AlwaysLux, The Original Office Chair Caster Wheels, Safe For All Floors Including Hardwood - Perfect Replacement For Desk Floor Mat (Set of 5) Universal Fit

tl;dr: Rollerblade wheels are definitely not snake oil - you will NOT regret buying these.Long Version:While shopping for a new chair, I came across a listing for another brand of these wheels. My curiosity was piqued so I paused the chair-search and did some more research on non-ugly-plastic-stupid-scratch-the-floor casters. I have wooden floors and I hate the look of the plastic mat, but how else am I going to protect the wood?I've been burned before by "life-changing" products that turn out to be very expensive snake oil, so I was apprehensive about these things. Seeing page after page of reviews that ended with "I received this product for free/cheap in exchange for my honest/unbiased review" wasn't helping either. (Side note: this is my own honest/unbiased review BUT I paid full price for these.) However, they were only $40 and heck, I figure I've spent $40 on more ridiculous things, so why *not* rollerblade chair wheels?I chose AlwaysLux because they are the only ones offering a lifetime warranty and bought $40 rollerblade chair wheels to go with my $60 chair ( AmazonBasics Low-Back Task Chair ). They arrived at the same time the chair did (yay, Amazon Prime!) so I got to work assembling everything. Alas, I ran into a snag on step 1: install the wheels into the chair wheel base.The wheels refused to push into their slots on the chair wheel base, even with a considerable amount of strength. Because there's no central pushing location, you have to push half on the wheels and half on the hard metal edge of the wheel's base. The wheels swivel with the lightest pressure, the chair wheel base rocks because it's not flat, and my thumbs hurt because I tried to hold on to the wheel while bracing the swiveling against the hard metal edge on the wheel AND keep the base from rocking. After a couple failures, I gave it a rest and double-checked the "universal" size of the stem with a caliper vs. the chair's original plastic casters - same size. I double-checked the Amazon reviews, they all say "need some strength but no hammer needed." I figure maybe I just got unlucky, so I grabbed a rubber mallet, put a piece of styrofoam wrap over the wheel to protect it, and gave 'er what for. That didn't work either. What the heck?After trying a few more times, I got frustrated-mad and Hulked out on the wheel. To my surprise, it went in with a very obvious click. I tried again with another wheel and this time it went in with much less Hulking required. After that, the remaining 3 wheels were rapidly installed. The Secret is a combination of:- cutting a dollar-bill size/shape of styrofoam wrap, then cutting a long angled corner off one edge so you can wedge it between the base and under the wheel to keep the wheel from rolling while you're pushing AND to wrap the other end over the hard metal edge of the wheel's base to prevent sore thumbs.- pushing straight down *on the stem* and not on the *wheel*. Since the base is very likely not flat, I recommend putting the spoke of the chair wheel base on a hand towel or the like to 1. stabilize the rocking and 2. protect the spoke and the table/floor that you're assembling on.- rocking the wheel stem very slightly while pushing straight down. There's a C-ring in the groove on the wheel stem that needs to be compressed in order to go IN the stem receiver, so you need to rock ever so slightly to compress it WHILE you're pushing straight down.I could see and feel the difference as soon as I turned the chair upright. The chair began to roll towards the wall as soon the wheels touched the floor (my floors are not level, apparently). When I I plunked my butt in the seat, the wheels stayed put until I gave myself the tiniest shove with my foot and I started rolling towards the wall WHEEEEE! I notice that the new chair is a little higher than the old chair because of the rollerblade wheels, but that just means I lower the seat a tad bit more than the old chair.With the old chair and its plastic casters, I had to haul myself/the chair to the desk with both hands, but with the rollerblade wheels, I only need one hand. With the old casters, if one of my cats horked up a hairball under my desk and I didn't notice and rolled the chair out, I had a very gross time cleaning out all the nooks and crannies in the casters, while with the one-piece rollerblade wheels I'd only need to wipe them off. With the old casters, it was easier to stand up, push the chair across the room to where I wanted it, then sit down again; with the rollerblade wheels, I can scoot across the room with one foot and go WHEEEEE! I'm an adult, I swear.These rollerblade wheels are worth every penny and the sore thumbs. Holy crap, they're AWESOME and why didn't I find them earlier???Caution:- 3" rollerblade wheel diameter vs. 2.25" plastic caster diameter - if you're short, make sure your chair will go down another inch or so. See the picture attached to this post.- When installing the wheels, watch your fingers because they can get pinched very easily when the C-ring suddenly compresses and you're pushing quite a bit of your body weight on the wheelCons:- Sore thumbs during installation until I figured out The Secret- Expensive - BUT these are a "buy it for life" item. Pay $40 now and you'll have the coolest-looking chair wheels that will outlast your next few chairs.- My floors are not level so the empty chair sometimes rolls back into the corner but this isn't a fault of the wheels themselves...- Need to figure out how to convince my boss to buy rollerblade wheels for all of the chairs at work, preferably without getting committed to the insane asylum because I'm gushing about chair wheel upgradesPros:- They really are universal - once you figure out how to correctly install them, they go in easy-peasy- No more ugly mat! No more scratched floors!!!- Easy to clean- The gliding is so smooth. SO SMOOTH. Once I sit down, I no longer need to HAUL myself to my desk - I just scoot up nice and easy- ROLLERBLADE WHEELS ARE THE COOLEST THING EVER, COME ON

