Inline Skate Basic Setup Guide - How & Where To Mount Your Frame - Tutorial by Pro Joey Mantia 

the 3 month learning curve was likely finding balance on your blades that are in the surface vs balance on wheels that are moving on top of the surface, different methods for creating speed between the two sports essentially means controlling you body in a slightly different way. In general, inline will light up your calves and shins more than ice because you're fighting to create your own grip ON the surface vs ice where you can relax and let the blade do the work IN the surface, so that's not surprising that your stabilizers are tired faster. Does equipment play a huge role in that? Of course. Short track boots are rock solid so at some point that boot will catch against your ankle and give you something to lean against. Inline makers are always trying to go lower cut (not sure exactly why, maybe for a little more agility), so if you have a boot that's not as stiff or as high as your short track boot, you're definitely going to feel like you're having a much harder time controlling your skates, in turn making everything much less fun. Long track boots can be as soft as slippers and still work pretty well just from the nature of the 400m oval, but stiffer boots allow more control in the turns especially. In my opinion for inline you want a boot that is stiff (if you give the ankles a firm squeeze they're not going to move), that has carbon that comes to the top of your ankle bone, and that has a good fitment on your heal and forefoot, not allowing any play in those parts of your foot. On top of that a perfect boot will have an arch that supports your foot, which is nearly impossible to find unless you're extremely lucky with a stock or have a custom shoe. You also have the option of mounting a frame on a short track boot and skating that way (I believe they still make adaptors to go from 165 to 195, or you can get a 165 frame), just don't tie the laces all the way to the top holes so you can get enough dorsiflexion for inline - because inline is on a flat frame and not a rocked blade, you would likely struggle with that forward lean if you tied those laces all the way up through the top eyelets. Ideally, you get a taller, stiff custom shoe and that will help a lot, but without seeing you skate, i have no way to know if it's your technique that is causing the issues. hope that helps

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial This helps a ton, you have no idea :) From the sound of it, it's probably a little bit boot, a little bit technique. In my Bonts, my heel is snug, but I have a _little_ play around my toes, noticeable when lifting / placing the skate. I'll probably try a 1/2 size smaller boot and really work the heat molding (or just splurge and get custom boot). I'm going to stick with inline boots - I need to work on my dorsiflexion: I'm still quad-dominant and I think the different boot may help me get into a lower position and get that good glute activation. Plus, I want to use the right tool for the job, so to speak, and 1/2 the fun of skating is learning the technique, so learning how to _really_ skate in an inline boot should will be fun. My technique also needs work, which makes me grateful for your other videos. Short-track strokes are surprisingly different, where aside from sprints, landing a stroke puts you right into a more passive recovery phase where you start "loading the spring" for the next push. Landing inline feels far less passive, where when I do it right, the second push after the landing almost feels natural. My guess is my struggle with inline is that I assumed the form was similar ST, and I think the difference in weight distribution and stroke cadence is less nuanced than I anticipated. Your series is tremendously helpful. Really great for those of us that don't have access to local inline coaches. Can't thank you enough!

Which boot is good sr or bont please reply

Do they still have lazy lega wraps? It was a thing back in the day... kinda light a weighted blanket if you will for ankles. Maybe try them. on both skates, till your muscles get stronger.

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial I purchased a used frame from someone. I cleaned the bearings, dried them and checked the spinning. The bearings are spinning well before mounting them to the frame. If I mount the wheels to the frame and loosen the screws only then wheels spin well, if I tighten the screws, the wheels/bearings are not spinning at all. the frame is narrow than wheels side size that when I insert the wheels to mount, I have to push in abit hard. Is this because of the frame or frame issue?

glad it could help!

Any time!

Good stuff!

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it helped!

Big thanks

my pleasure ami, hope all is well

a little secret: most skate bearings are made in the same factory in china these days, so whatever brand you choose is usually pretty comparable to the next. Because we aren't hitting huge RPMs like some machines that need extreme precision to reach the potential of their moving parts, our bearings don't need to be abec rated, hence the SWISS (doesn't mean they're made in switzerland) bearing- one that allows for play in the race (the relationship between the balls what holds the balls of the bearing). So stay away from abec rated bearings for skating, keep your swiss bearings lightly lubed, keep them from getting wet and if you do get them wet dry them as soon as possible, and last but not least, keep them clean- a good flush or soak in some sort of solution/solvent- something like mineral spirits- that will evaporate without leaving much residue, if any, blow them out with compressed air, and lube them, at least once a month if you're skating a lot. If you use a harsh chemical like brake cleaner which is extreme, MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE ANY PLASTIC PARTS BEFORE HAND FROM THAT BEARING BECAUSE IT WILL EAT THEM (install them back after the solvent has dried/evaporated). If you follow those tips your bearings could easily last you 5 years+. I would stay away from ceramic as they are more prone to chipping on the balls, and require a significantly higher amount of maintenance to be fully functional. The benefit to ceramic is the resistance to heat and thus resistance to expansion causing more friction, but I dare say we don't get those bearings moving fast enough for it to make a noticeable difference, some may argue against that, but in my experience I have never felt any actual difference between them.

