Best Roller Skates in the UK

SFR is a company solely focused on skating, their product range consists of ice skates, quad rollers, inline skates, as well as protective equipment and accessories for these sports. The company has a good standing among their customers owing to the great quality and eye-catching looks of the items they sell.

The Vision II quad skates are made of semi-soft vinyl and are stitched for better durability and longer life. The high-top upper boots secure your ankle and hold it tightly making the use safer and more comfortable. The same goal (the enhanced safety and convenience of your ride) is achieved using a double closure: after lacing up the boot you also secure it with a velcro strap.

This model is equipped with 53 mm 82A wheels and skate-rated bearings, meaning the skates are mainly designed to be used outdoors; the 82A hardness is a generally used one in these types of wheels and it is a sign of fairly soft wheels that dampen the pebbles and little bumps so that you don't feel any discomfort as you go.

The last thing we'd like to point out is the selection of colours for this model. There are aggressive black and cute pink ones, aqua blue and white, purple. Everyone will find something to their taste.

Rio Roller is a fairly famous company on the skating market and they are specifically focused on quad roller skates and accessories for them. They do make ice skates as well but the range is much narrower; there are no inline rollers, too.

Generally, Rio Roller skates are of a peculiar design and are instantly recognizable for being flashy and unusual. This Pure model, though, is specifically created for those users who would like a more traditional, "toned down" style to go with the famous company's quality and reliability; made in a single colour with velvet lining, they are pretty simple-looking, in a way that true style is simple. There are three colour variations available: blue with yellow lining, white with pink, and red with white.

Pures are semi-soft, made of PVC leather that is totally and completely vegan-friendly (in that no animal ever suffered for it to be produced); they are also stitched to be more durable. The PU wheels have no protruding axles, so even if you sometimes ride indoors, your floors are safe. The ABEC 7 bearings offer great efficiency.

All in all, the Pure Rio Roller skates are a great choice for beginners and occasional riders who go for a more conservative style instead of the ever-changing trends.

There are several things that set these Osprey roller skates somewhat apart from many other models. First of all, they have smaller wheels compared to many other popular models. How does it affect your ride? Smaller wheels are naturally lighter, so your legs will tire much less (did you know that the wheels weight is approximately a half of the whole roller weight?); they are also considered more stable, therefore, these rollers are a great option for total beginners to try and learn some roller skating. Smaller wheels also accelerate faster but have lower top speed than larger wheels so if your kid plans to race short distances with their peers they might have a little handicap there. Long distances, though, might be a bit tough.

Off to other features. This model is offered in flexible sizes. Mostly, it is made so that the roller skates serve your kids a bit longer since childhood and puberty are when we grow up faster than ever and buying new boots every few months is trouble enough, at least, the rollers will fit longer.

The adjustable slide straps with lock buckles allow tightening the boot just perfectly so that it holds the ankle securely but is not too tight to cut off the blood flow. For top comfort, there is a soft boot liner.

The boots of these black 4-wheel roller skates are made of Elastollan®, a type of thermoplastic polyurethane that boasts high wear resistance, durability, tensile strength, and great dampening characteristics. The boots offer nice tightening and ankle support while the padded inner liner makes them comfortable to wear for prolonged periods of time like commuting to school or work, for example, or playing with friends in a skate park.

The selection of colours is quite narrow here, though; or, more like non-existent, the only available boots colour is black with black-and-white padding. It might appear a drawback for some users, however, our opinion is that sleek black plastic looks quite stylish and neat; also, with an all-black boot the brightly coloured wheels stand out more, making you look unique. The wheels themselves are clear and tinted with a colour of your choosing.

Talking about wheels, they are quite big here. Bigger wheels make roller skates higher, which can be a bit daunting at first but as you get used to them you'll see that they are stable enough and offer good speed with little to no effort—you mostly apply power to accelerate and after that, it's just rolling. The 83A hardness is good for outdoors and indoors alike. The bearings are ABEC 1 quality ones.

This model of quad skates by California Pro is very lightweight thanks to the nylon mesh upper boot. Velvet foam lining adds to the comfort of wearing. The carbon steel ABEC 1 bearings are strong and hard, they are able to bear heavy loads better than many other materials, and with heavy-duty nylon chassis, it makes good adult roller skates. But what sets this model apart truly is that it features an EVA outsole.

The EVA, or Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, is a material loved by many joggers for its light weight and top-notch shock absorption characteristics. EVA is, in fact, the lightest outsoles material available on the market today. It is also water-resistant, non-toxic, non-polluting, and repels bacteria to a degree; it also performs great at lower temperatures, although this particular trait might be lost on the roller skates (unless you plan on rolling over ice, which we do not recommend, honestly).

The wheels on this model are of the usual 82A hardness, good for street and fairly comfortable on the flooring inside the house. The design deserves a mention for being quite neutral: the black-orange-grey boot with a touch of white at the sole and wheels looks cute but won't become a reason for bullying since it's unisex. California Pro make as good girls roller skates as it makes boys'.