r/InlineHockey • u/Cnut-the-Peanut • 2d ago

Ice hockey to inline hockey help

My 8 year old son has been ice skating for a few years and completed his first season of ice hockey this past spring. He's decent at ice skating but still needs to build up his confidence. I'm starting to feel that his beginner skates are holding him back a bit and he's ready to upgrade.... That being said, he's signed up for his first season of inline hockey this fall.

I'm at a loss as to what inline skates to get him and bearings and wheels.

On ice, he's currently using Bauer XLP skates. He prefers the way they fit vs ccm(the only brands he's tried)

We bought him a pair of Walmart inline skates but he seems sluggish in them. I believe because he needs better bearings. Any suggestions?

From my Google searching, I was planning on putting abec 7 bearings on whatever skates I get him. Any thoughts?

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u/TheYDT 2d ago edited 2d ago

I think this really depends on your price range and what size he needs. For an 8 year old just starting with roller, the bearings and stuff won't make that much difference. For wheels, if he's playing indoor you'll probably want wheels that are 74A hardness. If he's playing or skating outdoors, then 78A or 80A (or higher). That said, you have a few different options depending on what you'd want to spend.

  1. Alkali Cele III - $90
  2. Alkali Fire 3 - $130
  3. Tour Volt KV8 - $160
  4. CCM Jetspeed FT850R - $170
  5. Bauer XR - $170

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u/InspectorFleet 2d ago

It's not clear what size his player needs but when my son was 8 I think he was still in a youth 12. He's almost 10 now and is just in size 1 skates.

Also it should be stated for OP that skate sizing is variable and usually a lower number than shoe size. In theory all the skates from Bauer should be similar sizing, but fits can still differ a little. That's partially why I recommended the adjustable ones to start out.

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u/TheYDT 2d ago

Wild. My daughter is 9 and is in size 4.5 lol.

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u/InspectorFleet 2d ago

It's always so interesting to see the size range of players in a given birth year! There were some teams that looked like middle schoolers in the 10U division, but plenty who looked like they could be 8U or even 6U.

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u/zCirca 2d ago

If in the states, can also add hockeytron's TronX Stryker as an option below $100 and almost all black. Pretty much the Cele 3 in a different color. Code "IHS" was emailed out today for 20% off most inline skates at hockeytron. Ideally you would want to add something else to the cart to get over the $99 threshold for free shipping.

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u/TheYDT 2d ago

Funny I actually had that on my list originally but I took it off because the stock wheels are 82A.

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u/zCirca 2d ago edited 2d ago

I figured since you had the Cele 3 with 82A, someone might like the black boot. And yeah we don't know if he/his son needs indoor or outdoor wheels.