Slalom skating
Freestyle slalom skating is a highly technical field of roller skating that involves performing tricks around a straight line of equally spaced cones
Skate characteristics
- Hard boot (carbon, glass fiber, plastic)
- High boot cuff for added stability (carbon cuffs being the best)
- Short aluminium frame (230 to 245 millimeter with some exceptions going to 250 mm)
- Frames that are 245 mm or 243 mm use 80 mm maximum diameter wheels
- Frames that are 231 mm must use wheels no bigger than 76 mm in diameter
- Frames that are 219 mm require wheels no bigger than 72 mm in diameter
- Wheels used for freestyle slalom are commonly between 83A and 85A durometer or hardness.
- The 2 middle wheels should be bigger than the end wheels for added maneuverability. (ie: 76-80-80-76 or 72-76-76-72)
Note: 3 wheel frames can be used too
Cones spacing
Depending on the event
- 1.64 feet (50 centimeters)
- 2.63 feet (80 centimeters)
- 3.94 feet (120 centimeters)
Locations to skate
Slalom youtube channels
Toronto slalom
Links
- Freestyle Slalom Skates
- Inline Skating Knowledge: Rockering
- A guide to rockering your inline skates
- Inline Certification Program website
- Big Wheel Blading Online Magazine is the source for all things on Big Wheel inline skates
- International Freestyle Skaters Association website
- World Slalom Skating Association website
- WSSA World Slalom Series website
- Learn Freestyle slalom skating with kompakombo.com (in french)
- Freestyle Slalom Information in Germany