Revision Variant Plus Roller Hockey Wheel Review

Several weeks ago, I decided to upgrade my roller hockey wheels to something with a bit more grip to help my stopping power. After doing some research, I finally settled on the brand new, top-of-the-line Variant Plus roller hockey wheels made by Revision. While these wheels require quite a financial investment, the output and performance may very well be worth it.

Brand: Revision

Style: Variant Plus

Specs: Hi-lo set up (76/80mm), firm inside/soft outside wheel matrix

Design and Construction:

The Variant Plus roller hockey wheels were made to improve upon the great design and technology of the original Variant classic wheels. Revision’s patented Torus Technology has been upgraded with an improved shape to provide players with more maintained roll and wheel flex control while cutting and stopping. Revision also used a better type of urethane on the outside parts of the wheel as well as a layered urethane system to offer maximum speed and grip.

When I first got the wheels, I loved the colors. They are very saturated with color and very eye-catching. The wheels are heavily branded with the product and brand name, but Revision did a good job utilizing a black font and a black bearing casing to accent the vibrant wheel coloring. The outcome is an eye-catching wheel that offers a pretty clean look.

One interesting and important item to note is the wheel color matrix that Revision offers. The Variant Plus wheels come in three different colors: Blue, Purple and Red. As much as you’d like to make a fashion statement with your wheels, the colors have a specific purpose. Each color indicates a different level of softness, with Blue being the hardest at 76A, Red coming in at 74A, and Purple being the softest at 72A. This allows players to design a custom set-up based on their specific needs as well as their body weight. For me, I decided to go with a mix of speed and durability, so I opted for softer wheels (Red) on the front and back with harder wheels (Blue) in the middle.

Performance:

These wheels carried a lot of hype with them, and I’m happy to say that they have exceeded my expectations thus far. The wheels took about a game to break in. At first, they felt a little rigid. It’s not that I had trouble maneuvering, but there was definite resistance initially when I was circling or cutting. But with each shift it was less and less of an issue and by my second game I hardly noticed any resistance at all.

Now, I really got these wheels because I wanted to enhance my ability to stop. The Variant Plus wheels have done that and then some. I was recently playing in a game where I was streaking up the left wing with a defender right on my tail. Realizing I wasn’t going to out skate him, I quickly put on the brakes to let him go past me. I will state without a doubt, had I been using any other wheels I would have ended up on my butt because any wheels I’ve used previously would have slid right out from underneath me. Instead, the Variant Plus wheels kept me upright, stopped me quickly and allowed me to make a heads-up play that led to a goal. I could not believe how well the wheels performed on that single play.

And that’s pretty much par for the course with the Variant Plus wheels. I’m absolutely 100 percent confident any time I have to stop using these wheels. And it’s amazing how much more confidence I have as a skater now that I have wheels I can trust.

On the downside, I will say that I’m a little perplexed by their performance on tight cuts sometimes. At practice one night, I was working on weaving around objects with the puck to work on my stick handling. I was making some tight turns, which I didn’t think twice about, and ended up falling two or three times. I don’t have much of an explanation other than to say the wheels slipped. It happened to me one other time in a game. Went to make a quick cut, wheels slipped out from beneath me. I don’t have any issues making a hard stop. Each time this has happened it’s been on a quick cut. It could certainly have something to do with the two harder wheels in the middle of my skates but I can’t be certain. Otherwise, however, these wheels have performed great when I need them to.

Durability:

One of the reasons I opted to make an investment in high-end wheels is because I’ve found that lower-end wheels tend to lose their grip quickly and begin to crack and break down much sooner than I’d like. That being said, I haven’t noticed any of these issues with the Variant Plus wheels. I’ve skated with them pretty aggressively about 10 times now. While that doesn’t offer a great sample size, I have had wheels previously lose most of their grip and begin to break down during that same time frame. So far, the Revision wheels are holding up great. I’m still getting very good grip while stopping, and while the wheels show some sign of wear, it’s not anywhere beyond what I would expect after several games of use – especially since I’m still getting good traction when I stop.

Overall Impressions:

The Revision Variant Plus roller hockey wheels ran me a little less than $100 for a complete set of eight wheels ($11.99 per wheel), so it’s definitely an investment. But so far, they have been an awesome investment. Looking to gain more stopping power and more confidence in my skating, the Variant Plus wheels have gone above and beyond my expectations. I’m stopping much better and I’m able to make plays that I couldn’t before with other wheels. If you’re a serious roller hockey player and you want the best, I strongly recommend the Variant Plus roller hockey wheels.