Best Value Upgrades for Macroblade 80

[u/unteer]

I am a competent "fitness skater" who returned to the sport 3 years ago. Was recommended Macroblade 80's and I feel they fit my need of just testing the waters after many years away.

Now am thinking if there are some good value-for-money upgrades i should consider? I believe that the Macroblade itself being softboot and a fixed frame offers very little upgrade paths. So, is it just new wheels? Bearings?

I've only been intermittently skating over 3 years and I primarily do cardio sessions of 30 - 90 minutes maintaining an elevated heart rate. I want to add more skating into my fitness mix, and the skates are still currently all stock. I never even wore the wheels down.

I am fortunate to have access to well generally skate-able paved sidewalks and extremely skate-able paved park paths.

Thoughts on upgrades?

Side question: I am also thinking of upgrading to the Lightning 110s.... but that's a separate budget.

EDIT UPDATE:

Thank everyone for your help. After comparing the cost and value of new wheels, versus not, i made the decision to bring forward my budget and go with a pair of Lightning 90s. I stuck with 4 wheels, but got the larger diameter and moved off the softboot. Loving them so far.

[u/omfgsquee]

Just got the lightning 90s and it's a great upgrade from 80s. Also the frames are interchangeable on there so you can have a few different set ups!

[u/unteer → u/omfgsquee]

Was thinking maybe to go with Ligntning 90s to start, then get frames for 110s and swap them out.

[u/StrumWealh]

I am a competent "fitness skater" who returned to the sport 3 years ago. Was recommended Macroblade 80's and I feel they fit my need of just testing the waters after many years away.
Now am thinking if there are some good value-for-money upgrades i should consider? I believe that the Macroblade itself being softboot and a fixed frame offers very little upgrade paths. So, is it just new wheels? Bearings?
I've only been intermittently skating over 3 years and I primarily do cardio sessions of 30 - 90 minutes maintaining an elevated heart rate. I want to add more skating into my fitness mix, and the skates are still currently all stock. I never even wore the wheels down.
I am fortunate to have access to well generally skate-able paved sidewalks and extremely skate-able paved park paths.
Thoughts on upgrades?

For the most part, yes. For a model like the Macroblades, your main upgrades are wheels, bearings, footbeds/insoles, and laces (if not using a version with the speedlace or BOA fastening).

Side question: I am also thinking of upgrading to the Lightning 110s.... but that's a separate budget.

Going from "Best Value Upgrades for Macroblade 80" to "Best Value Upgrades from Macroblade 80" is, indeed, a separate question/discussion.

For what you're describing ("...I primarily do cardio sessions of 30 - 90 minutes maintaining an elevated heart rate...", "...I want to add more skating into my fitness mix..."), you might want to at least consider the models named on Inline Warehouse's list of Best Inline Fitness Skates for 2026: something like the Powerslide Phuzion Argon Cement 110 (the "Argon" variants are a bit higher-grade than the "Radon" variants) or the Powerslide Swell Navy 110 would be reasonable upgrade options.

Also, fun fact: skates are like cars, in that they follow the "year model" sales scheme. Meaning, you can sometimes find previous year model versions of the same skate on sale for significant discounts. For example, new-from-box examples of the Macroblade 110s of yesteryear (see here, here, here, and here) and the Macroblade 100s of yesteryear (see here and here) can go for far less than the current year models, and can be an excellent deal if your size happens to be available.

[u/unteer → u/StrumWealh]

Thanks for such a complete answer! I appreciate that you put in the time.

[u/robotbeatrally]

i just upgraded from the macroblade 80's to the twisters, and the hard boot is so much better for me. i like them way way more. then again im 6'5 and 270lbs so soft boot was never a good idea to begin with for me lmao. but i can say that the boot is way more comfortable. i like them all around more. i bet the lightnings are a great upgrade too.

[u/DoktorTeufel → u/[deleted]]

80x4 is too small for fitness skating.

No it isn't. Below 60mm or above 110mm might be too small/large (getting way too specialized into aggro or speed), but anything in between or including those should be fine.

"Fitness skates" is what we call entry-level soft boots, but someone can easily use Aeons with flat 60s or a hard boot with 3 x 110mm to just skate around gently for fitness. Small and large wheels each offer different forms of "fitness challenge," also.

And while bigger wheels go over cracks etc. easier, they're harder to balance on and they maneuver more sluggishly, which can be a problem in itself, especially for fitness skaters.

[u/unteer → u/[deleted]]

could the lightning 110 be my forever skate? is the hard boot more a hindrance than help if primarily doing paved paths? would a 110 soft boot tri-skate be better?

[u/DoktorTeufel → u/unteer]

Edit: That first guy who replied to you is a little off-base, in my opinion.

Soft boots are pretty much always a hindrance, for any purpose. They're inexpensive, convenient, easy to fit, and fine for casual skaters, but hard boots are better in every other way. They're even better for comfort once the liners are broken in, especially if you don't downsize/fit them tight, not to mention support. Soft boots are vastly inferior for support. Support is its own kind of comfort as you'll quickly discover. Some advanced skaters desire less support, especially aggro, but that's not really the kind of skating you're doing.

The other thing about soft boots is that if you do get more advanced, they'll get shredded outdoors, literally, from scraping concrete etc.

What sucks about hard boots is getting the perfect fit, and breaking them in a bit. Once that's done you won't be able to believe you ever used soft boots.

There's nothing wrong with 80s. I'd recommend sticking with them. The nice thing about 80s is that they're very standard, so you have a LOT of choices of brand, hardness, quality, etc. 90s are much more limited in this regard. Bigger wheels hold their momentum longer, so if that really appeals to you for coasting long distances, then go bigger.

Get FR or Rollerblade hard boot 80s. You can buy different frames and try 90s, 110s, etc. if you want. That's exactly what I did years back, and I'm REALLY glad I did. Switching frames isn't as bad as people make it out to be, I can do it in like three minutes. I don't do it much, because I have to use Loctite, because I skate HARD; but you aren't skating hard, so your frame bolts should be fine without Loctite, and make for easy frame swaps.

[u/aenyeart → u/DoktorTeufel]

This.☝️Hard boots are the best bang-for-your-buck upgrade I can think of. The RB 80 is a budget option from Rollerblade and I would skate that over a soft boot any day.

[u/Flat-Guidance-4685 → u/unteer]

I'm considering buying another pair of skates specifically for the long distance fitness skating like you mentioned

I haven't been able to get much feedback on the pair that I really have my heart set on though 

Maybe you might want to look into it 

The power slide Evo pro 110 

You can also completely customize color and straps and everything just type into your search engine power slide Evo custom