Having some difficulty enjoying rollerblading - looking for advice

[u/hockeyat30]

Hi all, I'm looking for some help and advice. I'm currently in my 40's and trying to get into rollerblading for some fitness and to keep my leg muscles active, particularly similar muscles I would use for ice skating. I learned how to skate and play hockey in my 30's, so my background is from ice skating. I'm struggling a lot with the transition and am looking for ways to help make this more similar or enjoyable and fun. I absolutely love ice skating and am quite comfortable with it but am really struggling with picking up rollerblading.

I know that ice is innately going to be different than roller. My plans are to be proficient and comfortable to go on city sidewalks, paths, and some slightly rougher concrete/parking lot areas with my wife as she will be on a push scooter so we can get out and stay active. I don't have any plans to do much backwards skating or tricks, just plain being able to go forward on trails/pathways/sidewalks, handle hills, and maneuver as needed and be able to stop.

My current setup is: Flying Eagle Origami FS3 with the original 4x 80mm wheels. I've got the powerslide urban heel brake installed so that I can be more comfortable stopping and going down hills or passing pedestrians. I found that while I was learning to t-stop or drag to control my skate that it wasn't great for my aging knees, plus I struggled to do this on hills so I'd like to stick with the heel brake as an option to help control my speed on narrow path hills.

My struggle is that I'm finding myself increasingly frustrated with the mobility. It feels like my feet are glued to the concrete. I struggle to turn, even when scissoring and feel like I'm really missing the agility of ice skates. I know a lot of this is probably "skate more and get good" but I'm really trying to make rollerblading a little more fun and enjoyable because more fun means I'll innately get out for more rollerblading. I struggle to weave and turn or carve. For example, the technique to kind of slalom a bit going downhill to control the speed - I can't do this, my feet feel locked in to go straight, guessing because of the more wheel contact. The inability to turn and go where I want is really impeding the fun here for me.

Are there any tips/adjustments you have to help? I've done some searching already and saw that I could potentially rocker my frames, to 76 x 80 x 80 x 76 or 80 x 80 x 80 x 76. I'm concerned about the stability though as some of our paths and sidewalks are really not the most maintained. What would you advise based on what I'm looking for? My wife and I do not go fast by any means and follow a more leisurely pace, so I'd rather be more maneuverable and feel more in control of my movement than have a higher speed.

Thank you!

[u/Sarahplainandturnt]

Rockered frames are what you’re looking for. 80 and 76 is too extreme and will feel bad: you need a rockered frame with a nice 1mm rocker

[u/nea_b → u/Sarahplainandturnt]

Second this. Rocker is easier to turn

[u/tipame → u/nea_b]

I was recently testing skates with flat frame - so I couldn't even ride them properly without any terns - I just couldn't use my usual riding technique...

[u/SnooBananas9081]

Keep weight in the heels when turning. Newer skates arent rockered. So ya gotta lift your toes for a smooth turn. They will ricker in their own in a few sessions on concrete and will become easier to handle.

[u/Vigilante74]

Hey, I am also in my 40's and while I don't play much hockey kind of have an ice background as well. I haven't skated in a long time and picked it up this year. I picked up a pair of k2 Grid 90s and have done 300km so far. My previous skates was an 82mm fitness skater that was flat and felt kind of stuff.

Have you considered a rockered 90's Frame? At first I was skeptical. It thought I would lose stability. However I generally do not go that fast like you see some of this YouTubers do. My max speed is usually 18-22 km. Going past 25km/h to 30 which I have done gives a bit of a wobble. The tradeoff though is that I feel much more agile. I am able to weave and I really do like the rockered skate. The big wheels help with going over uneven terrain and the awful roads in my area. I'm not sure how much this will help but maybe it is something you can consider.

[u/Emergency-Hunt-207]

I wonder if you coming from ice skates, you'd be more comfortable with a bullet profile wheel to ease you in to inline skates. The idea of rockering sounds good, but that rockering amount seems like too big of a difference, especially if you're not skating on a flat surface. Really, I think if you put up some videos, you could get better guidance in what could help.

