Inline skate questions - wheel & bearing recommendations

[pittsoccer33]

I havent played much hockey since 2009 or so (anyone who was at December 2008 LGP pickup game would attest that I'm very cone-like). But I'd like to start doing some more roller hockey this spring.

I bought a pretty cheap pair of skates back in 06 or 07 - Nike Bauer Supreme Enforcer:

The Nike Bauer® Supreme Enforcer senior roller hockey skate is features a sublimated premium nylon upper with integrated anatomical heel and ankle support. A ONEUP performance anodized chassic holds ABEC 5 bearings, and Hyper Phantom wheels.

Being as clueless about skates as I am, when I wore the front wheels out I threw the entire thing away - ball bearings and all. So I currently only have three wheels on each skate.

The front wheels are a bit worn out again and I'd like to replace them and get the bearing situation sorted out. I'm not looking to buy pro gear or anything - just looking for something that will last normal skate usage. I almost always skate outside on asphalt/concrete. I like to skate around the Highland Park reservoir and along the South Side and jail trails, in addition to stick handling and shooting over in Aspinwall.

So what kind of wheels and bearings should I be looking for? I think the back wheels are larger than the front two.

[dodint]

Are the wheel sizes written on the chassis? My Bauer X40r's do that because I think there are three two (80mm/76mm) different sizes used in all. I'm just getting into inline so I don't have too much specific information. When we got my wife new wheels we just went to Play It Again and bought off the rack.

I'm 80lbs over the max weight limit for my skates, so I go through wheels quick. Looking to go for at least an 82A hardness even though I play on sport court. Since you're outside on hard surface you're probably in the same range. I'm considering these, they might be ideal for you as well. Not sure about bearings, these are the matching bearings but I'm not sure how much value you get for spending more. I don't compete so it's not a huge issue for me at the moment.

[joeyg412]

I just started playing in a league down Neville. I have these skates and I love them. I picked mine up at Pure hockey for about 200$ not sure why that price so high.
http://www.hockeymonkey.com/reebok-roll ... mp-sr.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bhaw]

Rink Rat wheels aren't bad, and you can get the lower end ones at a fairly decent cost. The nicer ones last longer, but can be pretty costly if you aren't going to play a ton. I've stuck with Rink Rats because pretty much all the major brands I've had issues with (Hyper tends to lose chunks and split on me after a bit and Labedas wear down weird from my experience).

**ok, after I typed that, I just realized you said you are skating outside. Ignore that and just get a super hard wheel. I'll leave it posted in case anyone else is looking for roller hockey wheel rec's.

Bearings.. I think there's something like a person can't physically take advantage of anything higher rated than ABEC 7.

**same as above. If it's outdoor, I'd just buy something you can take apart and clean, as I'm sure they get super dirty outside and taking 30 minutes to clean them every once in a while can save you from buying more.

joeyg: you probably have something other than the 11ks if they were $200. Mine were about the same price, and I think I have the 7ks. They look nearly identical to the 11s. If you did manage to get the 11s for $200, good on you

[dodint]

I'm 80lbs over the max weight limit for my skates, so I go through wheels quick.

Because I'm so heavy I can't run as have plantar fasciitis in both feet and until I can lose some real weight I won't be able to run well. Skating, however, doesn't flare it up much at all and I really enjoy it. I've started road skating to get some cardio and get outdoors. It's been great, but part of the way through every session I'd feel some drag that is beyond me getting tired. It turns out that my second wheel from the front is rubbing into the boot of the skate when I put weight on the balls of my feet. It didn't show itself on the rink because of the nature of skating in close quarters, but the long striding of road skating has made it obvious. I don't blame the skates as they've done more than their share in this arrangement.

What I'm curious about is until I lose the weight what advantage/disadvantage is there to stepping the wheels down in size? Right now they're 2x76mm 2x80mm and the only one rubbing is the 2nd one from the toe. I assume if I just step down just the front two wheels the disparity between the different sizes front to back would be too great, I'd be constantly tipped forward. What would change for me if I stepped down to 2x72mm 2x76mm? I'm out there to get cardio so working harder doesn't necessarily bother me, but I assume it would make me more vulnerable when rolling over sticks/gravel/grooves in the road surface.

Any ideas?