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By Peter Doucet
Skaters' Gold - How to make it last? With the price of wheels rising as fast as Gregorio Duggento in the sprint, keeping yourself in fresh urethane is getting expensive. But fortunately, wheel wear isn't only a matter of how many miles you skate. It also involves how you skate and how you take care of your wheels. The trick is to learn "urethane conservation," which can help you squeeze every last mile out of your wheels. Follow these recommendations, and you should be able to double the life of your urethane. 1) Brake Easy One of the quickest ways to wear out your wheels is to use them for braking. If you have a heel brake on your skate, use it. If, like most inline speed skaters, you don't have a heel brake, avoid using the standard T-stop. (This is the braking technique in which you swing the toe of one skate out to the side, perpendicular to the direction of travel.) Instead:
2) Keep 'em Cool Urethane (the stuff your wheels are made of) softens up on a hot day. That's bad because the softer it gets, the quicker it wears. So avoid skating during the hottest part of the day, especially on asphalt, which collects heat like a radiator. On hot days, schedule your skating for early in the morning or late in the evening (after the pavement has cooled off). 3) Rotate Religiously Rotate your wheels every third time you use them. Do this by moving each wheel back one position. Put your front wheel in the second slot; your second wheel in the third; your third wheel in the fourth; and finally, rotate your back wheel up to the front. 4) Flip Your Wheels Take a look at the profile of your wheels. ... Are they coned? Is one side flat and the other rounded? When you rotate your wheels, flip them or leave them facing the same direction but put them on the opposite skate. 5) Buy Good Wheels Good wheels have staying power. Read wheel reviews and talk to your skate buddies or teammates. Find out what works well for them. 6) Two Sets Are Better than One Maintain two sets of wheels: a fresh set for competition and a used set for training. But don't let your fresh set become a stranger. On race day, you must be accustomed to the way it feels to take advantage of its improved traction and roll. 7) Track & Road If you have ever raced on a small track or parking lot, you may have noticed the lines left behind by the skaters' wheels, especially on corners. The truth is: tight corners eat wheels. If you’re in wheel preservation mode, keep your corners wide or skate on coated surfaces, like the one at the Bob Rodale Park, the site of the Eastern Seaboard Series. Coated tracks are much easier on your wheels. 8) Buy In Bulk Instead of buying one or two sets of wheels at a time, buy a dozen. Dealers and vendors will often cut their prices when you buy in bulk. 9) Keep 'em Clean
After skating, wipe your wheels off with a wet rag or throw them in a bucket of water (after you've removed the bearings, of course.) Removing the dust and dirt will cut down on friction (and wear) the next time you use them. (At least, that's my theory.) 10) Listen To Your Wheels Your wheels will let you know when it's time to replace them. They'll start slipping around corners and feeling slow on the flats. They will also show their age. Cracks and wrinkles will appear in the urethane. Wrinkles aren't necessarily a bad thing for people. But for wheels, they mean just one thing: more rolling resistance. ... In other words, it's time to throw them out! ---
Related reading: • Skate Tip of the Week Archive
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