i dont have a track, or good indoor place here, but if the weather gets nice again, I'll definitely put together some turning tips for you guys

glad i could help you out! I'll put the wheel 101 class on the list of tutorials. thanks for the feedback

thanks! yea that's a good point, should have mentioned that- hard to cover everything on the fly without fully scripting these things

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial Oh gosh I was really just nit-picking. Your video was incredibly detailed. Looking forward to getting my street skates dialed in, thanks again

I personally wouldn't change the angle to try to get a better double push, i think the most important thing is balance on your skates, so if you can find a frame position that gives you that, then the control you gain will pay way higher dividends than if you try to change the angle and lose that balance point. I've had my frames set up for indoor skating, as well as setup for just trail/ straightaway skating and as long they were both balanced well, i didn't notice a huge difference in my ability to skate effectively

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial OK I'll give it some time like you suggest. Thank

will put it on the list

For sure, I've always just fixed mind with a bench grinder, but figured it was easier to tell people to get a new one than to go buy a power tool to fix the issue.

Glad you found some use out the vid. I have to be completely frank and say I'm not very familiar with a v rocker setup and without skating on it myself to test what actually feels better to me, I wouldn't feel comfortable just giving a random answer. Sorry!

I'll be doing an off skates video with some helpful exercises here in the next months

Seriously???? This is for speedskates and Joey covered left to right position.

If you're referring to long track ice skates, the reference points should put you in a good place to start finding balance on your skates. I don't know if this would work for short track, my assumption is no, as they do some really aggressive things with their skates

thanks for the appreciation

i dont know if you can tell just by looking. The layers of carbon aren't as important as the quality of resin used and the process for how the carbon is laid. If a boot maker knows what they're doing, they can keep the boot really light, but also nice and stiff as well. The advantage to more carbon is that the boot will just be stiffer, so if that's what you prefer (like I do) then that's what you would want to get

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial what do you mean STIFF. Is it upper portion of Boot or Ankel position?

a) i would say you can compensate if you want to, the ultimate goal is trying to find a good balance point- if you were to glide on one foot you could comfortably still control your skate without it flopping one way or another. If you think it's possible to overcome a botched surgery with strength exercises, rehab type workouts, and really focusing on keeping the skate straight as your skate, then I would definitely recommend that, but it sounds like that might be pretty tough. b) half on the blocks is ok, if you can somehow manage to get an extra mounting bolt in there (in the next hole over) for some added bite, that's ideal, but if not, I think you should be okay. It's not the best situation, but I've seen guys skate with their frames pretty slammed over and hanging off the blocks. Keep an eye on your frames to make sure nothing is cracking over time would be my only suggestion as you go about testing these different setups. good luck

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial thanks a lot, it’s nice to get a benchmark for this stuff from someone who’s really in the game. I hadn’t thought of the extra bolt so I’ll give that and the other stuff a go. Sounds like I may have to work either side of the line on an ongoing basis and just see if I can change my current limits gradually with respect to my foot/skate alignment.

it depends on your wheel size i guess. If you're going from 4x110 to 3x125 then it makes sense it doesn't feel as good even with the wheels exactly in the same spot under the boot because you're changing the leverage points of the whole system by going to larger wheels, which in turn exposes any issues in the fitment of your boot much, much more than your 110's will. If you are going to be swapping back and forth often, i would say go through the couple month process of dialing in that 3x125 and see if you can't find a better balance point with that higher profile and mark it separately. wish i could be more help. good luck

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial thanx for reply!

definitely, it's on the list

I’ve got the same issues....i live in Australia so no chance of getting custom boots without the added major expense, doing a cast by the manufacturer and long postage times in between. And as you said, you cant try on different boots to feel the difference. So, like you’ll have to do, is to either go on holidays to somewhere like the USA of just buy different boots & sell the ones you didnt like. OR drop over $2,000 AUD and order customs & just get it tight the first time at great expense! 😖 If money wasn’t an issue, i would have ordered a pair of Simmons customs....currently i have Bont Jets, but i find the heel cup loose.

