Difference in Plate Types (Dance, Rhythm, Derby, etc) ???

[llamont]

Hello all,

I am curious to learn about the difference in plate disciplines (more specifically the difference b/t plates that are advertised to be better for rhythm and derby. I see a lot of PowerDyne Reactor Pro plates, PowerDyne Arius plates, Snyder plates, and Roll-Line plates at my rink and I’m curious if there’s really a big difference. I attend adult sessions so there’s a lot of rhythm/shuffle skating. Any applicable info is appreciated and I hope this is not too ambiguous of a request.

Thanks

[fierocious1]

Originally Posted by llamont

Hello all,

I am curious to learn about the difference in plate disciplines (more specifically the difference b/t plates that are advertised to be better for rhythm and derby. I see a lot of PowerDyne Reactor Pro plates, PowerDyne Arius plates, Snyder plates, and Roll-Line plates at my rink and I’m curious if there’s really a big difference. I attend adult sessions so there’s a lot of rhythm/shuffle skating. Any applicable info is appreciated and I hope this is not too ambiguous of a request.

Thanks

Its about how much money you can spend. Or if you are a tuner, you can have awesome handling skates that fit your preferences and application. Some skates turn quicker, faster response to input. Some respond slower. No company that makes/sells skates advertises the specs, so mostly the info is handed down/shared instead of being available to research, so you are mostly left with cash vs the hunt. Most people go through several pairs of expensive skates before either figuring out how to tune or luckily finding a stock skate that works.
A person needs to get a lot of skate time under their belt before trying to hunt their ultimate skate. The types of skating you are talking about require the skaters to be proficient if the are actually good at it. Even a good session skate has different requirements.

[Stevbrdly]

Plates are marketed toward a specific set of discipline, but that is not to say that it can only be used for that discipline.

DA/45 plates like the avenger are marketed for derby, but that doesnt mean that they cant be used for speed or shuffle.

as Ferocious said, its all about how you setup your skates. Granted, you may not be able to get your speed proline plates to turn as tightly as a DA/45, that is due to geometry, but for the average "round and rounder" (frequent session skater) you can get away with pretty much any plate.

What type of skating are you planning on doing, and a budget? lower budget (under $200) the Suregrip Avenger and Avanti plates are very good. Avenger is marketed for derby mostly, and Avanti is more marketed for speed and general session skating.

[zebra1922]

So what would be a 'good' plate in the $200-300 range for artistic skating? I see a lot of reference to dance, shuffle and derby, but my skating would be more described a session/artistic. I've just bought a Pilot Falcon, anything else good for this skating?

[HeBeGB]

Look for anything Rolline if Artistic is the ballpark

[zebra1922]

Originally Posted by HeBeGB

Look for anything Rolline if Artistic is the ballpark

I've need looking sat roll-line and they have graphs showing how suitable a plate is for freestyle, dance, derby etc.

So if I'm a session skater but likes manoeuvres (pivot turns, 3 turns, spins, hopefully moving to jumps eventually) is this freestyle? Dance? Probably not rhythm?

[Gorilla]

I started to write a history of when, in the US, all speed skates were 45 degree single action and all art skates were double action 10-15 degree. Then I realized that is would be a long boring post.

In short, today there are really no differences for categories. Even at high competitive levels, art skates use plates designed for speed, and speed skaters use plates designed for art. Derby players are all over the map.

But, to make sweeping generalizations, here are a few characteristics of differing skate angles:

5 -10 degree very Stable - turniness comes from skater's edges more than plate action. Good for speed. 10 degree is very common for dance skating.

10-20 degree: still pretty stable, but truck action does some of the work for you. 15/16 degree action is my person "sweet spot" for derby and a little speed.

DA45... which is actually 30 degree. Very turny. Based on Snyder Imperial which was a favorite for the tight circles done in figure skating. Often the drawback is lack of stability at high speeds.

These are huge generalizations. Most plates can be tuned to behave how you want them with different hardness cushions and pivot pin adjustments. There is a lot more to how a skate performs than just the truck angle.

[fierocious1]

Originally Posted by Gorilla

I started to write a history of when, in the US, all speed skates were 45 degree single action and all art skates were double action 10-15 degree. Then I realized that is would be a long boring post.

