We get this question all the time!
The perfect rollerskates for you depend on your feet, budget, and the kind of rollerskating you’re looking to do. Whether you’re a total gear nerd like Stormy, or you will skate on almost anything like Lulu, we have one piece of advice that’s absolutely essential! Stay tuned, we’ll get there soon.
First things first!
We asked our rollerskaters for advice and they really came through with some gems.
- Sarah: “I would say get the best that you can afford, you absolutely get what you pay for. I bought cheap rollerskates thinking I might or might not like rollerskating and then I wished I had saved that $120 towards a really good pair of rollerskates. If you buy a quality brand, and you discover that skating is not for you you will always resell them at a decent price. If you buy a low budget pair of skates that are uncomfortable, it might put you off the sport altogether!”
- Teresa: “Not the cheapest (in terms of quality). Safety first. Trustworthy brand or store. As a beginner I bought a moxi pair at rollergirl.
. There is a big difference between high or low quality. I experienced this with my moxi’s
”
There were lots more comments and pieces of advice, you can find them in our Girl Gang Group on Facebook.
My goodness does this advice ring true!! My sister and I recently bought some used rollerskates for our mom, who just started taking lessons. We only checked the rollerskates on ourselves first and sent her off to her lessons. Boy was this a mistake *face palm*. We totally forgot about the huge difference in how you tune your rollerskates when you’re comfortable on them versus when you’re first starting out.
Luckily, our mother is a badass in her own right and a few bails didn’t set her off. After she told us how hard they were to skate on, we took them back and spent an afternoon swapping out a lot of parts! When you’re first starting out, a really rigid set up can help you get comfortable and is a lot easier to balance on. This means tight trucks, rigid cushions, and stickier, less slippery wheels.
But, without us rollerskating nerds for daughters, she would not have known what to fix.
So here is it, our main piece of advice.
Ask your local expert! There are a lot of awesome, skater-owned shops and they are the best people to go to. They will know all the options available and can work with you to find something that works for your budget, goals, and needs. They will also help you adjust them just for you! Better yet, they stand by their products. So if something doesn’t work, or breaks, they’ll help you sort it out.
You can’t really compare that kind of service with amazon, now can you?
The goal is always finding skates that will make skating fun for you! No matter how cheap they are, uncomfortable and ill-fitting skates are a total buzzkill. Don’t take that risk!
There is no single perfect rollerskate, although we LOVE Sure Grip and Moxi skates! We recommend asking your local skate shop what the right skate for you is. They are experts after all 🙂
We work with a couple of excellent skate shops you should check out!
These are all woman-skater-owned.
Canada
- Rollergirl.ca – Vancouver
- Nerd Skates – Calgary
- Low Life Skates – Montreal
USA
- Wicked Skates – Huntington Beach, CA
- Pigeon Skates – Venice Beach, CA
- Bruised Boutique – Nashua, NH
- Five Stride Skates – Portland, OR & NY
There are lots of skate shops around the world, a quick google search should point you to the nearest one to you. Support skater owned shops this holiday season!
Want to learn more? Interested in the difference between a heeled boot, short boot, speed boot, etc? Check out our FREE Top 5 Tips for beginner skaters video series! You can watch it here.