We get asked ALL the time about roller derby wheels. Which ones are fastest? Which ones are grippiest? Which wheels are the BEST? How are you supposed to figure out which wheels are right for you? With so much variety and sometimes opposing recommendations and information out there it can be overwhelming – we know! Here at RollerBug.com we are fortunate enough to get to test out pretty much every new roller derby wheel that comes through the door. We are all different sizes, play different positions and have different skating styles and preferences. We are going to share our reviews with you as new products and wheels come in. For this post though I am going to attempt to tackle some basic wheel info in the hopes of simplifying all of the information there is available.
Wheels don’t make you faster. Proper stride makes you faster. Wheels CAN make you work harder to go fast. You don’t want this 
If you are skating on wheels that are too soft for your floor or weight they are making you work harder to go fast. The trick is to get something with enough grip that you can get a strong push without worrying about slipping, falling or sliding out and not so much grip that you are working extra hard to keep up with the game. The 3 things that effect how you and a wheel will get along most are; the surface, the wheel and hub softness/hardness, your weight.
The Surface
Most floors in and around Toronto (and I suspect most of Canada) are concrete, mostly polished. This kind of concrete is pretty much always slick but how slick can depend on how clean/dirty it is and also the temperature. Cold concrete floors can feel like skating on ice. Same with dirty concrete floors, whereas clean concrete floors can actually hold a good amount of grip. Alot of wheels list what surfaces they are meant for but really if you think of it as a slick floor needs a grippier wheel and whereas a grippier floor needs a slicker wheel it becomes and easier formula to figure out. Another surface that is becoming more popular and also more common as teams travel more to play in the U.S. is skatecourt or sportcourt which is on the other end of the spectrum from concrete and tends to be a grippy surface and therefore you would want less grip from your wheels when skating on skatecourt (or any other grippy surface like a rubberized floor).
The Wheels
Wheels are made from a couple different types of urethane and generally anything under $70.00 for a set of 8 is going to be made of a lower quality urethane which means it will wear out fairly quickly. Anything above that price range will mostly be made of higher quality urethane that will have a longer life. The softness/hardness of a urethane is noted by using a number followed by the letter A and this number is called the durometer. The lower the number to softer the urethane and the higher the number the harder the urethane. Softer = More Grip. Harder = Less Grip. Durometer ranges from 78A-103A (and higher). For the purposes of roller derby most indoor wheels are made in the range of 88A-97A. There are indoor/outdoor formulas which have become increasingly popular and they range from 80A-86A. Most of the “roll” of a wheel comes from the hub material and design. There are a variety of hubs on the market from slotted nylon to nylon cap, alloy cap, and full aluminum. The stiffer the core of the wheel the better it will roll which translates to less work for the skater. You will get more roll out of every push with a wheel with a stiff core. I believe that for purpose of roller derby anything softer than an 86A durometer needs a super stiff core to perform the way a skaters need. Slotted nylon wheels with super soft urethane are very sluggish. We are looking for grip AND speed! The cap hubs are stiffer than slotted nylon so for a soft wheel look for one that has a cap hub or alloy cap hub or an aluminum hub. Keep in mind that full aluminum hubs will be really stiff and have great roll but can also be heavy which is a trade off. My favourite lightweight aluminum hub wheels are the RollerBones Turbos.
Lightweight Aluminum hub
aluminum hub
Slotted Nylon with Aluminum Cap
hollow core, nylon cap hub
slotted nylon hub
Your Weight
Wheels need weight to grip. Some of the grip comes from the softness of the urethane and the surface contact (width) but most of it comes from the weight that you put on it.A heavier skater will get more grip out of a wheel that is 88A than a lighter skater. A lighter skater could be happy with the performance of an 88A wheel with a slotted nylon hub whereas someone even 30lbs heavier could notice the flex of the nylon hub and prefer an 88A wheel with a stiffer core like a cap or aluminum. As a general rule (with individual preferences aside) if we are talking about concrete floors;
Skaters who are 120lbs and under: would usually be ok with a nylon hub and 88A or softer to be sure they get some grip
Skaters who are between 125lbs-160lbs: would be ok with a soft urethane 88A-92A with a stiff hub. In this weight range I would recommend to make sure you are getting a stiffer core with the softer durometer and a less stiff core if you are getting something in the 92A range.
Skaters who are between 165lbs-200lbs: 92A-95A. For this weight range all hubs would work with these urethane combinations except slotted nylon will probably feel too sluggish.
The goal was to simplify some of the information there is out there on roller derby wheels so hopefully this helped! There are other important factors that can affect how a wheel feels and performs which are; shape, width and height. I am going to save those for another post but the above info is the basics of figuring out roller derby wheels and which ones are right for you. We ALWAYS recommend trying out wheels if you have teammates or leaguemates a similar size to you. We also travel around a lot to games and tournaments and always bring our “try-me” wheels so if you see us around and have your skates on hand come by our booth and borrow some wheels.
