How to change wheels on my roller blades?

What are good set of wheels, bearings and spacers for outdoor rollerblading?

• I have a pair of rx15 bauer roller blades and I need to get new wheels, bearings and spacers for them. I am a hockey player so I need some good wheels and bearings that will hold up, but I also don't want them to be expensive. If anyone has some good suggestions that would be great. I usually just buy the stock bearings and wheels, but they are getting expensive. Also is it worth it to get bigger wheels for the back two and smaller ones for the front?

• Answer:

  It is rare that you need new spacers. They don't wear out. If you have really old or cheap skates with plastic spacers, then upgrading to aluminum is worth doing since they work better. Bearings are a similar thing. They mainly get destroyed by dirt and water. If they roll well without making noises, you don't need to replace them as often as wheels. Ignore the answer suggesting the same size wheels. Your skates are designed as a high/low set with 4mm size difference between the front and rear wheels. If you put all the same size wheels on the skate (unless they have adjustable bushings to allow it), Only two wheels will be on the ground at a time and they will act funny. I dislike the idea of high/low because it limits how much you can rotate wheels to make them last longer, but that is what you have. From the picture on their web site (http://www.bauer.com/gear/roller/skates/7737-BAUER), there is no way that you can bump up to larger wheels which will be easier to get good wheels and would roll better. Many of the OEM wheels leave a lot to be desired from performance. I have been skating on the Zero Drag Racing wheels (https://ssl.rollerbob.com/cgi-bin/rollerbob/securemessage.cgi) for a long time and used to skate on the wheels they replaced before that. They are fast. They are for recreational/fitness skating. For the abuse of roller hockey, he also carries the Labeda hockey wheels. RollerBob (where I get my wheels) is willing to sell kits (wheels and bearings with spacers optional) for high/low but you might have to send him a message to arrange for pricing and ordering information. https://ssl.rollerbob.com/cgi-bin/rollerbob/securemessage.cgi If you order the parts ala carte (http://www.rollerbob.com/inline-skate-parts.html), you can get any number of any parts that you want.