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Blade Hacks

Bring your skates back to life
and let them serve you for another season

Whether it’s dirt, rocks, water, or rough terrain, all skates will take a beating, and the weather these last few months have been a strange acquaintance, and have without a doubt brought some extra wear and tear on your skates.

Maybe you have been taking excellent care of your skates with regular wheel rotation, bearing cleaning and a monthly wash of the liner. If this is the case you're probably home-safe, and the big repair can be postponed to next year. but maybe you're interested in upgrading your gear? If this is the case now is the time of the season, where you get the best offers, simply because stores want to empty their warehouses and make room for the winter assortment. In this article SkatePro brings you the top three parts, that can easily be replaced and give the feeling and look of a brand new set of skates.

Learn how to rotate your wheels to make them last longer right here.

1. WHEELS

Even though regular wheel rotations is a necessary practice that will expand the lifetime of your wheels significantly, there will come a time when your wheels have reached the maximum number of rotations and a replacement will be the best solution. But the big question is: How do you know if your wheels can serve you for another season? Because wear and tear are different from skater to skater, this can be a tough question to answer. Our rule of thumb is, that once your skates become difficult to skate on or if the wheel no longer sit flat on the surface, then it’s time to consider a replacement. Considering upgrading your wheels on your skates? Check out some different ones here.

It's quite an easy drill to change your wheels, see how it's done in this video

2. LINERS

The liners of your skates can be quite messy. Sweat, dirt, rain, and heat are a nasty combination. Some skates have removable liners that give you the possibility to wash and replace them. A new liner can bring new life to your skates, and it will feel like sliding into a brand new boot.

Replaceable liners are not standard in speed skates, that on top of this are often very badly ventilated. If you don't have replaceable liners, we hope that you’ve been taking good care of your liners with the regular washing, drying, and bactericide.

3. BEARINGS

You’re not in doubt if your bearings need to be cleaned or replaced. Reduced speed is a good indicator, and if it's an awful case, you'll experience an incredibly annoying creaking and crunching sound from the bearings. This will result in reduced speed and will cost you a lot more energy than necessary.

In some cases, you can revive your bearings by giving them a good cleaning and some oil or grease. If your bearings have lasted all season or are not high-end, you should probably look for a pair of replacement bearings. Keep in mind that the higher the ABEC rating the bearings have, the easier it is to accelerate and maintain speed. But be aware that bearings with lower ABEC bearings do not get worn out as fast as the ones with a high ABEC rating.

If you want to clean your bearings yourself, there is a guide for the process here. If you choose the faster but slightly more expensive (and perhaps necessary) solution, you can see a selection of different bearings here.