lemming
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Re:Wet weather skating - 19:24 08 Sep 10
Tom, the bearings that your skates came with will almost certainly be fine for wet weather, but make sure when you get in again that you dry them out. They're porbably only half shielded, so when you take them out of the weel, there be a weird plastic thing on the inside holding the bearings in place. While you should clear them out and wap a load of GT85 over them (the quick way) ideally you should dry them out, then re-oil. If you are putting bearings that you think might be a bit damp back in, you should ensure you do this when it's dry, then go out for 20 minutes - this will clear them out and prolong life.
The other consideration, of course, is how often do you want to switch bearings in your skate wheels. You could argue, buy waterproof bearing and wet weather wheels, then use them as a set for the wet. Personally, I don't skate in teh wet if I can help it, so I just have the one setup.
Peter's suggestion of greasing them to prevent water getting in will be OK for a while, but I wouldn't want to risk it longer term.
Wheels will make a huge difference in the wet, and there are wet weather wheels around that would give you good grip.
Technique wise, as Peter said, it's hard to get good traction, so don't try to push as hard or it will be like skating on bad ice-skates. Double-push technique is supposed to be good for wet weather, but it's also very hard to learn.
From my experience, the wet ground isn't an issue - I skated in pouring rain in Sardinia and still had grip - but in the UK, there's a lot more oil around and I think (personally) that this is what's creating the slipper surface that we all hate.
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