Question: Roller Skates

[jeremy]

ceri said:

I've been skating with my friend again...she's on inliners with plastic wheels, I'm on quads with rubber wheels. We were wondering what it is that makes my skates go faster--is it the wheels or the fact that mine are quads? We switched skates for about ten seconds--she couldn't stop and I couldn't go! But she's thinking about getting a new pair, and I was wondering if getting skates with rubber wheels would help her out at all

in design Inliners are built for speed. They were originally designed to help ice skaters practice in the off season, and soon took off as a "speed" skate.

Your soft rubber wheels are actually meant for indoors. But gain speed over the inliners for a few reasons.

you have better ball bearings. And well oiled wheels. THis helps your skate move quickly and without friction resistance.

the problem with her skates is that they have wheels that are either. "seizing" Or wheels that are too cheap, and have no proper bearings. The first thing to do is turn her skate over.

Now make each of the wheels spin on its own.
how long does that wheel spin?

If you count 20, and that wheel stopped before that. The wheels are too tight, and need loosening and oil.

if some wheels spin freely, and others don't, then the wheels that didn't spin need attention.

WD-40 is an oil in the states that I use on "seizing" skates. try dripping some oil on the main bolt and on the bearings of the wheel, and spin them untill they spin freely at a 20 count.

If that doesn't help... THen toss the things off a bridge and buy her some quads. (LOL)

[Wrench]

Yay, I was almost right(re: <><><><>)! And I worked it out on my own.

[wandering]

Thank you Wrench!

Jeremy, thank you thank you thank you! Yeah, my skates look like that (but blue, Dinah style ). Thanks for the advise, I look forward to trying to out!

[Belle Pullman]

Watch out for those molecules! They're out to get you!!!

[jeremy]

admin said:

Watch out for those molecules! They're out to get you!!!

LOL!!!!

There was an floor guard who used to tell that to the little ones when they fell.

They started thinking they were a type of insect that only lived in the rink.

[Ceri]

Hey, Wandering...we have the same skates ^.^ Mine are exactly those in the picture but blue and silver!! Go team Dinah ;D

Thanks very much for the advice, Jeremy, I'll pass it on We tried spinning the wheels and they seemed to spin freely, but now I think about it, nowhere NEAR for twenty seconds!! I'll give it a go, see what she thinks, and pass on what you said. Thanks again!!

[Ceri]

Sorry for double-posting...*shifty eyes*

Jeremy, my friend was wondering if it's possible to 'powerslide' in quads. She descibed the technique to me that she uses on inliners, and I don't think it is a move you can use on quads, but I've never tried...is it a possible/advisable method of braking?

[jeremy]

yeek!

Yes you CAN powerslide, but only if...

A) You hate your skates, (quads have axels and bars that will misalign and possibly break due to the friction of side sliding to a stop ala blades.
B) you are wearing protective wear, IE helmet, guards, and pads.
C) You are properly trained in how to fall
D) you know what you are doing.

and last but now least you are on a non porous surface with no divits and rocks.

[Ceri]

That was more or less the reaction I was expecting

Don't worry, there'll be no powersliding coming from me in a hurry! Thanks again for the advice ;D

[Krissi]

The only quads I've been able to find here are the sneaker type, and rinks are seriously lacking....

The irony being that there's a skateboard rink just down the hill. *rolls eyes and laughs*


But anyway, what I wanted to ask is, what does "ball bearing" mean? How can I know if it's good or not?