to be wear-proof and easy to clean, suitable for outdoor use.
Derby quads include R3, R3 plus, Torch, Blue Streak, Vixen, She Devil, Wicked, and Siren models. Roller derby action often exposes gamers to intensive skating environments and vicious collisions with competitors. Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams made up of five members who skate in a common direction around a track.
Gameplay entails a series of matchups whereby both teams select a scoring player, the “jammer,” who gains points by lapping members of the opponent team. The team members assist their jammer while impeding the opposing jammer, hence playing both offense and defense concurrently. There are more than 1200 roller derby leagues.
The sport came to existence in the 1930s, and Leo Seltzer and Damon Runyon introduced the competitive form. Professional roller derby gained popularity in the 1940s, during which more than 5 million spectators watched it in about 50 U.S cities. In the years that followed, however, the sport’s theatrical elements overshadowed its athleticism, and it turned to a form of sports entertainment.
To alleviate potential risks and downtime brought about by derby skating injuries, Riedell roller derby skates are made from premium, durable materials to protect gamers from harm. These derby skates also use low-cut designs that maximize speed and ankle flexibility.
Generally, Riedel derby skates are made to be sturdy and as comfortable as possible to permit high-speed skating and derby skaters’ maneuverability while taking part in highly intense derby game action. Riedell derby roller skates are made from top-quality soft and robust leather and are equipped with lightweight plates and hard wheels for indoor performance. Depending on the varying competence levels, these skates are characterized by a notable price difference.
Rink and speed quads are mostly designed for purposes of indoor recreational skating. Rink skating entails everything from recreational sessions to highly demanding speed skating time trials. Riedell rink and speed skates utilize low-cut designs to allow speed and ankle flexibility. The bright Dart and Dart Ombre low-cut boot models are eye-catching and practical, while R3 Demon set is available in black color with an option of eight varying colors for Sonar Demon medium-hard wheels.
Artistic quads, as the name suggests, are designed to be used for artistic skating. Artistic skating has a resembles figure skating, but contestants use roller skates instead of ice skates. Within artistic skating, there are various disciplines, including precision skating, pair skating, figures, freestyle, couple dance, show teams, and solo dance.
Artistic roller skating involves demanding moves such as large jumping and landing, spins, and lifts. The Riedell artistic roller skates are made of high-cut leather boots that resemble those used in figure skating. In addition, Riedell artistic skates come with spectacularly resilient sole plates to absorb these jarring impacts and give exceptional ankle support.
Riedell produces artistic skates that suit different skating levels, from beginner to expert. Top-quality models of Riedell artistic skates come with highly sturdy PowerDyne Reactor Neo Aluminum plates, Kwik Zenith chrome steel top-level bearings, and large-diameter hard Radar Varsity Wheels which permit gaining a competitive advantage during professional performance.
Jam quads are low-top roller skates that feature jam plugs for purposes of performance of complicated moves and tricks on the skating floor. Jam skating entails gripping dance patterns that often feature advanced shuffle skating maneuvers.
The term “jam skating” is derived from the Jam skate association, which sprouted in Orlando, Florida, in 1997. This association was created with the objective of combining several roller-skating organizations in Florida who shared a common skating style. The term Jam skate was formulated by Chris Gehret, who founded the Jam skate association. When coming up with a name to precisely describe the sport, several combinations of words were suggested before ‘Jam skate’ was settled on.
To permit the complicated moves that come with jam skating, Riedell jam skates feature low-cut designs and high-quality dance plugs to boost ankle flexibility and freedom of movement. Riedell jam roller skates include Phase, Icon, and Quest models, and they have top-quality leather boots with fashionable overlays blended with hard wheels and high-grade bearings to allow excellent maneuverability.
Rhythm quads feature a high-top boot design and top-quality roller skate dance plugs to boost ankle support and allow effortless braking and mobility. This is essential because roller skating entails activities that demand extraordinary flexibility and maneuverability. These intensive activities include shuffle skating, dancing, and slides.
Frequently asked questions
Are Riedell skates true to size?
Riedell sizes their skates for cozy and competitive fit. This implies the toe will touch the inside of the boot slightly.
A well fit boot is key to getting the most out of your skate. However, finding a pair of boots that fit accurately can prove to be daunting. This is simply because no two feet are entirely alike, and every boot model has a unique design that affects how it feels. In addition, most skate boot makers have a distinctive sizing that contradicts the regular shoe sizing. For Riedell boots, the correct size for you will depend hugely on which last the boot is made on.
For Riedell’s low top boots, the Riedell skates fit just like sneakers do; they are hugely padded and narrows at toes. Below are the sizing guidelines for men and women:
- Women: they can place orders with one full size less from conventional U.S. shoe size.
- Men: Order true to U.S. shoe size.
For Riedell’s high top boots and any additional sizing information, you can refer to the Riedell roller skate’s Sizing Help, Guidelines, and Charts on the Riedell website. This sizing chart from Riedell is calibrated for the competitive fit, and the measurements correspond to the total insole length. In case you need to have some extra room in the skates, then you will go a half size up.
Keep in mind, however, that skates that are larger than ¼” longer than your foot length measurements are not ideal. Skates that are too big can cause early break down and will not provide proper support to your ankles and feet. Once you know your foot measurements, you can then refer to these sizing charts to find your size in Riedell roller skates.
Always remember that this information only serves as a reference; it is highly recommended that you try the skates on before buying.
The Bottom Line
In the world of skating, Riedell skates have no match. Whether you are a genuinely seasoned skater or just picking up your first pair of wheels, Riedell has all of the industry-leading skate gear; they provide the most excellent quality skating boot with top comfort levels. Simply put, if you are shopping around for the most effective, high-quality, and durable roller-skating equipment, then Riedell got you covered.
Riedell have matched the evolution of the industry; today, with the re-emergence of roller derby and the growing demand for highly specialized skates, Riedell offers a wide variety of Radar Wheels™, PowerDyne™ plates, and KwiK™ bearings engineered to help you skate quicker, longer, and look your best. Pick your Riedell roller skate set and get to enjoy your skating experience.
