Where to buy Roller Blades?

Should i buy roller blades or roller skates?

• Im looking for a new transport, aswell as wanting it to help me get fit, but i dont know which to buy. I used both but a long time ago, and will now need to pretty much relearn from scratch. I live in an area with alot of hills, and after lots of practice i would like to be able to go places on them. So i need to know which is best for a beginner (though i will practice alot before even attempting a hill of course aha) that will eventually be going up and down hills quite a bit. Thanks for your help, any other advice/guidance would be appreciated.

• Answer:

  For transport, definitely inline skates. (Rollerblade is only one brand of inline skates) Quads (both quads and inlines are roller skates) are easier to stand up on initially but inlines are far better for outside use. Quads DO come with brakes. For indoor and figure skating the standard is a toe stop but faster skaters tend towards a heel brake like inlines have. However the wide flat profile wheels are really slow compared to the narrow rounded profile of the inline skates. Aggressive skates also have a flat profile but are not made for going distances or at significant speeds. The quad profile also means that the wheels will want to stop suddenly if they hit any debris or disruption in the surface. Combined with the short front/back wheelbase, this makes you more likely to fall forward (aka, faceplant). If you are moving at reasonable speeds , inline wheels tend to kick out or bounce over most debris. Faster is better. The trick to braking with the heel brake is to get that for ALL THE WAY in front of the other skate. It will feel awkward to scissors your legs that far at first but if you bend your back knee and practice, it will be easy. I can get the back of my front skate more than a foot ahead of the front of the back skate.