Heelys X2 Review: Two Wheels, and Only One Shoe to Put Them In

If your child keeps falling off a single heel wheel, two wheels sounds like the obvious fix. Heelys make a two-wheel shoe — the X2 — and their own product description says it is "designed for easy walking-to-rolling transition, helping beginners master balance quickly."

That is a fair claim. This review is about what you actually get when you go looking for one, because that part surprised us.

The X2 range is one shoe

Heelys split their own catalogue into two collections, using their own words: 1x1 Wheels and 2x2 Wheels. Here is what is in each.

That one shoe is the Pro 20 X2, at $70, in a single unicorn-print colourway. There is no other X2 model, no other colour, and no adult version. If your son wanted a two-wheel Heely in something other than pink and blue unicorns, there is nothing to buy.

The second item in the X2 collection is not a shoe at all — it is a $13 pack of replacement plugs.

What sizes it comes in

The Pro 20 X2 is listed in eight sizes, and every one of them is a children's size.

The X2 stops at 24 cm. If your child's foot is longer than that — and plenty of ten-year-olds are — the two-wheel option does not exist for them at any price. Heelys' single-wheel models keep going to 33 cm, but none of those have a second wheel.

Heelys also do not make half sizes on any model. Their size guide says so directly: "Sorry, we don't do half sizes." Their advice is to size up. On a shoe you balance on, a centimetre of spare length is exactly where beginners lose the feel of the wheel.

What the second wheel actually does

This is worth understanding before you spend anything, because "two wheels" does not mean what most parents assume.

A single heel wheel gives the rider one small contact point per foot, a long way behind the ankle. Adding a second wheel enlarges that contact patch. The shoe becomes less twitchy, and a nervous child has a bigger platform to settle onto. That is a real improvement and Heelys are right to say so.

Heelys call the system 2x2 — two wheels per shoe. Their own replacement kit tells you a little more about the layout: it ships with "two small and two medium plugs", so the two wheel wells on each shoe are different sizes rather than a matched pair.

What Heelys do not offer, on the X2 or on any other model in their range, is a wheel under the front of the foot. Every shoe they sell rolls from the back.

So the honest summary is this: two wheels at the back is better than one wheel at the back. It is a different thing from a wheel under the front of the foot, which is what stops the shoe tipping when a beginner leans forward.

Where the other kind of second wheel goes

Every model in the Kick Speed™ heel wheel range takes a detachable wheel under the forefoot rather than a second one at the heel. Contact is spread along the length of the foot instead of concentrated at the back, so the shoe behaves more like a skate and less like a balancing act. When the rider is steady, the front wheels come out and the same pair carries on as an ordinary heel wheel shoe.

It is not a feature on the expensive models only. It is every model in the range:

The other thing the X2 does not have: a button

On a Heely, the wheel comes out by hand and a plastic plug goes back in its place. That is why the X2 collection contains a plug replacement kit — the plugs are consumable, and they live in your pocket while your child is rolling.

Two Kick Speed models replace that entirely. On the Cloud LOW and the Pro-X LOW, you press the heel and the wheel drops out of the sole; press again and it retracts and locks away. No tool, no loose plugs, nothing to lose in a car park.

The rest of the range uses a manual system, and that is a genuine trade rather than a downgrade: nothing is sealed inside the midsole, so there is no mechanism to jam, and a worn wheel unit is simply swapped. If your child switches between walking and rolling several times a day, buy a button model. If they put the shoes on and ride, the manual system has fewer parts.

Side by side

That last row matters. Heelys hold Hello Kitty, Minecraft and Reebok, and if your child has asked for a character, no alternative replaces it. Their sizing also runs to 33 cm, far past ours — so for a teenager with big feet, Heelys is simply the better answer.

If two wheels are not enough

There is a third option worth knowing about, and it is a bigger jump than the X2 makes. Kick Speed roller skate shoes with pop-out wheels carry four wheels per shoe — two axles that drop out of the sole, one under the forefoot and one under the heel — and lock away again for walking.

Should you buy an X2?

Yes, if all of these are true. Your child's foot measures 24 cm or less and lands on a whole size. They like the unicorn print. $70 is the number you had in mind. In that case the second wheel genuinely helps and it is a reasonable buy.

Probably not, if any of these are true. Their foot is bigger than 24 cm. Their measurement lands on a half size. They wanted a colour that is not unicorns, or a style that is not a canvas low top.

That is a lot of conditions for one shoe to satisfy, and it is the reason this review exists.

How to decide

Measure the foot first. Stand your child on paper against a wall, mark the longest toe, measure in centimetres, take the larger foot. Over 24 cm and the X2 is out regardless of anything else here. If it lands on a half, there is more on the half-size problem here.

Then decide where you want the extra wheel. At the heel for a bigger platform at the back, or under the forefoot for contact along the whole foot that comes out later. Both are reasonable answers. They are just not the same answer.

The full comparison is in our guide to the best Heelys alternative for kids, and what to look for in heel wheel shoes covers the rest of the checklist.

Kick Speed heel wheel shoes run $69.99 to $99.99, ship free within the United States, and unworn pairs go back for 90 days.

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