Rollerblading Vs. Biking | Skating vs Cycling

Rollerblading Vs. Biking at a glance:

The main difference between Rollerblading vs. Biking is in the number of calories burned. While Rollerblading burns between 573 and 1069 calories per hour, Biking on the other hand burns between 300 and 400 calories per hour.

Below is a quick rundown comparison of rollerblading vs. biking.

Elements of comparison	Rollerblading	Biking
Muscle Development	Works all body muscles	Works mainly legs and hip muscles
Aerobic Benefits	Low impact aerobic exercise with more aerobic benefits when covering the same distance and time.	Low impact aerobic exercise with few aerobic benefits when covering the same distance and time.
Calories Burned	Approximately 573-1069 calories every hour, going at a casual pace.	Approximately 300-400 calories every hour going at a casual pace
Equipment and Gear Needed	Inline skate shoes, protective gear like helmet, light clothing	Bike and protective gear like a helmet.
Skillset	Training is required to acquire the rollerblading skill.	Training is necessary to acquire cycling skills.
Speed	8 mph-16 mph on flat terrain.	10 mph-25 mph on flat terrain.
Cardiovascular Benefits	High impact cardiovascular exercise. Keeps the heart-healthy.	High impact cardiovascular exercise. Keeps the heart-healthy.
Safety on Joints	Little to no impact on joints.	High impact on knees and other joints
Fun and Enjoyment	Fun and exciting.	Fun and exciting.
Activity Venue	Skate parks, urban roads, trails	Bike trails, urban roads.
Skating or Cycling Surface	Dry Asphalt or concrete surface with limited off-road.	Unlimited Wet and dry surfaces.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg. There’s more information about rollerblading versus biking that I’ve covered in today’s write-up.

Nonetheless, you can only benefit from it if you keep reading. Guess what? Making an informed decision is often daunting.

But with the correct information, decision-making is a walk in the park. So, without much ado, let’s get to the ultimate comparison of Rollerblading Vs. Biking. Shall we?

Rollerblading Vs. Biking: Elements of Comparison

It’s tough making a comparison between items without a benchmark framework. Therefore, below are the elements of comparison I settled on to make this write-up a success.

I hope you’ll find it helpful. Let’s get started!

1. Muscle Development

Unlike biking, rollerblading is rigorous, intensive, and involves the entire body. From your hand muscles to core muscles to glute muscles to hip muscles and to leg muscles.

This is because the inline skating position requires you to stay bent low and push your way using your feet and arms.

These simple repeated moves strengthen body muscles and help you attain control over your body—especially the spine.

On the contrary, bicycling only works on the lower body muscles—hip and leg muscles. This is quite limiting and may not be a good fit for anyone looking for a full-body workout.

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2. Aerobic Benefits

Both rollerblading and bicycling are considered low-impact aerobic exercises, meaning they all have aerobic benefits.

However, rollerblading has more aerobic benefits than biking when covering the same distance and time.

Why is this so, you ask? Remember rollerblading is more intensive and thus requires more energy.

Besides, unlike in biking, there’s no gear system is rollerblades that can boost your speed. Therefore, you have to use 100% of your effort to push and maintain your balance.

A study by Cleveland Clinic outlines these aerobic benefits as; decreased heart disease risks, low body cholesterol, balanced blood sugar level, and improved lung function.

3. Rollerblading vs. Biking Calories Burned

Rollerblading burns approximately 573-1069 calories every hour while biking burns around 300-400 calories every hour, going at a casual pace. This is according to Mayo Clinic.

But why the variance?

The reason is simple. Remember rollerblading is more intensive, and thus engages all body muscles than biking.

It’s, therefore, normal to expect more calories to be burned from rollerblading than from biking.

4. Equipment and Gear Needed

When rollerblading, you’ll need inline skate shoes, protective gear like helmets, elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards, and light clothing.

These are the essential components of rollerblading gear. On the flip side, biking requires; a bike and protective gear like a helmet.

Like bikes, inline skates vary in price depending on the quality and the manufacturer.

However, rollerblading offers a low barrier to entry since you can get rollerblades that are as cheap as $50 to get started.

For biking, it is way expensive, and you need at least $150 to get started.

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5. Skillset

It’s hard and close to impossible to skate or cycle without some basic skills. Therefore, you’ll need the training to get you started.

The good news is, both rollerblading and biking are easy to learn, and after 2-3 weeks of training, you should be good to go as a beginner.

Balancing is a common skill to learn and master in both. With enough basic skills in rollerblading, you can focus on how to get better at rollerblading in the future.

The same should apply to biking. The bottom line is, you only need enough skills to get started.

So, what’s easier to learn between the two? You could be wondering. The truth, it’s not easy to tell since it depends on personal initiatives and interests.

I’d recommend you try learning both rollerblading and biking o get a glimpse of how it feels and which one is easy to master first.

6. Cardiovascular Benefits

Both rollerblading and cycling have significant cardiovascular benefits. Rollerblading and cycling are intensive and demand a lot of energy.

Moreover, rollerblading is more rigorous and involves the entire body muscles, unlike biking which uses lower body muscles more.

