Oh my god!
What are we going to do?
We’ve only got £100 (in old school bank notes) bursting from our jean’s pockets and we’re in a rush.
We’re holding our cash up high and screaming—
“TAKE MY MONEY NOW!!”
But we don’t know what skates to buy.
Well you’re in luck…
Because your favourite internet hero Dr InlineSkate (made up name), is here to grab your money, run away quickly (or, actually, skate away), and then as he disappears round the corner, shout out the name of what you could have bought with that £100, if you hadn’t had just been robbed.
But don’t worry, none of this has happened… yet…
Instead, we’re going to find out what the best skates are under £100, in this article.
Aren’t you glad you came?
What are the best skates under £100? For under £100 Playlife Aztec skates are possibly the best inline skates you can buy. They’re actually made by the premium brand Powerslide, and are highly similar to another pair of well-loved skates called Twisters by another brand Rollerblade. They’re unusually high quality for this price point, very comfortable, very maneuverable, highly reliable, and a great skating experience.
Are the Playlife Aztec skates for me?
Are you someone who doesn’t want to shell out loads for a pair of skates, but you actually care about the quality of the parts and the experience of the ride?
Then yes, the Playlife Aztec are for you.
And these are the topline facts you need to know:
- They have decent quality components.
- These skates have a great ride.
- These skates are very comfortable.
- These skates are suitable for a range of leisure skating.
If you’re sticking tightly to this under £100 budget, then you’re going to get an excellent pair of skates for this price tag.
Actually, these are really much better than you would get almost anywhere else at this price level.
So if you’re scrimping and saving, then go ahead and take advantage.
The key reason the Aztec Playlife are good – and aren’t you lucky I’m here to tell you – is that despite seeming like a budget brand name “PlayLife”, this company is owned by a much stronger, highly reputable brand… but more on that below.
What type of skating in the Playlife Aztecs?
Skating round parks? Check.
Skating across the city? Check.
Skating on your local pathway? Check.
Skating on a motorway? Well… I mean… if there’s cars driving along the motorway, then you might want to avoid it (to be very clear: do not skate on motorways with cars! Just in case I had spell that out… You should not skate anywhere near things that big, fast and dangerous. Just like you would be wise not to skate next to a tyrannosaurus rex. If you see a tyrannosaurus rex, please get into a car, unless that car has Jeff Goldblum in the back)
These are recreational leisure skates that are good enough to go a very decent speed and handle well across your range of city terrain generally as well as most skates do.
Why are they good for this type of skating?
They have medium size wheels
What is medium?! You cry!!
Well, in the world of skating, contrary to some other worlds, size DOES indeed matter.
Don’t worry, size doesn’t matter everywhere (just relax).
But size DOES matter when it comes to wheels.
These are BIGGER than the tiny aggressive skating wheels (aggressive wheels are tiny (58mm) and wide for excellent over the top balance on ramps).
But these are smaller than scarily fast, difficult to control, racing skates (125 mm).
The wheels are 80mm in size
They are also 86A rating on hardness, which is fairly hard (higher is ‘harder’).
Think of a soft wheel being a bit like cheese, changing shape and providing grip, whereas a hard wheel is more like wood and will slide faster. The difference seems small but this hard wheel will help it roll along, and they have chosen a good one here.
The bearings are Wicked Abec 5 (or possibly, depending on where you get them, actually Abec 7 – which is even better)
Wicked (brand name) Abec 5 (rating scale), which at last look have a 4.7 * rating out of 5, so they’re highly rated, and have been called “smooth, strong, and not too fast” – as there is believe it or not such a thing as “too fast”. But don’t get twisted here, these skates are very capable of allowing you to whizz along fast.
Guide to wheels sizes and hardness
What type of skating are these NOT for?
These are not for going on ramps. As in big half-pipes and skatepark ramps.
And these are not for professional racing. But, you will certainly be able to get up to a reasonable speed on them.
These aren’t high-spec freestyle ones for weaving through cones doing slalom, however these will suffice as beginner skates for that activity, yes.
What about these skates makes them suitable?
Are they for children?
No, these are adults skates.
They start at size 4 adult.
Which, as I learned today when I googled it, is bigger than child size 4.
So, no, not really suitable for children.
Why are they the best?
They are so good because actually they’re not really a cheap brand of skates.
They’re a high quality brand of skates, from a couple of years ago, masquerading as a cheap pair.
You’re getting basically a brilliant, highly popular, widely loved, high-quality pair of excellent skates from one of the most prestigious brands in the sport, but for the price of Toys r’ Us own brand (remember them? 🙁 )
There used to be a pair of skates called the Twisters, by Rollerblade, and these were at a much higher price point, a very well made skate that was extremely popular and widely liked, and these cheap skates seem very similar to those…
Are there other skates almost as good?
It’s a bit like cheese, saying which one is the best.
Like, which cheese is the best?
Is it edam?
I think we all know, it’s not edam.
But is it cheddar?
There would be a lot of people in England who claim it’s cheddar, because cheddar is the only cheese they’ve ever eaten.
I’m going off on a bit of a tangent here, but the point is, it’s easier to point at the rubbish cheeses, like Edam, than it is to point at the best ever cheese.
So this is a roundabout way of saying, give me a break.
Maybe Playlife Aztec is “one of” the best skates under £100.
It’s a good bloody shout.
Contenders for the Throne – Other Runner Up Skates Less than £100
I can’t be bothered to give you any other contenders.
This one is good enough.
I may or may not come back at a later date and fill this section in.
Do You Have Really Big Feet? Then Don’t Buy These Skates
Size 11 or Above?
You know what they say about big feet?
Big shoes…
If you’ve got big feet, well done, possibly that will help you balance or, kick a ball or… I don’t know.
But you might struggle fitting into these skates if you have size 11 feet or above.
Namely, because I’m not sure you can find these skates in that size.
So, well, don’t buy them.
And honestly, if your feet are so big, maybe you should have a hard think about the inconvenience you cause to shoe companies all over the world. I’m sure they lose money making shoes for people like you. Maybe you should write them a letter to apologise?
Anyway…
What if I’ve got shorter feet, but really wide?
I feel like I’m having to answer every question here. I’m not a full-proof replacement to actually trying them on, okay?
But… I might be able to help here.
If you do happen to have penguin feet–like me–then these might be a bit on the tight side, but possibly about fine. Buy them somewhere you can return anyway and that will sort that issue out.
Where Can I Buy These?
A shop.
…
If you would like more guidance, there are a few places you can get these.
Amazon is one place, for example, here:
Size 44-45 (EU), which is 10.5 (UK) and 11 (US)
Size 38-39 (EU), which is UK size 5 – 5.5, or US size 6.5
But there are other online skate shops… I mean use google.