Chicago Men's Classic Roller Skates

I'm giving these a 5 star rating based solely on the value. These are $70 skates, so I am not comparing them to a $200+ skate. For starters, I am 46 years old and weigh 270 pounds. I have not skated since I was in high school and my kids wanted to learn to skate and I didn't want to have to rent skates from the local roller rink so I bought my own. I also like the basic look of the skates. Sure, light up wheels are fun, but I'm not in it for the bling and I actually like the solid blue wheels. My skating requirements are at a level where I just need to make it around the rink with my two children without killing myself. I will not be doing any stunts, tricks, or advanced maneuvers. I suspect that anyone who is at a higher skill level should really consider higher quality skates. I normally wear a 10 - 10.5 wide athletic shoe, but found that the size 11 skates fit perfect. The skates are pretty heavy, so you definitely feel the weight on your feet when wearing them, although you do get used to it after a while. The long laces allow for enough tightness that my ankles are well supported. I have used these skates about 5 times now and I've been able to keep them on for at least 90 minutes and they do not hurt my feet. I found them to be quite comfortable when laced up. I appreciate that the top half of the skate have those U-shaped loops that don't require you to thread the laces through tiny holes. This makes getting the skates on and off much easier. Reading some other reviews for these skates, some have commented that the laces broke on them. I haven't had that problem, but they do feel on the lower quality end of laces. If I was a regular skater, I'd probably replace them, but so far I've had no problems. While skating the skates performed well the first 2-3 times I used them. I appreciated that in the box were two wheel wrenches and one for the toe stop. This was a nice plus for a cheap skate. When the skates were brand new, the wheels were extremely tight, so I had to back off the lock nut an eighth turn to loosen them up. Unfortunately, by the 3rd or so time I wore the skates, I noticed the wheels started to get wobbly. At first, I thought the lock nut had backed off, but that wasn't it. The bearings were already starting to fail and there was some play in them. Thinking that perhaps this is just how cheap bearings are, I wore the skates one more time, but by the end of my 4th skating session, the wheels were so wobbly, they felt like they were falling off. I read several Amazon reviews of these skates and noticed that the bearings were a point of contention for many people as well, so I ordered some replacement ones. I ordered a set of 16 Bones Reds skate bearings which cost $35. If you've never done bearings on roller skates before, there are two bearings for each wheel, so in order to do all 4 wheels on both skates, you need all 16 bearings. The kit I ordered came with both spacers and washers. I did not need the spacers, but I did use the washers. Replacing the bearings does not require any special tools. I watched a couple of Youtube videos and they show how you take off the wheel, and then put it back on the axle just a tiny bit, and then twist and pry the bearing out by pulling down on the wheel at about a 45 degree angle. If this doesn't make sense, just watch the video. There's tons of them on Youtube. It took me a good half hour to do all 16 bearings and I used the washers from the bearing kit, but the original lock nut from the skate. Once I had the new bearings on, the wheels were very solid with no play and rolled extremely smoothly. From my understanding, these bearings are good enough for far more advanced skaters than me, so for the 3-4 times a year I go to the roller rink, these should last me a very long time. In total, I paid $70 plus $35 for bearings, for a total of $105 for a pair of inexpensive skates with good bearings. Could I have just found a pair of skates for $100 that had better bearings? Maybe, but there's no telling how long those would last too. In the end, I am happy with my purchase and would not hesitate to recommend these skates to people in my specific situation. If however, you are an enthusiastic skaters and have a skill level beyond that of a 46 year old dad wanting to make special memories with his children without suffering major injuries a couple times a year, then you really should invest in higher end skates.

My girlfriend has been using these roller skates for about 8 months, and she really likes them. The build quality feels solid, and the wheels roll smoothly both indoors and outdoors. They’re comfortable to wear for long sessions and provide good ankle support, which makes them great for beginners. We only swapped the original wheels for some LED ones just for aesthetics, not for comfort or performance. The skates themselves work perfectly and feel very stable. The classic retro look is really nice, and the materials feel durable enough to handle regular use. Overall, they’re a great pair of skates for anyone starting out or just looking for a fun, stylish way to get moving.

Decent for the price, but a bearing broke on their second 2.5 hour session. I'm a 180 lb somewhat athletic dude. I was dancing and jumping and such (as a noob skater). I loosened the wheels because the bearings barely spun and I loosened the trucks because I wanted to turn a little sharper. Not sure if that had any impact on the bearing breaking. Overall, though, the skates are pretty ok I think. I had to return a pair of roller derby cruze xr because they were so narrow, but these Chicagos are wide enough. I honestly like that these skates are kind of ugly. I didn't want pretty skates. Overall, decent skates. Im not really an expert, so idk. Just know that a bearing will probably break quickly, so factor in at least another $20 for bearings.