The body has to work hard to produce enough energy to power you as you skate or bike. This body activity keeps the heart on toes to deliver oxygenated blood and other nutrients to all body parts while keeping the heart healthy.

Other cardiovascular benefits include improved blood circulation and regulation of blood sugar.

7. Rollerblading Vs. Biking Safety on Joints

Both rollerblading and biking are low-impact aerobic exercises. However, rollerblading is safer on joints, especially the knee, than biking.

Why is this so? You could be wondering. Rollerblading relies on pushing the legs to the sides, bringing them back in, and repeating this.

Since there’s no high impact between the feet and the ground, body joints are not made to strain.

On the contrary, cycling involves pedaling, which may strain the knee joints. Therefore, if you have a bad knee, cycling may never be a good fit for you.

However, since rollerblading is easy and safe on the joints, it comes in handy.

Related post: Is Rollerblading Bad for Knees? Best Aerobic Exercise Revealed!

8. Rollerblading Vs. Biking Speed

How fast can you go on rollerblades? Is rollerblading faster than biking? You could be asking. The average speed of a cyclist varies between 10 mph and 25 mph on a flat surface.

This means that a new and slightly experienced cyclist can cycle at the lower speed limit of 10 mph.

This is considering their skill level and endurance on the bike. On the other hand, an experienced cyclist can cover up to 25 mph depending on the cycling conditions.

Rollerblading isn’t as fast as cycling. While on inline skates, the average rollerblade speed is between 8 mph and 16 mph.

This is way below cycling, and it means you’ll take longer covering the same distance as a cyclist.

The main reason for the disparity is the gear that bikes have. Therefore, a cyclist uses physical strength and the gear system to go fast, while a skater only has physical strength.

Besides, bike wheels are large and nowhere comparable to the largest rollerblade tires.

9. Fun and Enjoyment

No doubt, both rollerblading and biking are fun to engage in. For rollerblading, you only have to push and glide on the surface.

While in motion, you can let the skates roll as you enjoy the ride. This is almost similar to biking, where you pedal and let the bike carry you on.

However, people have different preferences. So, probably, you may find rollerblading more exciting and fun than biking.

Or probably, you may find biking more interesting. At this point, the best solution would be to try out both and see what gives you joy.

10. Rollerblading vs. Biking Venue

Rollerblading is mainly done in skate parks, car parks, sports parks, urban roads, and urban pavements.

Besides, you can rollerblade both indoors and outdoors, depending on your personal preference. No doubt, rollerblading is an urban sport.

On the contrary, bicycling is versatile and works well in rural and urban settings. The only downside is, it’s more suitable for the outdoors.

This is the exact opposite of inline skating, where one can use the skates both indoors and outdoors.

11. Skating or Cycling Surface

Rollerblading offers limited surfaces for inline skating. You can skate on Asphalt and concrete.

Nevertheless, few inline skating brands have off-road inline skate shoes. The rest pretty much focuses on rollerblades for use on Asphalt or concrete.

This is quite limiting since you don’t have the freedom to skate anywhere you want. To add salt to the injury, inline skate shoes are meant for dry and fairly rough surfaces.

Therefore, this means you can’t skate comfortably on smooth or wet surfaces without losing balance.

On the contrary, you can go biking on any surface—both smooth and rough terrains. So long as your bike tires are sturdy enough, there’s nothing that can stop you.

Biking vs Rollerblading: Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is biking or rollerblading better?

Biking is better than rollerblading for speed and versatility in where (on-road and off-road) you can go biking.

On the contrary, rollerblading offers limited places and surfaces for skating. However, it’s better than biking for skeletal muscle development, aerobic benefits, calories burned, low barrier to entry, cardiovascular benefits, and safety on joints.

2. Can you lose weight by rollerblading?

Rollerblading is fantastic for losing weight since it’s considered a low-impact aerobic exercise and full-body workout.

Therefore, you can burn between 573 and 1069 calories every hour you skate. If you want to lose more, you can increase the intensity of rollerblading.

3. Is rollerblading bad for knees?

Rollerblading is considered low-impact aerobic exercise, meaning it’s gentle on knees and other body joints. Therefore, this makes it suitable for people with bad knees.

Wrapping Up: Rollerblading or Biking?

There you have it! The ultimate comparison of Rollerblading vs. Biking. So is rollerblading better than biking? Nothing can be further from the truth.

Yes, there are several areas rollerblading beats biking. However, biking still has strong areas where it beats rollerblading.

Biking is better for speed and versatility, meaning you can go biking on any surface—smooth and rough, road and off-road.

On the contrary, skating is more suitable on urban roads, skate parks, and asphalt surfaces.

When it rains, the surface becomes smoother and slippery, meaning rollerblading becomes a hassle. Well, this isn’t the same for biking.

Having said that, rollerblading offers a low barrier to entry since it doesn’t cost much to buy inline skating gear.

Moreover, its best for muscle development, aerobic benefits, calories burned, cardiovascular benefits, and safety on joints.

Based on this in-depth comparison, I believe you can make an informed decision on what will work for you. The question I leave with you is, what’s it going to be?