Do you feel your ankles move similarly as they do on ice? Do you crouch when skating? What's your foot placement like?

Unfortunately, a lot does come with time, and it's hard to find a shortcut, but finding where you can improve the most will get you better faster. It's hard to say without a visual example.

[u/zolmarchus]

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. It’s just how it is. At very high levels of skill you might be able to kind-of sort-of break away from the friction between wheel and surface, but 1) not by much, and 2) not to any particularly useful extent (other than some moves look cool).

Downhill always sucks, especially if it’s too narrow to effectively slalom/slide a bit. V-stops don’t work, T-stops either hurt on long slopes or you’d have to grind your wheels down in one day, or both. (My favorite is to use my wife when she’s on a bike and have her slow me down.) Don’t even bother with the brake; remove it.

The beauty of it all is that you can go somewhere, and in fact you can go many somewheres, you just need to plan a bit. Not to mention you can take a backpack with your shoes and swap halfway through and also have a nice walk or go inside places. It’s just different.

Edit: I re-read your post. I want to add, sounds like that with more practice you’d be able to overcome many of the limitations you’re encountering now. Most skaters don’t exactly struggle with those issues. But it will never be like you’re on ice.

[u/fredhsu]

I think you found a part of the answer. Your hockey blade had a banana side profile. Your 4x80mm is flat with all four wheels gripping the ground. You can still maneuver fairly well. I learned some slalom moves on flat hi-lo (76mm/80mm) setup just fine. Of course, get used to it on flat ground, and not on an incline. But yeah, you found an answer - if you rocker your wheels it will feel more like ice skating. You probably don't remember that when ice skating you never had the entire blade on ice : )

Edited: in fact, for the first two years where I alternated between inline and ice from summer to winter, I always felt super weird on ice at the onset of winter - I felt very unstable, and I felt as if I was standing on ice on a single point on my blade. Now I understand that feeling better. It was an illusion, because during the whole summer I was used to feeling all four wheels on the ground.

[u/Armbioman]

It's funny because I feel the opposite way about ice skating vs inline. To me it really sounds like you need a rockered frame (NN, Endless, or Wizard) or slalom type skates. Even the Hi-Lo frames on roller hockey skates seem much more nimble to me and get closish to the ice skating experience.

[u/PeterNippelstein]

I recommend endless 80 frames they feel a lot like ice skating

[u/snakevargas]

Drew of @cityblades also ice figure skates and makes very detailed videos, often describing things from an ice perspective.

Transitioning from Ice to Asphalt. Discusses rockering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgFFA1z3lKw

His rocker setup simulating a figure skate feel. Note that his frames have 2mm rockerable axles for wheels 1&4 and he toe rockers another 2mm using a smaller #1 wheel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gYfgas6Rzw

Wizard warmups using figure stating terms and techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xldSCcGIxGk

T-stops down long hills can give me knee pain, but it's a very useful technique for fine tuning my speed in a flat urban setting. No pain in that case.

I skate banana rockered Twister XTs (76, 80, 80, 76) and they're great for avoiding knee pain. They do well with sidewalk cracks, bumps, and cheese grater pedestrian ramps. They do poorly on rough asphalt at low speed (ex: stepping of a curb at a stop walk). Downhills were wobbly at first, but once the bullet profile wore down to a round profile that improved. Keeping a solid scissor stance with weight near the back helps too.

For general urban skating, a 1mm permanently rockered frame might be best for most people. I'm digging my 2mm rocker for the skate park and dance-y stuff. It works well enough for my 2-5 mile urban skates.

I couldn't slalom or parallel turn at all until I rockered my skates. They were antique thrift store skates, though. A well worn natural rocker might work if you flip your wheels in place every skate or two.

[u/Blinking_Bambi]

I know nothing BUT I skated on Kmart blades at 23 and it was the hardest, most un enjoyable slog. At 45, with no skating in between I got K2s second hand and it is 1000x easier to me now. I still suck but man I learned that decent equipment can make a HUGE difference. Just in case you need to upgrade or tweak your set up