How To Mount Roller Skates

Step-by-Step with Pictures

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This post was is re-composed, with permission, from a facebook post by a knowledgeable and trusted friend. Text and images are largely her own, but may have been edited for clarity when changing from facebook to blog format. Original post can be found here

For me this method has worked with all kinds of boots (football boots/soccer cleats, basketball boots, speed boots, art style boots, ...) over the years.

Step 1 is necessary because you're going to touch the boots a lot while mounting - not always with perfectly clean hands

Step 2: if you're doing a traditional mount (not short forward), you can also mark the centre point in the place where your front axles are going to be - the aim is to have equal amounts of front axle sticking out on both sides of the boot in relation to its widest part.

Step 4: some plates already have these marks. If yours don't: concentrate on the line of your kingpins and pivots/pivot cups more than anything else .

Step 5: where on the line you place your plates is personal preference. I like mine as far forward as possible, whereas (especially Dutch) dance skaters like theirs very much at the back, making it easier for them to go up on their front wheels. Forward is best for outdoor /street skating, as it helps you go over obstacles. If in doubt, try out several positions. If you like a looong wheelbase, the plate is probably going to be as long as your boot anyway. Thanks to Jay for giving me feedback on my positioning here!

Step 7: when mounting basketball boots or any other shoes with soft, cushiony soles, it might be better to melt your holes into their soles with a hot screwdriver.

Step 8: once your nuts get close to the plate, it's important not to tighten one nut completely, then move on to the next, but to take turns: give one a turn, then the one diagonal from it, then the opposite one on the other end, then the last one (diagonal from 3rd). Start again with the first one and go on like this until all of them are tight. Apparently this prevents your plates from being put under too much strain in one part and possibly getting damaged.

I think 5 mm mounting bolts are standard (except for artistic /roller hockey mounts here in Europe) and you can buy dedicated mounting kits that make it a bit easier. For my Bonts, footie boots and basketball boots I used 4 mm bolts with different heads - wider and flatter - I can provide a pic if anyone's interested.

Step 9: instead of sawing off the bolt ends, you can also break them off. I prefer sawing because it means I can take off the plates and put them on again later, using the same hardware. (I learned all this on 100% Quad, a French site with a great forum, and on skatelogforum.com. If someone is interested, I can give links to the relevant posts.) And as usual: sorry about the looong post and the bad quality of some of my pics !