TRISKATES vs 4-WHEEL SKATES - Which Are Better?

3 wheels or 4 wheels? What is better?

Let's begin with triskates.

They should have the best of both worlds, right?

- Large wheels for speed

- And short frame for maneuverability

Ordinary 4 wheel skates, however, cannot have both

Either you have large wheels for speed but then the frame has to be long just to fit all four wheels

Or you go for a short frame but then you need smaller wheels

Okay, this was quite basic theory but how do they compare in real life?

***

First time on triskates I ended up with mixed feelings

They were maneuverabile and all that, which was great,

but the speed was not as promised

My new 110mm triskates felt basically like my old rollerblades with 84mm wheels ...

I've later experimented with different wheels and better bearings

and now my triskate setup is - yea - now it's really good

So what I did is I put extremely hard race wheels on my triskates

and the speed just beace insane

I believe the reason is that I were too heavy for the original wheels

You see, when you only have three wheels, your weight is divided by three wheels, so each wheels must carry a larger load

I am quite heavy, 84 kg - that's 185 pounds ... yea I'm big boned

and I believe the original wheels just gave in too much

***

Apart from this there also are some other issues to keep in mind

Really big wheels are fast indeed but it takes some time to gain speed

This is especially true for 110 and 125mm

With small wheels like 80mm you have a lot more of this snappiness, aggressiveness,

and this is something I really like about my Rollerblade Twisters

Of course, you can always put small wheels on triskates too

I actually tried it and I really enjoyed it

A bonus with such small wheels is less weight, and that's a huge argument in favor of triskates

Unfortunately on the market there are not many small wheel trisaktes to choose from

You can do like me and replace the originals but still the frame is a bit too high then

But 100mm wheels are common and that's anyway a good tradeoff

110 I personally don't like that much - for the same reason - heavier and less snappy

but that's just my kind of skating

125 is another popular choice but I haven't tried it myself

What I've been told however is that they are excellent for maintaining speed

but your skating style must be a bit slower and more fluid

***

It looks like speed skaters also prefer triskates more and more

Speed skates have big wheels, obviously, but also a long frame cause that makes them even faster

What's interesting is that on those long frames you could just as well fit four wheels but

as mentioned, they mostly prefer just three

What's the reason? I guess, less weight, but I'm not a speed skater

To any speed skaters watching this; it would be interesting to hear your thought in the comments below

***

Finally I'd like to add that I don't really prefer one kind over the other.

It's easy to focus just on the differences, but really it's not that big a difference anyway

I actually had a lot of fun wearing a triskate on one foot and a regular 4-wheel skate on the other

.. and yea ... it doesn't feel as weird as it may look like

However, I do believe triskates is the future but the future is not quite here yet

As mentioned, my first triskates disappointed me a bit and I believe that's because I'm too heavy for three wheels

I'd really like the producers to address this concern, and at least debunk my claim if they think I'm wrong

But overall I don't really can go wrong by choosing one or the other

The differences are not that big after all

Alright, that's all. I'm JP Jay. Thanks for watching and subscribe for updates!

[avonire]

Dude with the quiet voice suddenly hitting the camera shook me

[colleenrichards]

I️ am an in-line speed skater in the US. We mainly use 3x100 setups for kids who are just learning and then they move to 3x110. If your older like me I️ started on 4x100 and moved up to a high low frame which is a 110mm wheel at the toe and the back two wheels and a 100mm wheel in the second spot. The purpose of that setup is to make you feel lower to the ground but still give you the speed of the 110. There are other setups too like 4x110 which is a more advance setup. The 3x125 is really mainly for outdoors for speed skating when we do marathons but I️ just stick to my high low set up but change the wheels out to outdoor wheels instead of indoor wheels.

[BrennenThomas]

I use 3x110mm FE Supersonics. I like the large wheels only on my F7 boots as they provide great ankle support & I mainly use them for cruising & city exploring. For short distances I prefer smaller wheels as they are more multipurpose.

