After you have successfully passed your Rookie training, we highly recommend to upgrade some parts of your equipment. A more advanced gear will provide extra comfort and push your capabilities to new hights!
Time to Upgrade Your Roller Derby Equipment
To complement your essential gear, there are many other extras that you can add to make your Roller Derby journey more comfortable or simply, more fun. From upgrading your wheels to changing the colour of your laces, there are plenty of things you can do. Let’s break them down into the following categories:
- Wheels
- Bearings
- Toe Stops
- Toe Guards
- Tools
- Plates and Trucks
- Powerstraps
- Laces
- Crash Pants
- Chest Protectors
1. Wheels
Wheels are probably one of the most important upgrades you will end up doing in your Roller Derby journey. But don’t worry because the rookie skates mentioned above, already include suitable wheels for the practice of Roller Derby.
Roller Skating Wheels come in different sizes and hardnesses. Depending on the surface that you will train, you can opt for harder or softer wheels. As a general rule, the slippier the surface, the softer your wheels so you gain some traction. On a softer floor, such as our Sunday training venue, require harder wheels. We train on hardwood floor. A good hardness for this type of floor would be between 91A and 96A. This also depends on your skill levels. Generally, we recommend starting with grippier wheels (softer) and then upgrading to harder ones as your confidence improves. For other surfaces, like outdoors or concrete tracks, a hardness of 88A would be a good fit.
You can also combine different wheels on one skate, called “pushers”, but you will require some level of expertise for this. You can place four softer wheels (88A – 92A) on the outside of your left skate and inside of your right skate, and four harder wheels (93A – 96A) on the other side of each skate. This technique helps mitigate the stickiness of certain floors.
Below are some examples of wheels that our team mates have bought as an upgrade from their standard wheels:
When purchasing new wheels, don’t forget your bearings! Yes, bearings, those little things that go inside the wheel and make them actually spin. So, talking about the devil…
2. Bearings
Wheels come WITHOUT bearings, so you’ll need to get those separately (I learned that the hard way). Bearings are usually available at any local skate shop, as skateboarders need them as well. That’s one piece of equipment you’ll probably always find in Malta!
But what are bearings? Bearings are what sit inside the wheel hub and allow the wheels to roll. Each wheel needs two bearings, so make sure to purchase 16 bearings. Many packs include only 8, as they are meant for skate boarders.
Bearings are usually marked with ABEC and a number. The higher the number, the faster the bearing spins. Anything above ABEC5 will be enough for Roller Derby. If you want to go more professional, try ceramic bearings. Ceramic bearings are costly, so don’t use them for outdoor skating!
3. Toe Stops
Upgrading your toe stops is a fan favourite. Being comfortable on your toe stops is part of Roller Derby as they are used a lot. Standard toe stops are on the smaller side, making balancing on them somewhat difficult. If you want to improve your Roller Derby skills, we highly recommend getting new toe stops. This is probably one of the first improvements we would recommend.
Our toe stop expert, Spyro, highly recommends one of these two:
“The tiny ones on the r3 skates used to hurt my toes so much! I’ve used the BIONIC Super Stoppers and the GUMBALL Superball Toe Stops, and I’ve found both to be good. The Gumballs have the largest area though so it’s easier to balance on them”
Spyro on changing their toe stops.
4. Toe Guards
Toe guards are a cheap and easy way to prolong the life of your skates. So yes, we do recommend getting them. You don’t need to get any fancy ones, maybe from Aliexpress or a diy leather version could do. If you opt for real leather ones, please get the un-dyed option in order to prevent stains on the wooden floor. The main function of the toe guards is to protect the front of the boot from scratching against the floor. The toe guard prevents the boot from getting damaged. You just need to unscrew your toe stop, insert the guard and fix them using your laces.
5. Tools
There are many different tools out there that you might need to keep your skates in tip top shape. However, we’re just going to focus on the main tools you need to change and tighten your wheels and toe stops. Other tools, like a bearing press, we have in-house and there is no need for you to get your own. We can always help you out when exchanging your bearings.
The tools below are specific for roller skates, but you can get similar tools at your local hardware store, so no need to panic if you forgot to add those to your order. Aliexpress is also a great place to order them.
6. Plates and Trucks
Plates and trucks is one of the most talked about topic for people that want to go professional or jump into an advance level of skating. As a beginner, you will do just fine with the standard plates and trucks.
Let’s summarise a little bit for the curious folks out there. Plates and trucks are basically what is holding your wheels and your boot together. The boot gets screwed to the plate, and the trucks get screwed into the plate to hold the wheels.
Plates are made out of many different materials. Depending on your weight, height, etc, you might want to use a sturdier material like aluminium or go for a lighter option like nylon or plastic. The trucks can be loosened or tightened depending on your stability and ability. You can try different settings and leave them according to your preferences.
7. Powerstraps
Powerstraps are straps that will provide you with extra comfort in the case of slightly loose skates. For example: do you feel like your heel is slipping out of the boot no matter how tight you fasten your laces? A porwerstrap might be the best solution for you. It simply holds your foot into your boot providing extra safety.
8. Laces
Roller Derby laces need to be able to hold your boot in place for the entire duration of the training session. The standard laces that come with your roller skates are just fine, but might need a little bit of tightening every now and then. The ideal laces are waxed, meaning that the know won’t slip and the pressure will stay in place for longer. Remember to always tighten your boots to fit snuggly, but letting your blood circulation flow! If you decide to go for a lace update, remember that you can choose from plenty of colours. Don’t be afraid to give your skates a pop of colour.
9. Crash Pants
Crash pants are worn by extreme skaters or by anybody that wishes to have an extra protection around the bum area. Remember that we will teach you how to fall safely and, in reality, you should not need those. However, they are very useful if you feel a little bit clumsy and can safe you from some painful tailbone pain.
10. Chest Protectors
Similar to the crash pants, chest protectors are used less, but are still a very valid safety equipment. Like the bumsaver above, its use is intended to protect that specific area. In this case, the chest area.