So, you bought new skates. You skated with them for awhile. Your skills are improving and you are looking at different options to upgrade your skates. There are so many different things you can do with your skates. One boot has so many little things that you can change, adjust, take a part, change out. Simply, you have endless possibilities.
To start with the basics of customizing your skates, start simple and work your way up. Here is what I did. (Keep in mind, I am just a 22 kid that fell in love with derby and have just researched and found what works for me)
- Wheels- What kind of wheels are you? When I started derby I skated on 88A, that time- I was not a jammer, not even a blocker. I was just happy if I could make it a whole lap without falling. Now I have about 3 years under my belt and I know how to control my speed, and want more speed. So I started to play with wheels. Messing with your wheels is a pretty cheap way to help you get the most out of your skates. Everyone is a little different. I now skate with a set up that looks the picture below. Excuse my horrible drawling skills...
<<Now again everyone is different and I actually am thinking about switching it up. You just have to play around with different hardness, size, and placement.The general rule when it comes to skate wheels is that larger players should have harder wheels and smaller players should have softer wheels. Your wheels need to be soft enough to give you some traction, but hard enough to facilitate smooth, quick rolling. The more force you’re putting on your wheels-your weight, the harder your wheels can be while still hitting that sweet spot between grip and speed.
Check out the get informational video below about wheels!
- Laces- Now how do you lace your skates? How do you lace your running shoes? How do you lace you work boots? I never put much thought into how changing the way I laced my skate would have any change in the way I skated; I was WRONG! You can use Google to find out different ways but here are two sites I have looked at and found help full. The first site is Ian's Shoelace Site. It has so many different ways to lace up your shoes. It also explains why you would want to lace this way, and shows a color diagram which is really helpful. Also the blog KATIERUNSTHIS is a good place to looks. She does not list as many ways to lace up but it is a good information piece. I really like to lace up Bowtie style.
- Cushions- Cushions are small and real easy to forget about. "Normally" light skaters use the softer cushions and heavier skaters will use the harder ones. But again- Everyone is different. Bonnie Thunders who is a light skater uses really hard cushions. Harder cushions require more force to change your skating angle but they hold a turn better and provide a bit more “snap” coming out of a turn when they straighten out. Softer bushings help skaters get a more severe angle on their skates and let them change direction quicker and easier.
- Plates- There are lots of different things you can do with your plates, lots of options. You can adjust your tension of your trucks- I keep my front trucks a little loose to help with my Tomahawks. When you look at plates you want to focus on strength, weight, stability, and responsiveness. Stability and responsiveness has a lot to do with the kingpin angle and types of trucks. Plates are generally made out of nylon, aluminum, or magnesium- there is one plate made of carbon fiber. Nylon is usually the lightest material to make plates out of, but it is generally also the weakest. Nylon bends and flexes under weight, making response sluggish, and making them not a very suitable choice for derby due to the constant beating and DEFINITELY not a suitable choice for a heavier skater. Aluminum is much stronger and stiffer, it won't really bend under a lot of weight, and can take much more intense skating than nylon, but that also means that the plate itself will have a little added weight. Some aluminum plates are very heavy- Powerdyne Triton, Sure-Grip -- to name a few, not all a heavy- Sure-Grip Avenger aluminum version. Keep in mind that some have a scary history of bending in weaker areas- Powerdyne Triton and Powerdyne Revenge or even snapping in half - Powerdyne Triton. Magnesium is stiffer and lighter than aluminum, though more expensive. Some people feel that magnesium plates hurt their feet because they are so unflexy, but they tend to be a good way to get a light plate that is also strong and stiff. Right now, the only magnesium plate that is easy to get your hands on is the Sure-Grip Avenger magnesium.The other big factor to consider when looking for a plate is its kingpin angle, which goes along with the type of trucks a plate uses. Most plates have around a 10 to 15 degree kingpin angle or a 45 degree kingpin angle. Basically, the smaller the number, the more stable you’ll feel on your skates, but the less turning you’ll get out of them. 10/15 degree kingpins don’t turn very well, and make weaving and juking hard. They are great for going really fast and straight- and we all know roller derby is not played in a straight line! 45 degree kingpin angles are a bit more difficult to go straight and fast on, but turn amazingly well. Crossovers, weaving, and sharp cuts are much easier on them, but you do sacrifice some stability. They take some getting used to, especially if you’ve been skating on a 10/15.Plate sizing can seem very confusing, since most skate manufacturers use arbitrary numbers to size their plates which do not correlate to boot sizes or other plates. The best way to size a plate is to measure your foot where you measure depends on the mount you want, measuring from the ball of your foot to the center of the heel, is a good way to do this. This measurement is your wheelbase. Now find a size chart for the plates you want online. Compare your wheelbase to the measurements on the chart and pick the one closest.
-Thump-Her
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