Smoot ride comfortable for kids

Great quality, and a beautiful color.

I have not skated in over 30 years took my grandkids skating and wore them and had a wonderful time with my skates enjoyed them and plan on skating with them in the future. But I need not receive the items to tight the wheels. Would like to get them .

Update: after only 13 hours of rink use I had a lace failure (that pulled nearly all the way through the boot before I spotted it) and already had partial heel separation on both boots. …but you almost certainly won’t see the same problems. Again, I’m a 6’2” skater, 205lbs, size 13 shoe. I’m an advanced skater and spend most of my time speed skating for exercise. I put more leverage than most folks on my boot because my taller body is a large lever, my monster feet only accentuate those larger forces, and I’m skating at speeds most skaters aren’t. If you’re a casual or beginner/intermediate skater, or even a dancer then these skates are going to be great for you. (Although, as I mentioned below, you’ll need new bearings and wheels, at a minimum.) My skate failed because the boot was merely scaled up for my feet and wasn’t really designed properly to handle the physics of a larger stature. I wouldn’t expect the boot to fail (even under the same intensity of usage) for someone who is smaller, and I wouldn’t expect it to fail for someone of my height who isn’t as aggressive of a skater. I’m pretty sure it’s only because I’m tall, have giant feet, AND am an advanced skater that they failed. So while there’s no way I’d buy them again for myself, I’d still recommend them to anyone else looking for a good bargain skate, with the proviso (as I originally described) that they know what they are (and aren’t) getting. ORIGINAL REVIEW: These skates are a great entry point, but they aren’t necessarily a steal of a deal. I have big feet. I wear a size 13 men’s. That mostly relegates me to only half a dozen options in the first place, all costing hundreds of dollars. …or these. Initially I thought these were an absolute steal. Reviews were (mostly) good, especially from folks willing to swap out the bearings and wheels up front. So I picked up a pair expecting a bit of work, but I was still a little surprised. On the bright side, delivery was three weeks faster than my earliest predicted delivery. Your mileage may vary, but it tells me that they really are trying to get these out there responsibly. I’m good with that and think it’s worth noting. The trucks look really solid and all the pieces are there. I mean, *hypothetically* you could ride these out of the box. …but it won’t be a great experience. My wheels wouldn’t spin unless my finger was moving them. You can see the video I made. As an experiment I cleaned them as thoroughly as possible in acetone, dried them, and re-lubed them. (No, the shields aren’t removable. …but they have half spacers built onto the back and I dripped little half-drops down those spacers and then spun them.) The new lube in the bearings made a huge difference, but it didn’t fix them. The stock bearings were made with the worst possible tolerances. I could feel them spinning unevenly even just in my fingers. Some of them were incredibly wobbly all by themselves even outside a wheel. They’re cheap junk, but it’s good to know that you can at least kinda make them work. While I put them back in the stock wheels I replaced the wheels outright anyhow, so they’re an emergency stopgap for me, at best. …but they *could* work, in a pinch. The boot isn’t soft out of the box. It’s made with thick leather that’s going to have to mold to my foot over time, but I think that’s a great thing. It means that my skates should be really great fits some day after I’ve spent a good number of hours in them. Plus, the trucks seem really solid. Yes, there’s a little tightening to do here and there. Yes, they did send a wrench. No, the wrench doesn’t fit everything. It fits the toe stop, the wheel nuts, and the nut between the trucks and plate. That’s it. You’ll need other wrenches for the truck nuts and the plate screws. Oh, and one of my laces was already damaged, so there’s that. Overall, these are great basic skates and I’d recommend them. …but if you walk into them thinking you’re getting great skates out of the box without a little tinkering and (at least) replacement bearings then you’re fooling yourself. Think of these skates as the reason you’re going to learn your skate maintenance skills sooner than you’d otherwise bother, and expect to also buy some speed cream, better bearings (or wheels with bearings), and maybe new laces or a skate wrench with the other sizes to go along with the skates. Again, they’re good skates, just not without a little bit of help.

I had not roller skated in probably 20 years but when the grandchildren started getting involved with family skates, I decided to purchase a pair. Many years ago I enjoyed skating every Friday and Saturday night, but with the closing of the local roller rink, I had gotten rid of my skates. Now at 64 I find myself needing a pair. I found these reasonably priced and they fit the bill. They seem just like the ones I had when I was a kid and I’ve been very happy with them.

Good outdoor skates, rugged, and fit slide blocks son them for park use

Excelente producto

For the money, they work well. I switched the wheels to upgraded ones for outdoor and new bearings for a smoother ride, I havent been on roller skates for 20 years, these are great entry level...once Im better I will buy better ones

My daughter really loves it, very stylish. The only cons is that they are really heavy.