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Last year I spent so long customizing my skates I ran out of time to even use them, but now that they’re “done” I feel like it really comes together to make the smoothest possible skating on almost any outdoor surface!

Skates: Moxi Lolly

Before I got these, I spent years using low top/flat derby skates. The change took some getting used to, but it seems high tops make outdoor skating easier (in my opinion).

They don’t have more ankle support than low tops (actually they have no ankle support at all), but the high boot helps create more momentum when pumping for speed. You can still go fast in low tops, but I think it requires more effort. Having an easier time of getting/keeping momentum without the physical effort means I have more stamina to skate for a longer time.

Toe Guards: Riedell Leather Toe Guards

I originally wanted a full toe cap, but they cost a lot more - At least the real leather ones do, which is the only toe guard material strong enough to actually withstand all the wear & tear that they’re guarding the toes from.

After using them for a little bit, I don’t think a full toe cap is necessary anyway. The sides stick out a bit from the skate, which seems to be enough to fully protect any area of the toes that might make connection with the ground.

Toe Stops: Atom Bionic Super Stoppers

These are a hold over from my derby skates. I’ve been using them since 2017, and though I can only skate like 3 months out of the year I still think that’s a testament to their staying power. I wouldn’t recommend every single skater get these toe stops though, since not every skating style uses toe stops the same way (or at all).

I got these because the easiest way for me to stop is turn 180 and go onto my toe stops, and it’s nice to have such a huge flat surface when I want to use them to “walk” for a quicker take-off or to get over an area I don’t want my wheels to be on. It’s just a bonus that having such huge fat toe stops means I won’t need to buy them again for, idk, like 10 years at this rate.

Wheels: Atom Road Hogs 78A

As far as I can tell, these are the tallest/biggest/widest wheels that will fit on a roller skate without hitting the boot. I had some 78A wheels before these that were smaller with round edges, and once I got these there was a pretty immediate difference in how much less I tripped up over cracks in the road.

Which leads me to think that hardness isn’t the most important aspect of a wheel, it’s the size and whether the edges are round or sharp. Road Hogs aren’t totally impervious to rough roads, but for me it meant going from being thrown left & right by cracks/bumps every few seconds to being able to skate one-footed on almost any road I go on.

Bearings: BankRoll Ceramic ABEC-9

If you went from ABEC-5 to ABEC-9 but were still using just regular bearings, I don’t think the difference would be noticeable. The difference that I notice with these comes from being made of ceramic (it’s called ceramic but the material is actually Silicon Nitride, which can withstand up to 1,472° F and 116,030 PSI).

My wheels literally never stop spinning, and although I add lubricant every so often it’s not required for them to continue spinning just as well. Aside from the Road Hogs, these bearings are probably the largest contributor to how smoothly I can skate outside with this setup.

It’s also a bonus that the resilience of ceramic bearings means getting my skates dirty & roughed up outside won’t have as much as an effect on their performance. My old bearings, I had to clean basically every single time I skated just to keep them from getting so gunked up they’d stop spinning.

Axle Nuts: Sure-Grip Zero Nutz

These are made of cheap plastic, so I wouldn’t exactly attest to their quality, but it’s one of very few external bearing protectors out there. I probably wouldn’t use them if I didn’t have ceramic bearings, because the cheap plastic means every time you screw them on/off the threading gets more messed up.

At least with being cheap it wouldn’t hurt too much just to buy a new set, but like I said not having to routinely clean my ceramic bearings is the main reason I even bothered with them. And they give me peace of mind to not have such spendy bearings just sticking out in the open for dirt/debris/grime to come into.

Cushions: Powerdyne Universal Magic 78A

At this point, I was just looking for things that I could make a change to lol so I can’t say for certain it’d ever be that important to get new cushions - But cushions do have different hardness ratings the same as wheels.

Most pre-built skates come with harder cushions as those provide more stability, but I wanted soft cushions to help with doing agile/quick movements. I also keep my trucks pretty loose, so that combined with the soft cushions makes for lots of flexibility.

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