How to Create My Own Custom Roller Skates

Select a boot for your roller skates. This is the shoe part of the roller skate and is one of the most important pieces. Styles of roller skate boots are high cut and low cut. High-cut boots are usually used by artistic skaters, and low-cut boots are usually worn by speed skaters.

Select a set of roller skate plates. Mostly all roller skate plates are the same, and if you're using a customization service, they will likely pair a suitable plate for your boot. The plate is the metal part attached to the bottom of the boot. Make sure the holes on the plate line up with the holes on the boot for proper attachment.

Choose a set of wheels for your roller skates. Wheels are either designed for indoor or outdoor skating, and they are further specified by width, diameter and hardness. The hardness of roller skate wheels are expressed on a urethane scale (aka the "A" scale), which ranges from 70A to 103A. A wheel with a 100A hardness is considered to be as hard as a porcelain sink. If you plan to use your skates for speed on an indoor track, then wide and hard wheels will work best. Outdoor wheels are softer and are made to counteract all the pebbles, bumps, and cracks you skate across.

Select a set of trucks for your skates. The trucks are the two metal bars that attach to the skate plate and hold the wheels in place. These are all pretty much the same, but vary in color, size and weight. Heavy-duty trucks are better for outdoor use, and the light, slim trucks are best for indoor speed skating. The most important factor is that the trucks have the proper holes to line up with the holes in your skate plate.

Choose a set of bearings for your skates. The wheel bearings are the small cylinders in the center of the wheel that allow the wheels to sit on the trucks. Many wheel sets come with a matching set of bearings, but these easily pop out of place and can be replaced. There are two bearings in each wheel, and they determine how smoothly your wheel rotates. Different brands promise different features - such as fast or slow - so choose the bearings according to your needs.

Select a set of laces for your roller skates. It is essential that you lace up your boot tightly before you go skating. If you're using a customization service through a sports store, you can now check out, or save your design and buy later. The store will put all the pieces together for you. If you bought the parts separately, you'll have to build your skate.

To build the skate, attach the boot to the roller skate plate. This is the most important step in building your skate. The plate and boot have pre-drilled holes for easy installation. The screws should come with your plate, but if not, take the plate to your local hardware store and buy screws that match the holes. Attach the plate with a screwdriver. When installing the plate, you'll notice several holes on the boot for installation options. For smooth surfaces, the plates are placed toward the front of the boot. Rougher surfaces require the plates to sit further back in the middle of the boot.

Attach your trucks to your roller skate plates. The trucks have holes that line up with the plates and are screwed together with a screw driver. Some truck sets use a bolt system, in which case you'll need a wrench instead of a screw driver.

Insert your wheel bearings into your wheels. Pop the bearing into the opening in the center of the wheel on both sides. You can insert the bearings with your hands and a little pressure. Put the wheel on the ground if you need a little bit of leverage.

Slip the wheels onto the tips of the trucks.

Use a bolt and wrench to tighten the wheel into place. Don't tighten it too much because the wheel won't be able to spin.