UPDATE: As a heavier person, I would be cautious of the weight claims of this product. However, I am re-reviewing this product simply because of the outstanding customer service provided by this company. I was initially quite excited to install these on my old chair and they seemed to be fabulous. However, after a few months the frames that join the post and the frame around the wheels started to come apart. I chose to revise my earlier review and to order a more heavy duty-looking offer. The owner of this company obviously checks reviews and cared what I had to say, because he personally contacted me via phone, refunded my original purchase and offered to send me a new replacement. For that reason alone, I re-rate this purchase as 4.5 stars (if it was possible) because I think the wheels still need some design work for heavier individuals -- or just lower the weight description!!!! Kudos to truly awesome customer service!!!

AlwaysLux wheels arrived on time. Took a few minutes to look the wheels over. Liked the two small plates with ball bearings--reads as "smooth" movements. The clear rubber/plastic wheels have a seam in the middle, which seems to indicate they were poured into moulds and joined later, which might mean if they fail it's going to be from the middle load-bearing point which contacts the floor. Then again, when I installed them there was an immediate big difference! Wow! Night and day difference. Today and into the FUTURE of furniture movement for all of us! Where were AlwaysLux wheels years ago! I had to buy some BigAssBigBoy chairs months ago and nowhere in any of my Amazon/Staples/Other exhaustive searches did any wheels of the AlawaysLux nature ever appear! That's an advertizing error that needs to be fixed. My use of wheeled office chairs over the decades has been like moving through mud, even with the few very old chairs that had 1 1/2"wide by 2 1/2" high black hard rubber wheels; those hard rubber black wheels seemed to have too much contact with the floor; were too small and too wide. The AlwaysLux roller blade wheels seem to only be a half inch wide and much less where the wheel contacts the floor, which seems to be where the exhilarating aspect of "gliding" comes into play. WooHoo!!! I am handicapped and the office chair in the kitchen was sluggish in the extreme as the 5 sets of black plastic wheels Each have two wheels, so there's really 10, half inch wide wheels in contact with the floor, hence the moving through "mud" comparison.I have the kitchen chair on a hard-floor chair mat. I use my legs to "scoot" around while holding counter-tops and pulling or pushing myself around. Now, it does not take much effort at all to "scoot/fly" around my small kitchen. There is quite a small footprint with the AlwaysLux roller blade wheels. Movement at this level is roll and pivot an with that tiny contact point, wow, it makes all the difference! I feel like Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons (That's a TV show from the 1960's for you kids.). I'll give the AlwaysLux wheels a few more weeks and then order a set for my living room office chair. Great innovation--how long has this technology been around? AlwaysLux needs to get out there and advertise right along with chairs. And, I am announcing the first Office Chair Invitational Air Ball/Hockey Tournament for 2017. These will be played in large event venues with cement floors and curved, banked corners, should the participants wish to scale the banks for more forceful checking and increased shot velocity. Four-point seatbelts are mandatory for the chairs as are headgear. Lacrosse sticks and hard rubber balls will be used. Scoring is optional---gliding is mandatory...

Best Casters ever for both carpet and bare floors. They are the best in my opinion!