The Ultimate Inline Skate Maintenance Guide

Get your skates for your first outing! Here is a checklist and the basic maintenance to do to make sure your inline skates are in good condition before the warm weather arrives!

It is essential to check, among other things, the wear of the brakes, bearings, wheels and the general condition of your skates. These checkpoints are essential before starting the season, but they are also relevant during the season if you ride approximately more than once a week.

Do not hesitate to contact us or visit us in store for advice and services. Now is the best time to avoid the crowds in a few weeks!

 

Verification and maintenance of inline skates according to the components

1. The boot and the slipper

The first step is to wash and wipe the outside of your skates with a damp cloth. This step allows you to clean the skate to prevent debris or dust from getting to the bearings and it allows you to do a general check of the skate to know if the shell shows signs of weakness, such as cracks or other damage. .

Be aware that even if you don't use your skates often, they are usually made of plastic. Over time and temperature changes, plastic dries out and can crack.

It is also important to check your liners and insoles. These compress over time, but can easily be replaced by purchasing them.

It is also essential to remove them from your skates after each outing, to let them dry naturally without excessive heat, so that they retain their properties. After your outings, untie your skates and open them as much as possible to dry them.

Note that depending on your skate, several parts are replaceable, such as the frame, the liner, the tightening buckles, the laces and more. Shop all our accessories here.

2. Bearings

Once the exterior of your skate is clean, you can wipe down your bearings with a lint-free cloth. It is recommended to use a cleaning solution (degreaser) and not water, to prevent your bearings from rusting.

When you roll your wheels, your bearings should roll evenly, smoothly, and quietly. If the rolling is not regular and catch sounds are coming from your skates, you will have to consider replacing them, or disassembling them to clean them thoroughly. A future article will be dedicated to this method in detail.

You can then add a drop of oil on each side of the bearing to prolong their life, but you must avoid putting too much, because too much oil attracts dust and sticks to your bearings. 

If you regularly ride several times a week, your bearings should be changed about every month. If you ride less often, once per season is adequate, unless riding in particular environments (rock dust, etc.)

You should also know that if your bearings have been wet (puddle of water, humidity, rain), they are subject to rust and could be worn prematurely. It is therefore important to wipe them after contact with water and oil them well to keep moisture away.

To see options for replacing your bearings, it's here. 

3. Brakes

Regularly check your brake pads to make sure they are in place and properly tightened. There is also a wear line on most brakes that allows you to see if your brakes need to be replaced. You can also rotate it so it wears evenly. 

Find them brakes and other parts here.

4. Wheels

The wheels of your skates experience a lot of pressure when skating. The wheels are the most important component to check, because they directly affect the quality of the glide, in terms of ride comfort and grip. They can even affect balance and create muscle pain in the event of asymmetrical wear.

The first step is to manually check the solidity of your wheels, paying attention to possible vertical or lateral looseness. It may be a good idea to check the tightness of your wheels with a wheel tightening tool, but don't over-tighten to affect rolling freedom.

Before replacing them, it may be considered to rotate your wheels to prevent them from wearing out asymmetrically. Indeed, the lateral pushing movement always wears the inner face of the pad and cuts the wheel at an angle. We therefore recommend rotating your wheels every 50 to 100 kilometers or according to visual wear, to avoid flats and allow even wear.

A good way to check is to hold your skate so you can see the wheels one behind the other and spin the wheels facing you to see if there are any unevenness in the riding surface. one side only.

Several factors can accelerate the wear of your wheels, such as the weight of the person, the hardness of the wheel, small wheel diameters, frequent skidding, T-braking and the rolling surface (concrete, rough road, etc.). .).

How to swap your wheels depends on the number of wheels on your skates. A future blog post will explain this technique in detail. 

Shop all of our skate wheels here.

 

Our products for the maintenance of your inline skates

We have several products to help you maintain your skates, whether it's lubricant, cleaning kits and others. We have tools to help you disassemble parts of your skates, such as Allen keys and bearing presses. Finally, to replace certain parts, we have in stock brakes, laces, screws, frames, tightening buckles and more.

Shop all parts and accessories for your skates here.

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Our in-store services

Our store advisors can help you recondition your skates and change certain parts. We offer in particular:

• Frame replacement
• Replacement of bearings
• Replacement of wheels
• Replacement of rivets
• wheel rotation
• Bearing cleaning

contact us to know our rates! Note that depending on the traffic, you may have to leave your skates with us for a period of 24 to 48 hours.