Roller Skate Sizes – How Does Roller Skate Sizing Work?

Once you have made the great choice to buy a new pair of roller skates, you will need to decide which size is best for you.

But roller skate sizes are not incredibly straightforward. Sometimes the sizes can vary between brands, but they can also vary even among the same brand.

Whether you are shopping for speed skates, recreational skates, and inline skates, there are sizing differences to pay attention to.

It can be straightforward enough to know that most skates will match up with your street shoe size, but not always.

It is crucial to get the right size of roller skates. If your skates are too big, your feet will slip around inside of the skates and cause friction blisters.

When skates are too small, you can wind up with ingrown toenails or lost toenails. Neither is ideal.

We have broken down everything to know about roller skate sizing.

Brand Sizes

In a perfect world, all roller skate sizes would be consistent and easy to work out.

We do not live in a perfect world, however, so you instead have to be diligent with size charts in order to select the right size the first time.

Size charts are not consistent across brands either, so even if you have previously owned a pair of skates, you cannot assume the sizing will match if you switch brands. Here’s the breakdown of the most common brand sizes.

Sure-Grip

Looking at the Sure-Grip skates, they all come in what is considered men’s sizing. The Sure-Grip skates run large in general.

You will want to move down a size if you are a half-size in shoes, but it would be still a little big if you order your size if you are a whole-size in shoes.

Ideally, you should order your regular shoe size, but be aware that you might want to wear thicker socks in order to get a good fit with them and be forewarned that they do run a little on the large size.

Riedell

Riedell has both men’s and women’s sizes. The majority of their skates come in either black or white. Black skates run in men’s sizes while white skates run in women’s sizes. 

Generally, with Riedell skates, you can go up one size from your regular shoe size.

So, if you wear a women’s size 7 in street shoes, you would order a women’s size 8 in the white boots, or if you are a 9 in men’s sizes, you would order a size 10 in the black boots.

Width-wise, Riedell skates come in the standard width, D-width (which is standard for men’s skates) and E-width, which is what we consider width-wide.

VNLA

In general, VNLA skates come in men’s sizing. There is only one exception in this brand, which is the Parfait roller skate. These come in women’s sizing, but all others are men’s.

If you are shopping for a low-top boot, which includes the Junior or Freestyle skates, you will find that they are true-to-size in men’s.

Meanwhile, the high-top boots, which includes Godfather and V-Line, run large, so you might want to size down.

The best thing to do here is to watch the size chart closely if you are opting for a high-top boot to make sure that you will not wind up with boots that are enormous.

Moxi

Like many other brands, Moxi skates run in men’s sizing. Unfortunately, the sizing is not consistent across the models.

They are not all made in the same place and with the difference between factories, whether they are made domestically, or imported, and which type of fabric is used.

If you buy one of their imported boots that come in vinyl or suede you can expect the skates to run small.

The models of these skates are the Beach Bunny, Jungle, and Panther. If you are looking at a domestic skate, such as the Lolly or Jack, the skates fit closer to your regular street shoe size.

Because of the variety in the skates, you will need to focus on which model you are buying to know which size you should opt for.

If you are half-size and are looking at the Beach Bunny, Jungle, or Panther skate, you will want to size down in the skates. At the same time, you will want to size up with Lolly or Jack skates.

Keep in mind that vinyl takes a lot longer to break in than the suede does, so it is ok if they feel a little snug at first.

After wearing them, you will be able to break them in and get a perfect fit. If it pinches or is uncomfortable, you might need to size up. 

Rio Roller

The final brand that we are going to look at for sizes is the Rio Roller brand. These skates run in UK sizing, which can be converted to US sizing. Do not assume UK and US sizes are the same, because they are not. 

These skates come in both women’s and men’s sizing and once you convert it to US sizing, they do run equivalent to what your street shoe size should be.

Don’t forget that if you get these skates, the label on the skate will still be in UK sizing and can be confusing.

Skate Types

Just like sizes can vary between brands, there can be differences between types of skates. Here’s how that breaks down.

Speed Skates

Speed skates are low-top skates that normally come in men’s sizing. If you are a woman looking for a speed skate, you will need to know that you will need to go down 1 to 2 sizes, depending on the brand.

Men usually can get skates in their typical street shoe size.

Recreational Skates

Recreational or artistic skates are high-top skates. They are usually divided between men’s and women’s sizes.

Black recreational skates come in men’s sizes while white recreational skates come in women’s sizes. They usually are true-to-size for your street shoe size, paying attention to the brand’s size differences.

Inline Skates

Inline skates run in men’s sizes, so women will need to adjust accordingly.

Bottom Line

Ultimately, you need to be careful when you are trying to find the right size of roller skates.

If you have found the pair that looks perfect, you will need to look how sizing works for that brand, whether they are true to size, whether they run in men’s, and the type of skate that you are buying.

Do not just assume the skates will fit or you will find out that you have to return them.