Roller skate buying guide
Flat, Rockered or Anti-Rocker? Frame Setups Explained by Top Skaters
Of the 19 skaters in our compilation who describe their frame setup, none tells a beginner that a rocker or an anti-rocker is needed to start: for city and fitness skating, keep the flat frame your skates come with, because, as coach Asha puts it, a rockered frame does not give you technique. If you want to grind, aggressive pros split 7 for anti-rocker against 5 for flat; the two who give beginner advice, Bobi Spassov and Ricardo Lino, say anti-rocker is easier to grind on and tell you to try both; for slalom, a short rockered frame is what every compiled slalom skater rides, and world-level slalom skater Klaudia makes the “banana rocker” your first setting once you start.
Gear on this page: nine products are named further down — Rollerblade Blank Team aggressive skate, Bladerunner Advantage Pro XT Women's, Rollerblade Zetrablade Women's, Rollerblade Macroblade 100 3WD Mens, Hydrogen 80 mm 85A wheels (8 pack), Hydrogen 84 mm 85A wheels (8 pack), Rollerblade Hydrogen Spectre 76 mm wheels (4 pack), Triple Eight Certified Sweatsaver Helmet and Triple Eight Wristsaver. They are optional, the page works without them, and the links to them are Amazon affiliate links.
Amazon prices were read on the listing on 7 October 2026, for the size and colour Amazon shows by default; other sizes and colours can cost more or less. Price and availability are set by Amazon and can change.
The three setups in one paragraph
Flat: all wheels the same size and all touching the ground. Rockered: the middle wheels sit lower (or the end wheels are smaller), so the skate rolls on a curve and pivots more easily. Anti-rocker: an aggressive setup with big wheels at the front and back and small, hard wheels in the middle that leave room for grinding. A tri-rocker, ridden by Andrew DiPaolo, sits between the two.
What top skaters recommend
Features first, brands only where a skater recommends a brand for a specific feature. Most aggressive pros below are sponsored by the frame or wheel brand they ride; we name the sponsor each time.
Aggressive (street and park): anti-rocker camp, 7 skaters
- Bobi Spassov, pro skater with signature Roces models (sponsor Roces), rides two 60 mm wheels front and back with two small plastic wheels in the middle for grinding, and says anti-rocker makes grinding easier. (Ricardo Lino channel, 12 May 2024)
- Stephen Babcock, NorCal scene figure (Blank, Moonshine), prefers anti-rocker on 60 mm/90A wheels. (Be-Mag, 4 Apr 2023)
- Alex Burston, Razors pro and contest organiser (Razors, BHC, Ground Control), runs 57 mm/89A wheels with 47 mm/101A anti-rockers, and bigger wheels for downhill sections. (Be-Mag, 3 Apr 2015)
- Dustin Werbeski, Xsjado pro with a signature model (Xsjado, Undercover, Powerslide, Kizer), calls big wheels on pre-built anti-rocker frames “definitely the best solution”, and changes setup several times a day. (Be-Mag, 13 Mar 2015)
- Bryce Orfield, Midwest street blader (Rollerblade/Blank, Undercover), runs 60 mm wheels with UHMW anti-rockers and the hardest wheels he can find for durability. (Be-Mag, 11 Jul 2023)
- Matt Lyon, certified instructor (Seba, 50-50; more local reputation), rides 60 mm/90A anti-rocker and keeps spare setups to lend to beginners. (Be-Mag, 15 May 2020)
- Lari Dal Lago (K2; more local reputation) rides 60 mm anti-rocker. (Be-Mag, 9 Oct 2019)
Aggressive: flat camp, 5 skaters
- Tomek Przybylik, Summerclash AM champion and 5th pro at Winterclash 2018 (USD, Remz), says a flat frame with big wheels gives more speed and stability than anti-rocker; after 72 mm, in his words, “there is NO coming back”. (Be-Mag, date not shown)
- Si Coburn, UK blading figure since the 1990s who runs the Rush Skatepark academies (Rollerblade, Ground Control), moved to flat after 20 years on anti-rocker and finds it nicer on mixed ground. (Be-Mag, 29 Oct 2019)
- Niko Salaman, Bristol pro (Seba, Famus, Kaltik), calls a stiff boot, low frame and 64 mm flat setup instrumental to his progression. (Be-Mag, 10 Aug 2020)
- Sam Crofts, USD contest rider, says “58mm flat handles business on all terrain”. (Be-Mag, 15 Apr 2015)
- Ricardo Lino, instructor with close to 40 years of skating (competitive record not verified), rides flat on four equal wheels and says he cannot tell which is better. (Ricardo Lino channel, 12 May 2024)
In between: Andrew DiPaolo (Razors, Eulogy) rides a tri-rocker and says more wheels on the ground means control and speed. (Be-Mag, 25 Aug 2017)
Where they agree. Spassov and Lino, the only two who address beginners directly, set out the trade-off the same way: anti-rocker is easier to grind; four equal wheels turn more easily, go faster and absorb jumps better, but grinding asks more. Their shared advice is to try both and choose.
