So you’ve decided to buy your first pair of inline skates, that’s cool. 

First decide what type of skating you’d like to get into.  Most people like to start off with recreational skating, while others might want to go straight into aggressive skating or speed skating.  I’d recommend recreational for first timers, learn the basics and progress to something more advanced.

Budget: You get what you pay for in this game.  Cheap skates are simply nasty bits of plastic and metal, designed for the type of person who uses them once then throws them in the back of the cupboard with all the other junk! Set yourself a budget of no less than £100, anything less and your burning money.

Comfort beats style:  How many people have you heard give this advice, “Buy skates that are one size smaller/larger than your shoe size”. This is rubbish, I used to follow this advice and found it to be bogus.  Simply try different sizes until you find a fit that feels comfortable (start with your shoes size, then move up or down a size).  The skates should feel snug, but not ‘tight’.  You should be able to wiggle your toes while standing up in the skates.   

Other Kit: If this is your first time on skates you’ll want to consider buying a helmet, wrist guards, elbow pads and knee pads.  Buy a decent backpack to carry your shoes in as well, something you can attach your skates to at the end of the day.  Or you could just strap your shoes to your trouser belt, yeah, that’s soooo cool!!

Where to buy from:  There are a few places I could advise you NOT buy from, but I wont.  So lets just say that I would recommend buying from Club Blue Room and Slick Willies as I’ve had experience with these shops myself and they know their stuff (most of the time!!).

Have fun shopping for your skates.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 18th, 2007 at 4:37 am
and is filed under FAQs.