Frostbite
Stop the slide. A hockey wheel built for kids.
Every wheel on the shelf is tuned for adult weight — the industry's own charts don't rate below "under 145 lbs." Built by youth inline hockey coaches, Frostbite is engineered for players 120 lbs and under: grip that sticks the stop, without giving up speed.
Free to reserve — no payment until your order window opens. Presale $9.99 · regular $13.99 per wheel.
Why kids slide — and it's not their skating
A hockey wheel only grips when the rider's weight presses its urethane into the floor. The wheels on the shelf assume that rider is an adult. Kids aren't.
Rated for adult weight
Every published wheel chart bottoms out at "under 145–150 lbs" — some brands don't rate below 170. The premium soft wheels that do exist are made only in adult sizes. For a 70-lb player, the shelf is empty.
No compression, no grip
Urethane grips by flattening into the floor — grip literally comes from body weight compressing the wheel. A kid can't compress adult-hard urethane, so the contact patch stays tiny. And tiny patches let go exactly when your kid leans into a turn.
Slides instead of stops
Plow stop, T-stop — the first stops kids learn run entirely on wheel grip. When the wheels can't bite, kids fall, get scared, and stall out — right at the age when confidence decides who stays in the sport.
Check your kid's skates — popular models ship with outdoor wheels
Several of the most popular entry-level youth skates — Bauer's RS Jr and X-LP, and Alkali's Cele — ship from the factory with hard 82A outdoor street wheels: the wrong urethane for the indoor sport court kids actually play on. One retailer prints the warning right on the product page:
"If you will be using this Indoor, we HIGHLY recommend you upgrade to indoor wheels." — Shop Task, on the Bauer RS Jr listing
Weight decides grip. So we started with weight.
Grip is a contact patch
Polyurethane grips by deforming — flattening against the floor and keying into its micro-texture. On the slick sport tile youth leagues play on, the wheel, not the floor, has to supply the grip. How much a wheel flattens depends on one thing: the rider's weight against the wheel's hardness.
Durometer is rider-relative
Wheel hardness is measured in Shore A durometer — lower is softer. Indoor wheels run 72A–80A, and even the industry's own guides say players under 150 lbs need the softest of those. A wheel that feels grippy under a 180-lb adult behaves like a rock under a 70-lb kid.
Soft ≠ slow — not for light players
The "soft wheels are slow" rule is a heavy-rider problem: their weight over-flexes soft urethane and burns energy. A light player never pushes the wheel that far — which is why Frostbite pairs kid-soft durometers with a high-rebound formula, designed to keep the roll speed and add the grip.
The players every weight chart forgot
Manufacturers publish weight-based fit charts for their wheel lines. Line those ratings up against what kids actually weigh, and the gap is the product.
Shore A durometer scale. Indoor hockey wheels run 72A–80A; outdoor wheels 82A–85A. Sources: HockeyMonkey & Inline Warehouse wheel guides.
Three freezes. Matched to your kid's weight.
Every Frostbite wheel uses our high-rebound, grip-first urethane, and even our firmest is 72A — right where the adult indoor range begins. Pick the durometer by weight — softer for lighter players — and if you're between two, go softer.
Deep Freeze
Maximum grip for the smallest skaters. Deep Freeze compresses under even the lightest push, so first crossovers and first real stops actually hold.
Whiteout
Nearly Deep Freeze grip with a quicker roll — the step up for light players who've found their stride and want more glide between pushes.
Blizzard
As soft as the softest wheels in the adult aisle — and, unlike them, weight-rated for a player this size. Grip and roll for real games, all the way to the top of the 120-lb range.
Render shows the 72A model — production printing will match each model and durometer.
Mix wheels by position
One durometer at all four spots is the simple play — but grip does its work up front where turns and stops start, and speed lives in back where the push happens. These are our starting recipes, per skate, front → back (set up both skates the same):
| Setup | Wheels · front → back | Player weight | What it plays like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Grip | 64646464 | under ~65 lbs | Dime stops, tight turns, and first-stride bite on every push — built for
learning real edge work. Trades a little top-end glide (at this weight there's little to lose).
Stops & cuts
Acceleration
Sustained speed
|
| Grip Forward | 64646868 | ~60–80 lbs | Stops and crossovers live on the front wheels — keep the dime-stop bite
up front, pick up rear glide for rushes up the floor.