Slalom freestyle: short rockered frame, 5 skaters plus a coach
- Lorenzo Guslandi, three-time pair slalom world champion (Powerslide), rides a short 225 mm rockered frame with 84 mm/86A wheels. (Powerslide team page, undated, read 7 Oct 2026)
- Lorenzo Demuru, 2018 battle world champion (Powerslide), uses a short rockered 3×90 frame for style and a longer frame with bigger wheels for speed. (Powerslide team page, undated)
- Miriam Fatmi García, five-time Spanish champion (Powerslide), and Alexandre dos Santos (Powerslide Freestyle Family) also ride short rockered frames with 84-90 mm wheels. (Powerslide; Powerslide)
- Klaudia, who presents herself as a slalom world champion with over 20 years of skating (sponsor not declared), says your first 10-20 tricks need no special gear; the first setting she recommends is the banana rocker, smaller end wheels such as 76 mm around 80 mm middle wheels. She recommends FR skates (FRX, FR3) because their frame switches from flat (city) to rockered (slalom) in minutes. (Klaudia & Michał, 3 Mar 2025)
- Asha, coach at the London school Skatefresh, also lists a rockered frame for freestyle and slalom. (Skatefresh, 2021)
All five slalom skaters are sponsored, four of them by the same brand, because Powerslide is the brand whose team pages publish setups.
Urban and fitness: flat is the default
- Asha skated 3×110 mm on a flat frame for years for speed and comfort on rough city ground, then moved to 4×90 mm on a slightly rockered frame for “wizard” flow. Her beginner advice: pick wheels for the skating you will do most, not for what she uses; a rockered frame does not give you technique, and “technique is the most important thing”. (SkatefreshAsha, 21 Dec 2022)
- In another lesson she says both setups work for flowing transitions, with different technique; see a rocker is a style, not a requirement.
What no one in our compilation says
No speed or long-distance skater discusses rocker, and no aggressive pro beyond Spassov and Lino gives beginner frame advice: Haffey, Julio, Lomax and others publish edits, not “what to buy” videos. No one tells a newcomer to buy a rockered fitness skate.
What a beginner should choose, according to these sources
- City, fitness, learning to skate: a flat four-wheel frame, as most skates ship. Asha and Klaudia both say gear does not replace technique.
- You want to try slalom: start on the skates you have; when tricks begin, a banana rocker (smaller end wheels) is Klaudia’s first change, and a frame that switches between flat and rockered keeps both uses.
- You want to grind: anti-rocker is the easier start according to Spassov and Lino; flat is a fair choice too, and they say to try both. Start with the first aggressive skates guide.
From the skater behind this site
- Inline and quad are different skates: rocker talk applies to inline frames. On quads the plate pivots on its trucks instead; see quad vs inline.
- Wheel hardness matters more than frame shape on rough ground: 78A-85A outdoors, 95A and up on a rink floor. Check with the wheel hardness tool.
- Size by each brand’s own chart; tightness is for the fastenings, not the size. Use the size calculator.
- Leave the frame where the factory put it until you have edge control: frame shifts come after edge control.