ideally you can get into a custom boot so it will be actually made to fit your foot. If your foot is narrow, you will likely run into the same issues with any stock boot and heat molding can help a little, but I dont know if it can fix the foot bed being too wide for you. When it comes to custom boots I don't have a preference, there are three sitting on the table in this video and I've enjoyed skating on them all, so the choice is really up to you. Bont will be a higher cut boot and a little more comfortable to skate on, the simmons will be lower and more rigid, the huang will be lower and have a little less rigid than the others. I believe (but not sure) that you can do the molds for the bont yourself, the others you would need to have them mold you in person.

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial Thanks Joey! Could you please give some advice how to test/identify if the boot is good enough? I feel it doesn't enclose my ankle the way I'd expect (even with a 2mm myFit footies and socks). But I've never had a golden sample to compare to. So I'm not sure what could I expect from a good boot.

@@JimmyRClub that's really hard without seeing you skate on it, but if you can wear socks and another layer on your ankles, then I'm fairly confident your boot does not fit you like it should to get optimal performance out of it. if you can ever fit any fingers down inside your boot (next to your ankle) with it on and tied, then that's not a good sign

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial Thanks. I feel it worse on the left. I'll try heat molding and somehow making the heel pocket tighter. I hope it could help.

i think center the frame, watch my video about how to balance on your skates ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-X5U9fei1uBU.html , and really work on your ankle mobility in terms of being able to achieve an exaggerated dorsiflexion

Hi there, I myself experienced the opposite, in general I like to have my boot just a little forward (frame back) for the long races, that way u can create a smooth transition from outside to inside edge while double push But overall the middle position should be the best option, maybe (this was my problem when starting to get serious at skating) u have a slightly bad position of your front part of the frame in terms of inside/outside movement, if you try this maybe u will get a better feeling for your corners and starts Hope that helps :)

Im sory no one answered yet, at least I can't see it... The best protection gear in terms of movement are soft protections (often fitted with material that slides well over the ground (asphalt for example) or rubber paddings (to prevent impact damage and kind of slow u down) they don't create as much friction while moving, but for the best overall security nothing works better than regular (and much cheaper) plastic/fitnnesskate protectors So overall u would be better of with a soft protector that fits u well, definitely try them on before buying (they can not be adjusted in size) Hope that helps and isn too late :)

I don't skate hard enough anymore on my inlines to give you a fair judgement for performance. The bont I've been skating on feels nice, I like how wide it is, and it looks really good... gotta have those style points

sure thing, will do sometime this winter

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial Big fan I'm using Simmons rana RUSH

@@arnavkamboj4967 isn't it possible to make one?

@@jjones8717 What you mean?

What kind of noise? Pretty much every carbon frame I've ever seen or used has made a little bit of light 'clicking' just from the nature of carbon fiber

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial I think it is from the frame, the noise, because some bearings don't fit very tight into the aluminum hub. I have told it to the shop where I bought the bont aluminum hub wheels. Thanks, Joey

Do you mean picking out the equipment or actually setting it all up?

@@JoeyMantiaOfficial I mean just getting the components separately and then assemble them yourself or just buy a pair of skates?

@@samshehan9377 that depends on how experienced you are with picking equipment, most higher end speed skaters pick and choose their stuff from different brands, but that doesn't mean it's bad to pick a single manufacturer and choose a skate they have put together for the consumer. If you decide to choose components from different makers, just be sure to do your research so it will all work nicely together, and unfortunately to my knowledge there is no database that will tell you that, you just have to kind of ask around and see what people like. Hope that helps

thanks for the nice words. Frame placement is something I didn't really want to cover because it is so, so personalized, but I felt putting a generalized video out there could help people. There's probably 20 different variables that go into how your frame is placed correctly to find balance for you, the boot is for sure the most important. Next would be the strength of your stabilization muscles in conjunction with your body's natural shape and pronations. Then onto things like how you are moving your weight around your skate as you push and if you are engaging the right muscles when you do so. I wish there was a definitive guide, but obviously as you have experienced, sometimes the complete opposite of the standard is what will work best for you. Being bow legged helps keeps things upright as you push away from your body, so people who are bow legged are naturally better skaters because their knees and ankles don't collapse as much when they push, this is why they're able to have the frame closer to their center of gravity and make it work well.