Rollerhockey questions. Skates/bearings etc

[rotanadan]

Hi, my buds and I just got into a rollerhockey league this week. We dominated the league we played like 4 years ago so we figured we would get in a good league. Holy crap. First game we took a 15-2 loss. All of our stuff is really out of date, I noticed some of our guys taking like 15 strides to equal the speed of the other teams 2 small strides, our skates suck.

So I guess my question is, what are some of the best skates out there for the price? like a good pair for 200-300 not the insane 700 dollar stuff, and what are some good bearing brands? Does everyone try to get Abec7 or 9 ? What wheels arent slow as **** and decent for indoor rinks?

Any input would be cool, thanks.

[rotanadan]

http://store.yahoo.com/hockeygiant/misprotvr20i.html

Good deal, thinking of these, any opinions??

[columbus_RHstar]

try lookin on hockeymonkey.com for the Tour 902's. For wheels get some type of labeda, check hockeymonkey.com again for the wheels

[rotanadan]

Are the 962's worth the extra few bucks?, its not that much of a diff, and if skates dont come with abec 9 ill probly want to pick up a set of those as well?

[columbus_RHstar]

Ive never used the 962's but playing in your league it sounds lie the 902's would work just as well as the 962's. They work great for me in the elite travel division

[John_S_Osborne]

I *had* 962's (damn theives), and I loved them. My last two pairs of skates were both Missions ('99 VSi and some old Vs) and the Tours were such a difference. I would suggest the 962's if you can pull out the extra few bucks.

And, by the way, maybe this is just because I'm a "larger" guy (6'1", 220lbs.), but I never found that ABEC7's or ABEC9's made me any faster than I already am (and that's not very fast either). The only way I ever figured out to gain speed was by progressively cutting my stick lower and lower in order to get my butt closer to the ground and increase my stride length.

- john

[rotanadan]

ok, I now have some idea on what the decent skates are, but now I am thinking of trying a rocker setup because it is sometimes annoying that you cant really dig in and snap the toe for quick moves, i suppose thats just a prefference thing tho, ill stop by a shop and see what theyve got and try both ways. thnx for the input so far

[jahwarrior91]

I don't know about everybody else but i got a pair of tours and they are great. but those damn 962s went on sale right after i bought the other ones oh well. definitely get tours.

[HockeyAce09]

I agree but, there's a huge difference in the 962's from the 902's. I actually skate on the 982 fishbones and there's a huge difference between those and anything else out there. Actually, the closed thing to the fishbones are the Nexed stinger 2 degrees, I have a pair of them also and they're great too!