Products that match these setups
| Model | Price seen (date, where) | Who it is for | Recommended feature it meets | Weak point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rollerblade Blank Team Unisex Adult Fitness Inline Skate, Gray | Amazon.com $299.00 (B0BQWTDSBK), read 2026-10-07 | Beginners who already skate and want to grind | Aggressive skate with a Blank soul plate and direct-mount frame, the brand ridden by anti-rocker skaters Babcock and Orfield | The listing does not say whether it ships flat or anti-rocker, nor wheel size; sold by Gritr, only 5 left when read |
| Bladerunner Advantage Pro XT Women's | Amazon.com $89.23 (B01LY9WUYQ), read 2026-10-07 | City and fitness beginners | Flat four-wheel frame, 80 mm wheels (Asha: start flat, pick wheels for your skating) | Composite frame, not metal; wheel hardness not stated on the listing |
| Rollerblade Zetrablade Women's | Amazon.com $139.99 (B0DSLVFQWP), read 2026-10-07 | City and fitness beginners | Four-wheel fitness frame, flat as shipped | Not a slalom or grind skate |
| Rollerblade Macroblade 100 3WD Mens | Amazon.com $170.46 (B08BXNVY8M), read 2026-10-07 | Confident skaters who want distance | Three big wheels on a flat frame, the setup Asha used for years on rough city ground | Big wheels: faster, and Asha sees pronation in some skaters on them |
| Hydrogen 80 mm 85A wheels, 8 pack | Amazon.com $69.99 (B0CTQXCVNX), read 2026-10-07 | Skaters on 80 mm frames starting slalom | 80 mm middle wheels for Klaudia's banana rocker; 85A in the slalom range | The two smaller end wheels (76 mm) are a separate purchase |
| Hydrogen 84 mm 85A wheels, 8 pack | Amazon.com $72.99 (B0CWMHC5RQ), search result 2026-10-07 | Slalom skaters on 84 mm frames | 84 mm, close to Guslandi's 84 mm/86A | Check your frame's maximum wheel size |
| Rollerblade Hydrogen Spectre Wheels 76mm, 4 Pack | Amazon.com $31.79 (B0BJQRVR2M), read 2026-10-07 | Skaters building Klaudia's banana rocker | Four 76 mm wheels for the front and back of a 76/80 mm banana rocker | Hardness not stated in our reading; a Spectre, not the Hydrogen 85A line |
| Triple Eight Certified Sweatsaver Helmet | Amazon.com $54.99 (B077VYDVDY), read 2026-10-07 | Every beginner, any frame | Helmet first (Spassov, Lino; Klaudia: full protection at the start) | Sized by the brand chart; try it on |
| Triple Eight Wristsaver | Amazon.com $26.00 (B0000DZIJ6), read 2026-10-07 | Every beginner | Wrist guards in Klaudia's starter protection | Wrists only |
One aggressive skate is in the table, the Rollerblade Blank Team, but its listing does not say whether it ships flat or anti-rocker; the other aggressive models the pros ride (Seba, FR, Powerslide, Razors, USD) were not found with an offer on Amazon.com on 7 October 2026. The first aggressive skates guide covers what to look for.
Beginner FAQ
Do I need a rockered frame as a beginner?
No. No skater in our compilation tells a beginner to buy a rockered frame. Coach Asha (Skatefresh) says a rockered frame does not give you technique; slalom skater Klaudia says your first 10 to 20 tricks need no special gear.
Is anti-rocker or flat better for learning to grind?
The pros split 7 for anti-rocker and 5 for flat. Bobi Spassov and Ricardo Lino, who give beginner advice, say anti-rocker is easier to grind, while four equal wheels turn more easily and absorb jumps better; they both say to try both.
What is a banana rocker?
A slalom setting with smaller wheels at the front and back, for example 76 mm ends around 80 mm middle wheels. Klaudia recommends it as the first setting once you start slalom tricks.
What frame do slalom champions use?
A short rockered frame. Lorenzo Guslandi rides a 225 mm rockered frame with 84 mm/86A wheels and Lorenzo Demuru a short rockered 3x90 frame for style; all compiled slalom skaters are sponsored, mostly by Powerslide.
Can I rocker my city skates?
Klaudia recommends frames that switch from flat to rockered in minutes so one skate covers city and slalom. Asha moved from a flat 3x110 setup to a slightly rockered 4x90 for flow, but says to choose wheels for the skating you do most.
Should I move my frames?
Not at first. The skater behind this site and coach Asha Kirkby leave the frame where the factory put it until you have edge control.
How this page was compiled: 19 skaters who describe their frame setup (13 aggressive, 5 slalom, 1 urban coach), drawn from our skater compilation of 7 October 2026. Each claim links to its source. Full compilation and method: the skater gear compilation.
What this page does not cover: speed and marathon frames, frame length for fitness, and quad plates.
Keep going: this is one of the buying guides that sit next to the full Roller Skating for Beginners guide — sizing, gear, stopping, and where to skate, in one page. Free, no sign-up, nothing to buy.