In short, today there are really no differences for categories. Even at high competitive levels, art skates use plates designed for speed, and speed skaters use plates designed for art. Derby players are all over the map.

But, to make sweeping generalizations, here are a few characteristics of differing skate angles:

5 -10 degree very Stable - turniness comes from skater's edges more than plate action. Good for speed. 10 degree is very common for dance skating.

10-20 degree: still pretty stable, but truck action does some of the work for you. 15/16 degree action is my person "sweet spot" for derby and a little speed.

DA45... which is actually 30 degree. Very turny. Based on Snyder Imperial which was a favorite for the tight circles done in figure skating. Often the drawback is lack of stability at high speeds.

These are huge generalizations. Most plates can be tuned to behave how you want them with different hardness cushions and pivot pin adjustments. There is a lot more to how a skate performs than just the truck angle.

Exactly... TRUE!

[wyodinosaur]

Originally Posted by Gorilla

I started to write a history of when, in the US, all speed skates were 45 degree single action and all art skates were double action 10-15 degree. Then I realized that is would be a long boring post.

You should still write it. I'm sure there are many who wouldn't feel it was boring...me being one.

[BigFoot]

I would like to see the history, too. Not boring, fun reading. But if not, Gorilla's generalizations were very good.

You CAN, tune a plate with cushions, spacers and king pin tightness. I think it is easier to turn a speed skate into a derby/figure skate than the other way around. So if you want one plate that can switch from one discipline to another, I would go with a speed plate. Be aware that I prefer a firm, speed set up, so my opinion is colored by a strong prejudice. Better still, pick one plate to match the type of skating you do most. That way there are fewer adjustments needed when you switch disciplines.

Plates also come in different sizes. They are generally sold to match your foot size, but you can buy shorter or longer ones to match a discipline. Long for speed/jam, short for derby.

There is another part of plate selection which is kind of fuzzy. If you learned to skate on a certain plate, that becomes your favorite plate. You love what you know, and you will make it work no matter how "wrong" the plate is for your discipline. You might use long, skateboard-like plates for derby and tiny wheelbase plates for speed. People are amazing.

More fuzzy stuff. I have been skating a long time, but I don't consider myself a good skater. I'm kinda sloppy and imprecise, certainly nowhere near textbook form. And my balance is not that great, it's just OK. I sometimes wonder if this is part of the reason that I like firm, stable plates. They are forgiving. They allow me to make mistakes and get away with it. For people who are the opposite of me - methodical, exact, highly skilled - those people like the more responsive, turny plates. Hmmm?

[dvw]

Originally Posted by llamont

I am curious to learn about the difference in plate disciplines (more specifically the difference b/t plates that are advertised to be better for rhythm and derby.

It's mostly marketing. There are some traditional plate styles for the artistic disciplines, but nowadays, it's about selling plates.

Originally Posted by llamont

I see a lot of PowerDyne Reactor Pro plates, PowerDyne Arius plates, Snyder plates, and Roll-Line plates at my rink and I’m curious if there’s really a big difference.

There is. Sort of like going to the grocery store, and out in the parking lot are Fords and Chevys and Toyotas and Kias.

It can get complicated, sort of, but think of basic plate characteristics. Kingpin angle. Pivots - rubber bushed, semi-precision, full precision adjustable. Cushions - tall, short, conical, barrel, other, rubber, urethane. Plate material - plastic, fiberglass, aluminum, magnesium, spring steel. Plate style - Riveted, box frame, cast, machined, injection molded, etc. Toe stop or not.

Each of those things, and in combination with the other things, plus the size and the mounting, all define how a particular skate will react to input from the skater. As you might imagine, the matrix can get pretty involved.

As one example in a kazillion, figure skates. Often they'll have a full size plate, with no toe stop, rubber cushions, a click action, 15 degree kingpin angle, and art style boot with full heel and plated mounted flush with the back of the boot and front axle directly under the ball of the foot. Why? Rubber cushions will rock over and stay there, where urethane will try to return to center, so better for holding a circle. Click action because often it takes a different setup for big circles versus small, and it makes switching setups easier.

It's horses for courses. And a lot of it is personal preference.

So that's the long winded version of saying that like any tool set, some things work better than others. You can drive a screw with a hammer but why would you? But some screw drivers fit your hand better than others.