Stops & cuts
Acceleration
Sustained speed
|
| Light All-Round | 68686868 | ~65–85 lbs | The two-way game — confident cuts and gap-closing stops with a livelier
roll between pushes than the full-soft setups.
Stops & cuts
Acceleration
Sustained speed
|
| Balanced Mix | 68687272 | ~75–95 lbs | Enough front bite to start and stop clean, with Blizzard rears for
breakaway speed — for kids whose game is opening up.
Stops & cuts
Acceleration
Sustained speed
|
| All-Round | 72727272 | ~80–120 lbs | The flagship for the biggest kids — the fastest sustained roll in the
lineup with grip still weight-rated for them, corner to corner.
Stops & cuts
Acceleration
Sustained speed
|
Starting points, not rules — every recipe is per skate (4 wheels, 8 per pair), and the meters compare setups within this lineup for a player in that weight band. In doubt? Go softer up front first: grip builds skills, and you can always firm up next set.
Start with slightly softer wheels than you think you need, especially as a beginner. You can always upgrade to harder wheels later as your skills and confidence grow.— HockeyMonkey inline wheel guide
Plow stop T-stop — the first stops kids learn both run on grip.
Frostbite vs. the wheels kids skate on today
| Frostbite | Premium adult indoor wheel | Stock 82A wheel (Bauer RS Jr / X-LP, Alkali Cele) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rated for players ≤ 120 lbs | ✓ Yes — it's the whole point | ✗ Ratings start at "under 145 lbs" | ✗ Not weight-rated at all |
| Urethane hardness | 64A / 68A / 72A, weight-matched for kids | 72A–80A, tuned for adult weight | 82A outdoor street urethane |
| Grip under a light rider | ✓ Full contact patch | Partial — needs adult weight to compress | ✗ Slides on indoor sport court |
| Sold in a kids-first design | ✓ Kid-first, ground up | Softest models rated 145 lbs+ only | Bundled to keep the skate cheap |
| Price per wheel | $9.99 presale · $13.99 reg. | $15.49 – $18.75 | "Free" — plus the indoor upgrade you'll need anyway |
Premium indoor wheels (e.g. Konixx Pure-X, Revision Flex, Rink Rat Identity) retail $15.49–$18.75 per wheel — none offered with a sub-145-lb weight rating. Bauer RS Jr, Bauer X-LP and Alkali Cele ship with 82A outdoor wheels; some other brands' youth skates ship indoor or multi-surface stock wheels.
Lock in the founding price
per wheel · save 29% on every wheel, every set
Bauer, Mission & Alkali skates are usually Hi-Lo — a smaller wheel up front, larger in back.
68mm: most youth rears & junior fronts · 72mm: the most common junior size · 76/80mm: boot size 6.0+
Junior Hi-Lo standard (boots 1–5.5): 68mm front + 72mm rear. Boot 6.0 and up: 76mm + 80mm.
Pick by player weight: 64A under ~65 lbs · 68A ~60–85 lbs · 72A ~80–120 lbs. Between two? Go softer.
Popular mixes: 64A front + 68A back (grip forward) · 68A front + 72A back (balanced). Grip up front where stops start, glide in back.
Check the size printed on the side of your kid's current wheels and match it exactly — the frame, not the player, decides the diameter. (Weight decides durometer.)
Next: confirm your setup, then pay + shipping address in Square's secure checkout — one form, one time. $9.99 per wheel, locked.
Not ready to order?
Free to reserve. No payment today — we'll email you when presale checkout opens.
No spam — just your order window, ship dates and launch updates.
Built by youth inline hockey coaches. Frostbite exists because our players were the ones sliding.
Stock the wheel the parents at your rink keep asking about
Built by youth inline hockey coaches, Frostbite is the only inline wheel weight-rated for players under 120 lbs — the kids who fill your youth leagues, lessons and open skates. Kids who can actually stop fall less, learn faster, and come back. Carry the fix at the counter.
Starter case
Six full 8-wheel sets — a counter-ready spread across all three durometers.
Rink standard
Season-depth stock for a pro shop with an active youth league night.
League volume
Multi-rink operators, league buy programs and team bundles.
Mix durometers and sizes freely within a tier — including Hi-Lo combos (4× 68mm + 4× 72mm) that junior skates need and big-box retailers don't stock. Ask about demo sets and league bundles.