Learning to Roller Skate: Step 1

Buy Your Own Skates

This is the first major decision that you're going going to make, and the first of 3 financial commitments. Sure, you could get hire skates if you've got a roller rink nearby, but they'll probably not fit well and be poorly maintained (I've seen them held together with duct tape before). Also, and this is important, by spending some money we're probably more likely to stick with it. No-one wants to admit defeat when they've just sunk some cash into it.

Remember I said 3 financial commitments? You're going to need the following:
Skates
Pads
Wheels
The skates and the pads are necessary. No getting away from that. The wheels... It depends. The skates will probably come with wheels, but they'll likely be crap. More on this later.

Looking for a skate is not as difficult as it first appears. There are a lot of options out there and its difficult to know where to start. You just need to limit those options, and the easiest way to do that is by deciding how much you want to spend.  You can break it down into 3 rough categories:  recreational, amateur and professional.



Recreational skates. Girls can get Rio Rollers by SFR or something similar. These skates are cheap (around £40-£50), and ok for learning. My wife has a pair for going outside so she doesn't ruin her good wheels. There's actually nothing wrong with them if you're skating outside or in a rink, they do exactly what they're intended for: recreational skating. The major downside is that if you do go to a rink they're popular with kids due to the price and the designs. When your friends are all wearing derby skates and you're matching with the girls in the one-direction t shirts... Don't say I didn't warn you. Guys can spend £60-£70 and get something that looks like a Bauer skate from the 90's. I'll review the SFR Raptor later, since I skated in some for a month.  If you're thinking about getting into roller derby, or just want to fit in with the cool kids, then you'll want...

Amateur skates.  You'll notice if you look at skate websites, that after the £50 skates there's really not much until you get to the £100 mark.  This is where you've got the  Riedell r3 and the sure grip GT-50. Most people who want to get into Derby will have one or the other when they start, and they're pretty similar.  Both are synthetic boots (read: not leather), have nylon (plastic) plates, come with shitty wheels, but otherwise do a pretty decent job. The r3 is actually really comfortable, and looks smart, so I'd say its well worth the money, being about £20 cheaper then the GT-50. If you're not a professional derby skater and don't want to spend £300+, this is where you'll be. Online I read plenty of reviews complaining about these type of skates, but they all boiled down to "the skates won't last long in professional roller derby", which at my level of skating was pretty irrelevant. If you do fancy getting some really fancy skates and have really rich and generous parents or have won the lottery, you'll need...


Professional skates. Always have leather boots and lightweight aluminium plates. Always cost between £300 and £400. If you're just learning to skate and thinking about buying some of these, then you have too much money. Go give some to charity instead. You can however look longingly at them online, if that makes you feel better. The Riedell 265 seems popular, and the Antik skates look cool.


Next up: PADS