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Vocabulary Terms
Selecting a Durometer
Selecting a Diameter
Comparing Core Types
Selecting a Wheel Profile
Rotating Your Wheels
Bearings
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About Inline Wheels
Before
we get started covering this topic, lets make sure you're up to par
on a few key terms and the basic knowledge necessary in determining
when and how to buy a new set of wheels. Choosing wheels varies based
on what type of skater you are, so know a little about your style
before we get started.
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| Vocabulary
Terms
Durometer
is the measured hardness of the wheel. This is denoted by the "A"
number, where the larger the number, the harder the wheel (on a
scale of 1 to 100). Most wheels on the market are 78 or 82A durometer.
The harder the wheel, the longer it lasts, but also the less it
absorbs shock and vibrations from your skating.
Diameter
is the height of the wheel, measured in millimeters (mm). Most wheels
are 70mm, 72mm, 76mm, or 80mm, the major exception being aggressive
skating wheels, which are often in the low 60s and may go as low
as 57mm. In general, given the same conditions, the taller the wheel,
the faster you can skate.
The
core contains the hub and spokes of the wheel. The hub
houses the bearings and bearing spacer (where the axle goes through);
the spokes and outer hub bond to the wheel material itself (the
polyurethane). Core designs range from solid (no spokes) in aggressive
wheels, to super-light spoked designs in racing wheels.
The
profile is the cross-section of a wheel (looking head on).
The profile curve determines how much of the wheel contacts the
skating surface at any given time.
The durometer and diameter will have the biggest
effect on your skating, so you should base your wheel choice based
on those factors first. Cores and profiles have significant, but
more subtle consquences, so you can compare them after you've figured
out the durometer and diameter.
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| Selecting
A Durometer
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One
important thing to keep in mind is that you are not required to use
the same durometer on all your wheels. Many skaters use mixed durometers
to achieve a more desirable blend of grip, shock-absorption, and durability
than is possible with a single durometer setup. At first it's hard
to know what mix to use, but here are some things to look at:
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Wear
patterns
Before
you rotate your wheels during your routine maintanence, note the
wear pattern on the wheels. Do any wheels tend to wear a lot more
than the others? If so, you might want to put harder wheels in
those positions. For example, I tend to wear my rear wheels more
than the others, so use 78A's in the front three positions, and
82A's in the back.
Durability and shock-absorption
You
may find your wheels wear down faster than you'd like because
you skate on rough surfaces. You could opt to buy all harder wheels,
but it might give you a pretty rough ride. One alternative is
to replace only half of your wheels with a harder durometer, like
half 78A's and half 82A's. The order that you put them in, isn't
really that crucial (although I would suggest 78,82,78,82, or
82,78,78,82). What this mix gives you is the shock-absorption
of 78A's and the durability of 82A's.
Skating style
Speedskaters
and aggressive skaters are the ones who use mixed durometers the
most. Speedskaters do it for the hybrid durability and shock-absorption
mentioned previously. Aggressive skaters often use the anti-rocker
setup where the middle two wheels are very short and hard, and
the front and back wheels are tall, to make rail slides easier.
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| Selecting
A Diameter
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Okay,
had enough of durometer talk? With the wheel diameter there isn't
a whole lot to consider. Most recreational skaters prefer the tallest
wheels they can fit on their skates (typically 76mm on middle-range
skates, and 76-82mm on high-end skates). Taller wheels means more
speed and the wheels last longer than shorter wheels of the same durometer.
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Aggressive
skaters will obviously favor shorter wheels, possibly even
wheels under 60mm, to give room for grinds and slides, and also
to keep their skates closer to the ground (or whatever is being
skated upon).
Hockey
players may opt for 70-72mm wheels, to keep their center
of gravity down, but still let them maintain reasonable speed during
play.
Speedskaters
usually go for the tallest wheels in the 80 to 82mm range. However
this varies depending on the race situation. For example in sprint
races, 76mm may be more appropriate.
