Church Of 8 Wheels Roller Disco — Attraction in San Francisco

As many people have done during Shelter-in-Place, I took up roller skating as a hobby. The outside skating areas have been a bit outside my comfort zone so I was glad to see the Church of 8 Wheels reopen. I immediately signed up for a Saturday lesson at 11am.

Walking in, I didn't realize the Church was really a Church. There are still pews on the sides for people to sit and there are paintings of saints looking down on you from the walls. It definitely added to the uniqueness of the whole experience.

The instructor, Mike, started us promptly at 11am, and we were joined by Rev. Miles, the SF Godfather of Skating. There were many young kids but also older adults like me. They capped the lesson at 20 people. There were lots of COVID protections in place, such as enforcing masks, temperature checks, sanitizing equipment with hospital grade UV lights, etc...

The lesson went over : FALLING: How to fall, how to get up, how not to fall Correct BODY POSITIONING, so you're not tipping over all the time Proper ROTATION and WEIGHT TRANSFER to skate safely and efficiently STOPPING: Using a toe stop (quads)

It was really good if you are a SUPER beginning skater. Afterwards, we took a few spins around the rink to some funky jams. It was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to come back for a...

After 10+ years of living in the city, I finally made it to the Church of 8 Wheels!

Parking took us a few minutes to find on a Friday night, but our persistence paid off. We didn’t buy tickets in advance since we wanted some flexibility in case group plans changed. Luckily, you can buy cash-only tickets at the door. Waivers are collected outside, and tickets are purchased inside. It came out to $20 flat for both admission and the skate rental. They also sell drinks and snacks.

This fun rollerskating rink is truly located in a church. Pews line the sides for people to sit down and change shoes. Lockers are $3, but we just placed our shoes, bags, and jackets under the pews (keep your valuables on you). The DJ is out front spinning tunes, occasionally changing skate rink directions to keep things fresh. And his mic is pretty echoey, so you won’t understand most of his announcements.

The establishment isn’t fancy, but it’s iconic and affordable. The bathrooms remind me of high school bathrooms. The roller skates are well worn and light up when you skate. The soles of my feet and the insides of my thighs hurt after 1.5 hours of skating 😂 I kind of wish I had brought long socks to help with some slight ankle chafing.

Overall, this was...

Not recommended, risk of injury due to VERY POOR AND DETERIORATED EQUIPMENT! Please do not go there if you don't want to get injured! They do no maintenance on the skates!! They don't care about your well-being. I am a professional skater and coach with 10 years of experience, and I can assure you that these are not proper skates. The quality of the boots is terrible. It’s not that they are worn out; they were never stiff enough to support the ankle! But the ankle is not the only thing at risk—a fall while skating can injure your tailbone, break your wrist, or hurt your knees, back; there are multiple serious injuries!

I’ve had my skates for 20 years, and they have never been like this! I'm surprised no one has mentioned this in the reviews, as the boots and wheels pose a danger to your health and well-being, and it should be prohibited to expose you to such risk of injury. That’s why they make you sign a waiver at the beginning, making you liable for any injury/fall that occurs inside.

Additionally, the wheels are poorly tightened, the bearings are terrible; some wheels roll too much, while others suddenly stop (which can make you fall), the bushings are in bad shape, the brake is too deep, and the trucks are very loose (causing imbalance and falls). In summary, they ripped me off for 20 dollars, which they also ask for in cash without warning. As soon as I touched the soft boot of the skates, I went to ask for another pair, and they gave me even worse ones. Find another place to skate and be very careful with the equipment they give you!

SPANISH: No recomendable, peligro de lesión por MATERIAL MUY MALO Y DETERIORADO! Por favor no vayáis ahí si no queréis lesionaros! No hacen ningún mantenimiento de los patines!! Les da igual tu bienestar. Soy patinadora profesional y entrenadora con 10 años de experiencia y os puedo asegurar que eso no son patines. La calidad de la bota es horrible, no es que estén gastados, es que nunca estuvieron duros para sostener el tobillo!! Pero el tobillo no es lo único que está en riesgo, una caída patinando puede lesionarte el coxis, romperte la muñeca, rodillas, espalda, hay múltiples lesiones graves! Tengo mis patines desde hace 20 años y nunca han estado así! Me extraña que nadie en comentarios haya indicado este asunto, pues las botas y las ruedas ponen en peligro tu salud y bienestar y debería estar prohibido que te expongan así a una lesión. Por eso te hacen firmar una hoja del principio en la que te responsabilizas de cualquier lesión/caída que tengas ahí dentro. Además las ruedas están mal apretadas, el rodamiento es terrible, pues unas ruedan mucho y las otras se frenan de repente (cosa que puede hacerte caer), los cojinetes están mal, el freno demasiado adentrado, los ejes están muy sueltos (cosa que propicia desequilibrio y caída). En resumen, me estafaron 20 Dólares, que además quieren en efectivo sin avisar, en cuanto toqué la bota tan blanda de los patines fui a pedir otros y me dieron unos peores, buscad otro sitio para patinar y vigilad mucho con el...