Wheel hardness - 13:23 06 Jun 06At the moment I have 80a wheels (on middle of the range Salamon recreational skates). I think they are too soft for me as I need to rotate my wheels after every 3 hours skating or thereabouts. I'm reasonably heavy (getting on for 14st), and am practising T-stopping quite a lot!
I notice that lots of good street skates come with 83a wheels. Would that be a sensible next set of wheels for me? Or is 80a to 83a a huge difference?
I'd be happy to give up a bit of grip in exchange for longevity.
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Well, if you're T-stopping, forget about your wheels. It wrecks 'em quicker than a 3 year old with a knack for electric sanders.
Harder wheels will last longer - the trick is to learn other ways to stop if you want to save them though.
I doubt you'd notice a major difference in those wheel hardnesses, to be honest. You might get away with rotating them less often - hard to tell.
Post edited by: lemming, at: 20:26, 06 Jun 06! Skate Monkey !
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DannyD
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Re:Wheel hardness - 19:44 06 Jun 06Thank you once again for your help Mr Lemming.
I still have a heel-brake which I can use effectively, but its started getting in the way (trying a bit of slalom / barrell rolls). Isn't t-stop the principal way of stopping if you don't have a heel-brake?
what other effective stopping techniques are there? If you would be kind enough to list a couple I'll google them up.
Thanks, Danny
Post edited by: DannyD, at: 12:03, 07 Jun 06
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lemming
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Re:Wheel hardness - 07:08 07 Jun 061. Snow plough. 2. Can't remember what they're called, but parallel turns done tightly work well. (This is sort of a precursor to the powerslide, I believe). 3. Spin stop (at slow speed - try it too fast and you'll either find yourself pelting backwwards or on your backside). 4. Alternate foot snow plough step type thing - don't know what this is called either (in case you couldn't guess). I've had a few goes at explaining it, but it's too tricky, so you'll have to catch me (or someone else) at some point. It looks a bit crap, but it works. 5. Friction! 6. Powerslide, although this is even worse for your wheels than T-stopping.
There are almost certainly others that I can't think of or don't use. I'll have to check my notes and things later on.
My personal method is T-stop if I'm in a hurry (i.e. emergency) or if I've got more time to plan I'll TRY to mix 2 - 5. I never got on with the snow plough.! Skate Monkey !
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Red
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Re:Wheel hardness - 09:07 07 Jun 06If you're out streetskating I'm an advocate of the heel-brake as it's the most efficient way of stopping at speed - or so SKATEFRESH tell me
The other methods mentioned by Lemming usually mean endangering the other skaters around you. I've certainly been a victim to some weird stopping practices on streetskates that have almost wiped me out !!
So depending on what you doing stop in the most effective / efficient and friendly way please.
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dogsbody
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Re:Wheel hardness - 09:29 07 Jun 06If your T stopping a lot then harder wheels will definately last longer, however not all wheels are created equal so have a shop about and find a set that you like both from a hardness point and grip (stickiness).
Sounds like you are a bit like me and tryout out lots of differant things, trouble is that an ideal setup for one type of skating is differant to another. Differant wheels from inside to outside, heal break on and off, frame length, rocker/no rocker, etc. You either need to find a good compromise or get used to changing your skate parts regularly Embedding gravatar.com icons in the Goodwood Roller Marathon site to give each racer a unique avatar that they can change if they want. - Twitter Status
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DannyD
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Re:Wheel hardness - 14:05 07 Jun 06dogsbody wrote: Sounds like you are a bit like me and tryout out lots of differant things, t
I've always been a jack of all trades, master of none.
dogsbody wrote: get used to changing your skate parts regularly
And I've always loved *ahem* 'fixing' things (with mixed results...), so I enjoy doing 'skate mechanics'.
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ed!
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Re:Wheel hardness - 16:04 07 Jun 06Wheel durometers vary from brand to brand. E.g. Stock Salomon wheels on FSKs are 83a, however, I know that Hyper Pro 250 82a wheels would last longer.
It is easier and more accurate to compare duromters if they're made by the same manufacturer. e.g. Hyper Freedom wheels compared to Hyper Pro 250.
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from a store and intense user point of view the best wheel for durability to grip ratio is the hyper pro 250 (for outside). I have played hockey on this wheel which means power stops (the most stress you can put on a wheel) and it out lasts everything by 300%. take a look http://demonxtreme.com/section.php?xSec=75&a=dogsbody - (this 84a is grippier than many 80a+ wheels but lasts) In regards to heel brake....as a skate instructor I believe it is one of the least efficient ways of stopping at speed - using the heel brake though certainly is the cheaper way if you don't want to wear out wheels - just a bit like stopping a car with a handbrake though- skate manufacturers are forced to put on heel brakes otherwise they would lose sales purely on the "how do you stop" consumer. for beginners (if you have skied) snow plough. Or T stop, but better balance is required. The best is two foot "hockey stop" called powerslide or other names. It is difficult and requires guts and definitely don't try unless you have a squidgy friend nearby to fall on first few times. Hope that helps - outdoors hyper pro 250s Jason http://www.DemonXTREME.com/index.php&a=dogsbody
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Red
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Re:Wheel hardness - 16:20 09 Jun 06TheXtremeSporter wrote: ........In regards to heel brake....as a skate instructor I believe it is one of the least efficient ways of stopping at speed.........
I'm really surprised by this as I've seen some instructors stop incredibly fast / in a short distance whilst doing quite a speed.
I guess it comes down to preference, confidence and ability. But I'm sticking to my heel break whilst outside- like you say it's much cheaper and I'm confident in using it.
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