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| Comparing
Core Types
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| Cores
can vary significantly in design. On race wheels, the core may incorporate
spokes, and comprise a large portion of the wheel. This is meant to
lighten the wheel, and provide cooling for the bearings. A larger
core will make the wheel lighter, but that means there is less polyurethane
on the wheel to wear down. If speed is the top priority, then that
shouldn't matter. If durability is more of an issue, then you may
not want wheels with extra large cores.
Cores
are usually made of nylon type materials similar to the material
that make up the runners and boots of your skates. Some cores are
now being made of aluminium, but most are still made of plastic.
In the past, some wheels have suffered problems in the core, where
the core loosens from the polyurethane. However, this hasn't been
as much a problem recently, due to improved bonding technology that
binds the core to the wheel.
In
general, there's not too much to worry about the core. The main
exception is if you do lots of jumping. There have been cases in
the past where the spokes on the wheel fracture and then collapse
after lots of stress. This is more the exception than the rule,
but you may look for a sturdier core if you think you might crush
your wheels.
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| Selecting
A Wheel Profile
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| In
general, hockey wheels, recreational wheels, and speed wheels are
somewhat interchangeable. That is, you can use any of those types
of wheels for any of those skating activities. You won't get the optimal
performance, but you won't have to swap wheels every time you switch
activities either.
However,
if you're looking for the best results, you may want to look at
wheels designed for your type of skating.
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You'll
notice that:
- Rec
wheels have average height, average taper.
- Speed
wheels are taller, thinner, more tapered.
- Hockey
wheels are shorter, wider, rounded.
- Aggressive wheels are short, with a wide, rounded
profile. Often they are very short and have a solid core.
Eventually any type of wheel will wear down to the
point where the original profile is lost. There's no way around that
unfortunately. Whether you replace your wheels then, or not, is mostly
up to you. For most people, the profile only makes a subtle difference,
so unless you're in a highly competitive skating situation, I'd just
use the wheels until they're worn all the way down.
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| Rotating
Your Wheels
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There
are several methods to rotate your wheels, some involving using
a caliper to measure wheels size and recording it all on a data
sheet. The truth is, who cares about a data sheet, anyway. We've
found this to be the simplest method of wheel rotation:
- Move
the wheels from one skate to the other.
- Put
the largest wheels in the front and back positions.
- If
you wear out your wheels faster on the inside edge, flip each
wheel so the most worn-out edge faces out.
Freshly rotated wheels can feel a bit strange when
you skate on them and it can be difficult to keep your balance.
This problem can be reduced by rotating your wheels frequently,
and by rotating the largest wheels to the front and back positions.
If you your wheels do feel strange after rotating, they will feel
normal again after a few days of hard skating. |
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| Bearings
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| For
the last decade, skaters have grown accustomed to standard bearings
rated by the ABEC bearing system. Now, new technology has allowed
the advancement of bearings into a lighter weight, more effiecient
bearing called the microbearing. These bearings are smaller, and
60% of standard bearing weight. If you buy skates requiring microbearings,
they can only be replaced by microbearings and the wheels that use
them.
ABEC
bearings are rated from 1 to 9. These numbers represent the level
of tolerance used when manufacturing the bearing. "Tolerance"
is the variation allowed during the manufacturing process. So, the
higher the ABEC rating, the more care taken to produce them, the
more out-of-pocket cost. Also, a higher rating doesn't necessarily
mean a faster wheel, but there is a significant difference between
an ABEC-1 and an ABEC-7.
Care
and Maintenance
Bearings
need to be serviced when needed. Build up of contaminates and dirt
will effect your mobility. Serviceable bearings have a removable
out ring and can be degreased and relubricated. Non-serviceable
bearings should be wiped clean with a dry cloth. NEVER lubricate
the outside of the bearing, because this only attracts dirt and
other contaminates. |
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