[teza]

I'm using 125mm triskates (Powerslide Megacruisers Pro) and I'm delighted how fast they are and how smooth can the ride be. In my neighbourhood there're hardly any public spaces where the pavement is approprite for skating. So the big wheels give me much more relaxed and comfortable feeling while skating on rough surfaces. I think the manuverability of 3 x 125mm can be compared to 4 x 84 mm (which I used previously). I'm very happy that I've decided to buy triskates without exactly having an opportunity to try them before buying (what I recommend everyone).

[ronvanrijn]

I started 7 years ago with 4*80 wheels rockered placed . Now I bought 3 * 110 wheels, they go very fast, you can make turns with them and you don't notice all the small bumps on the bike path. Now I alternately use the 4*80 rockered to make figures like figure skating on ice. And alternately the 3*110 for speed and as a good taining. So they both have their pros and cons It is all about what you want to do with the type of scate

[dllamaree]

Do you live in the states? If so, what part of the country? Looks like there's a lot of skaters where you live. I live in Texas and feel like an outcast when i put my skates on.

[kristinatk]

I'm in agreement with you going from 4 wheels to 3 110's. I was also disappointed myself. I felt I couldn't gain the speed I'd hoped for nor had the maneuverability in the trio's. Thx 4 video

[felixmcallister]

I've also found the 110's on my Seba FR1's to be heavy and rather tall. Dropping to 100mm wheels had very good results. A dedicated Seba frame for 3x100 could drop the over-the-wheel clearance significantly, lowering the boot, and making the skate much more stable and easy to turn.

[Glitched_Bat]

My first ever skates where the three wheeled skates and I kind of miss them but I have I grew out of them, now I have skates with the four wheels and I enjoy them too :)

[cajuncounty]

I’m a speed skater but I like the 4 wheels for indoor skating where grip through the turns count while outdoors it’s a toss up I haven’t really tested which is better but one has a smoother ride than the other

[GregFridman]

Nice video! Been thinking about those 3 wheels for a while... Hey, I like your knee pads! Can you please share a link where you got those?

[edwardtaylor]

You might be too heavy for a tri-skate with a soft boot? You could mount the 110 frame on your twisters, im sure there'd be a difference. I'm using matter wheels (125mm)on a megacruiser frame on a metropolis boot I enjoy the extra speed over my k2 uptowns (4x 80mm) for commuting and the uphills, but the uptowns are better for skating round the city personally. Thanks, enjoyed the video!!

[dhaloh]

Dude, is this Latvia? I was just looking for a comparison video when I realized the nature kind of looks similar to Latvia, Riga.

[andyhlawnchhing]

This is 2021 what we really need now is not only big wheels but big bearings that will change skating world now and forever....

[enethaeros]

Hey! Beginner here. i had trouble with stopping generally especially in downhill surface. the only way i know is t-stop. Is t-stop better with tri skates?

[JohnHarmon]

Looks like your tri-skate is sitting on a higher frame? If so, what was the height difference? I have uneven legs and am thinking about doing something like that to try and even things out.

[dickensrivers]

great commentary. confirms that i skaters NEED many different skate set-ups for different uses

[huntinglife]

The answer is none is better. Just like everything else its what feels best for every person. I have 3 wheels and to me they suck. But my friend loves 3 wheels.

[micromoron]

For road speed skating 3 wheels would be better because turns can be very tight, but with track speed skating you would not necessarily need as much maneuverability so 4 wheel would be better for consistent turns on an oval track. And the faster you go on actual speed skates the more prone to speed wobble you become because of how little ankle support you have so it helps to have a longer wheelbase to keep stable at high speeds (30+ mph.).

[echo]

I like what they said that the smaller foot is better with the 3 wheels and if you have a longer foot the 4 wheel is better it just depends on the size of the frame and since you have a bigger foot the 4 wheel is better for you.