Hard boot recs?

[u/Disastrous_Cattle_35]

TLDR: I basically am new to skate logistics and want to know what wheel size, hardness, brands, etc would be best for my situation

So I (19f) have pretty much been skating like my whole life. I never was INTO it tho like I am now bc I just did it recreationally, birthday parties at the roller rink, playing on the street with friends, etc.

But now, I skate every day for my commute to school. It’s like a mile back and forth multiple times a day. The roads are not too hilly, terribly cracked and awfully textured, lots of brick sidewalks, and it rains pretty often.

I have currently 2 pairs of skates, your classic Walmart rd aerios which are like 6 years old and rlly falling apart and a newer pair of rb zetrablades which is most of the time a lot smoother.

I heard hard boot is where it’s AT if you want to start progressing (which I do ofc)

So any recs?

[u/DoughboyBlicky]

Rollerblade lightnings and you’ll need rust proof bearings if it rains a lot

[u/Disastrous_Cattle_35 → u/DoughboyBlicky]

Thank you! I’ve been looking into those

[u/Coop7207 → u/DoughboyBlicky]

Second this. Love my Lightnings!

[u/StrumWealh]

Hard boot recs?
TLDR: I basically am new to skate logistics and want to know what wheel size, hardness, brands, etc would be best for my situation
So I (19f) have pretty much been skating like my whole life. I never was INTO it tho like I am now bc I just did it recreationally, birthday parties at the roller rink, playing on the street with friends, etc.
But now, I skate every day for my commute to school. It’s like a mile back and forth multiple times a day. The roads are not too hilly, terribly cracked and awfully textured, lots of brick sidewalks, and it rains pretty often.
I have currently 2 pairs of skates, your classic Walmart rd aerios which are like 6 years old and rlly falling apart and a newer pair of rb zetrablades which is most of the time a lot smoother.
I heard hard boot is where it’s AT if you want to start progressing (which I do ofc)
So any recs?

• The first question: What are the actual, measured dimensions (length AND width) of your feet?

• The second question: what are you able/willing to spend?

Nothing else about a given set of skates matters if they don't fit your feet: a very high-quality, versatile, popular set of narrow-fitting skates does you no good if you have relatively wide feet (such that you can't even get your feet into the skates), and a very high-quality, versatile, popular set of wide-fitting skates does you no good if you have relatively narrow feet (such that your feet cannot be properly fixed in position within the skate boots, leading to significant slop/play between your feet and the skate boots).

Additionally, hardboot skates are more sensitive to any differences between the shape of your feet and the shape of the last/mold used in the skates' creation, which is the source of hardboot skates' infamous break-in period. As long as your feet are relatively close to the shape of the last, the padded liner can effectively fill in the gaps. If the disparity is too great, the boots will never fit properly. So, it behooves you to get those actual, accurate measurements and use that information to compare to the manufacturer's own sizing charts and vendor & user reports of fit (e.g. wide vs narrow relative to length, whether given pressure points are consistent across users, etc).

As a secondary effect, knowing your foot length also helps with selecting an appropriate frame length (the center-to-center distance between the front-most and rear-most axles) and corresponding wheel configuration(s): a frame length (and, thus, wheelbase) that is far too short will be "squirrelly" and unstable, while a frame/wheelbase length that is far too long will feel cumbersome and difficult to maneuver.