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A flat setup is the most common setup used on inline skates. Almost all non-aggressive inline skates are sold with a flat wheel setup. Flat means that all the wheels touch the ground at the same time when resting on flat ground. Flat setups are not the most maneuverable but what they lack in maneuverability they make up for in speed. Flat setups are widely considered to be the fastest setups. Speed skaters and marathon skaters normally use flat setups. Aggressive skates are sometimes sold with flat setups, but with a small space in the middle for grinding.
It is worth noting that having a flat setup is just one factor in a fast skate setup. A long frame, low resistance bearings, and good technique all contribute greatly to a skater's speed.
Full rockers are used by skaters who favor maneuverability when skating on flat ground. Freestyle skaters, freestyle slalom skaters and artistic inline skaters tend to use this setup. This setup is called "crescent" or "banana" because it is curved, and mimics a curved ice blade profile. On flat ground this setup will only have 1-2 wheels touching the ground at any one time. This makes the skate much easier to turn but lacks stability so it is harder to balance on. In addition, a full rocker is slower than a flat setup in terms of top speed
Flat setups generally wear into a 'natural' rocker. This is because the front and back wheels seem to receive the vast majority of wear on inline skates.
Having a short frame (230mm-245mm) in combination with a full rocker is optimum for achieving the highest manoeuvrability when skating.
Front rockers are often used by street skaters who want to combine the ability of a full rocker to handle imperfections in the ground with a flat setup’s sheer speed. Having a smaller wheel at the front encourages the front wheel to guide the rest of the skate over ground imperfections, rather than digging in and tripping up the less experienced skater. Maintaining a flat profile at the back allows the skater to transfer power through the rear of the skate efficiently to maintain a good speed.
Some hockey skates and other skates include a HiLo setup. This is a great source of confusion to skaters. HiLo setups resemble a flat setup in that all 4 wheels touch the ground at the same time. Unlike a flat setup, however, different wheel sizes are used. The front two wheels will be smaller than the back two wheels. This is possible because of the location of the axles on the frame itself. One example is a Nike/Bauer frame that has a configuration of 72mm, 72mm, 80mm, and 78mm. 78mm wheels are now discontinued though it can be replaced by an 80mm wheel.
This setup is supposed to provide better maneuvering on corners while still giving the speed of the bigger wheels when going straight. It is also supposed to encourage a forward leaning ‘sprint’ posture, which may lead to faster skating. There is considerable debate as to whether any of these proposed advantages are true.
Another variant of the setup in which there are three diameters of wheels. It is supposed to emphasize the same benefits as the HiLo system but with greater maneuverability due to the smaller front wheels. The configuration is 72mm, 76mm, 76mm, 80mm.
Anti-rockers are used by aggressive skaters who want to incorporate a lot of Grinds into their skating. The anti-rocker wheel is a small hard wheel, usually 47 mm in diameter, placed where the middle two wheels go. Anti-rocker wheels almost never touch the ground except in cases where the terrain is rough, such as skating down stairs. Earlier anti-rockers were made of similar polyurethane but with a higher A-rating, usually an upwards of 100A. These wheels accepted bearing and spun freely. Newer anti-rocker wheels are made of the same plastic the frames themselves are made of and contain bushings instead of bearings. Substituting bearings and polyurethane for bushings and plastic significantly reduces the weight of each skate and reduces the cost of maintenance for replacing bearings. The anti-rocker setup makes maneuvering harder, overall speed slower, a rougher ride, wider turning radii, but allows for grinding wider objects such as parking blocks.
The freestyle frame is another setup used by aggressive skaters. This setup simply has two wheels - one in the front and one in the back. In between the two wheels is plenty of empty space, which is used for grinding. Freestyle frames can be purchased, although removing the two inner wheels of a flat or anti-rocker frame makes it freestyle.
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