Many people think that inline skates are all the same for every gender and age group. However, you will notice that there are inline skates available being labeled as men, women, girls, or boys. That is why we have come up with this comprehensive inline skates buying guide. Skates are not only just aesthetically different. However, they are designed technically to support the foot shape of a specific gender or age group.

If you notice, then women’s inline skate comes with a narrower fit; however, on the other hand, men have wider foot shapes, which is why their skates are designed with a wide fit. Considering the cuff height of women’s skate, it is designed lower because women’s calf muscles sit lower and vice versa for men. You can check inline skates for men, women and kids.

The same thing also goes for the size of the inline skate. If a woman purchased a 9 size of men’s inline skate, it would be bigger. Inline skates sizes can be considered the same way as normal shoe sizes. In this Inline Skate Buying Guide, we have discussed all the significant factors you must consider before going for a pair of inline skates.

Inline Skates Buying Guide

Types of Inline Skates

There are four most basic and main types of inline skates available in the market, including fitness, race, urban, and reception. The other types we are not mentioning here are aggressive and inline hockey skates.

• Fitness Skate

This type of skates is perfect for skating professionals and have greater experience than those who have recently joined. There’s a wide variety available in fitness type skate, which can allow you to enjoy features like faster skating and skating for a greater distance compared to the skates of recreational type.

• Recreational Skates

This is one of the most famous types of skates, which is also very suitable for beginners and intermediate skaters. These sketches are designed technically to be comfortable and give a Splash of performance. These skate in recreational types are specifically designed to provide an amazing fit and comforting feeling for the new skater so that continuing to skate feels good.

• Race Skates

these skates are typically designed for racing and fast skating. They are made very stiff so that it boasts great performance. The stiff body of these inline skates is a sign that it is not the most comfortable one, and it is specifically made for those racing-inspired enthusiasts but you can make it comfortable by following our guide.

• Urban Skates

Urban style skates are made for riding city streets, and they are made with a design similar to aggressive skate. They are comparatively new in the market. With these types of skates, you can zip around in all those crowded sidewalks of the city.

Skill Range

It is essential to consider the skill range when you are purchasing your inline skate. The scale range varies from beginner to expert and intermediate. Intermediate can also be found with two discrete levels and which are advanced intermediate and normal intermediate. The beginner range of inline skates has a plastic frame with small-sized wheels and bearings of lower grade.

However, all the components will get better with advanced and good quality material when the skating skill range elevates. Like all the other products, you must consider your match when purchasing an inline skate. You can also purchase inline skates slightly above your match so that you can learn to grow to that level.

Liners

It is one of the most important components of an inline skate. In this Inline Skate Buying Guide, we have explained how a liner is a very important thing to consider when purchasing your inline skates. Proper fitting liner assures that you have a good fitting skate. There are four types of inline skate liners that are available.

• Standard

The standard type of liner is made from a foam material and allows basic comfort and sufficient padding for your feet to prevent any damage or discomfort. It does not have any special customization and further features because it is made for beginners and learning type skates.

• Auto-fit

This type of liner is made with gel or pad, which will automatically contour on your feet whenever you wear your skates.

• Memory-fit

Memory fit is the type of liner that is made with similar material as auto-fit Liners. The major difference between auto-fit and memory fit is that the memory fit liner will memorize the pattern and contour of your feet.

• Heat Mold-able

These liners are removed out of your inline skate and heated so that they can fit appropriately on your feet shape and contour when they re-harden.

Cuffs

There are typically two types of cuffs that are either high or low. Cuffs are placed to provide support to the skater. Without the presence of a cuff, inline skates cannot be stable and will feel like some slippers. The two main types of cuff that are available are plastic cuff, which is also a high cuff, and carbon cuff, which is also a low cuff.

• Plastic Cuff:

This type of cuff is most commonly found in recreational inline skates. The plastic that is used in these cuffs is very durable and can allow the skater to have good comfort and high-performance.

• Carbon Cuff

These are the upgraded form of cuffs and perform better than plastic cuffs. It is specifically used by hardcore skaters due to its better performance. Carbon cuffs are very responsive and can allow marathons skaters to enjoy high performance.

Wheels

Just like all the other components of inline skate, this is also one important component that we are going to discuss in this Inline Skate Buying Guide. Most of the inline skates come with wheels that are manufactured from polyurethane. However, those inline skates that are made with plastic are not safe to use because the plastic cracks and is very ineffective.

There are also different sizes available of wheels, and you can consider that according to your skill level.

Conclusion

Considering all the factors of inline skates mentioned above in this Inline Skate Buying Guide, you can purchase the most suitable inline skate for yourself. Ensure you read the inline skate buying guide properly before you purchase one. And after you have gained complete knowledge about the things to consider before buying your first pair of inline skates, you can check inline skates for beginners to choose the best one for yourself.