Ed's Sk8toronto Website
EQUIPMENT
The purchase of top quality equipment is not cheap. Production runs are too small. For a listing of local outfits that sell inline racing gear click HERE
WHEELS
Wheels are a very important factor in the quest for speed. These are the main factors affecting the speed of the wheels.
Size: (The bigger, the faster) Larger wheels roll better. But there is a tradeoff with their weight and large wheels can be difficult to control. 80mm wheels used to be the standard. Now a lot of 5 wheel skate frames take 84mm or even 88mm wheels and there are lots of 4x100mm frames in use. My skate frames take 4x110mm wheels
Wear: (The newer, the faster) New wheels are better in every way. Racers always use a new set in important races. I start to notice a big difference in performance after I have skated on a set of wheels perhaps a dozen times. I rarely use a set of wheels more than 35 times. Frequent wheel rotation increases the useful life of wheels greatly.
Hardness: (The harder, the faster) Hard wheels roll better but give a harder ride and may wear out faster. 84A or 85A (durometer) is the standard for racing.
The Number: (The more, the better) More wheels on the ground even out the ride by sharing the work but long frames are harder to control. Until recently racers always used 5 wheels. Now there is a trend toward 4 (but much larger) wheels. Nobody knows what the optimum wheel size and number really is. It is likely different for each skater.
Composition: Wheel makers play with the urethane formula in an attempt to increase durability, stickiness, rebound, roll and probably some other things that I don’t know about.
BEARINGS
In each wheel assembly are two identical bearings. I believe that there is a lot of blarney in skating circles regarding bearings (ABEC 7 - ABEC 5 - regular bearings - micro bearings - mini bearings etc etc). The real issue is whether your bearings are clean. With use, all bearings become contaminated with dirt. Once established, this dirt will make the bearings noisy and slow. All inliners need to clean their bearings periodically -or buy new ones! For instructions on how to clean bearings click HERE.
SKATES (and FRAMES)
Skates and frames are another important influence on speed. Until recently every racing skate had 5 wheels. Lately though -and especially with the larger diameter wheels racers have been purchasing frames which are a little shorter and hold only 4 wheels. Low cut racing skates of the type that ice speed skaters use give the skater the lightness and proper ankle mobility that is necessary to skate really fast.
For the purposes of this write-up, there are two types of racing skates, true racing skates and hybrid models. Hybrids are basically low cut, high-tech rec (recreational) skates. Hybrid skates always come complete with the frames, wheels and bearings. Hybrids offer more ankle support than found in true racing skates but this means that ankle mobility is somewhat limited. The cost is around $450 to $600 for the hybrids. I believe that hybrids are a good first step for a large number of rec skaters looking for more speed but wanting to avoid the fitting problems that so often come hand in hand with the true racing skates.
True racing skates are low cut carbon fiber composites and are usually purchased separately from the frames (the part that holds the wheels), the wheels, and the bearings. The usual cost is around $600 to $2000 for the whole works. I think it is safe to say that most people who buy stock skates end up with major fitting problems. I certainly did with mine. The trend is toward getting custom fitted skates. I have had 3 pair of custom made Bont skates and I have beeen reasonably happy with all of them. The last pair cost me around $1500 including the frames, wheels and bearings. One nice thing about the "multi vendor skates" is that you can replace one item at a time as the need arises and as your finances allow. However, once you purchase Bont skates you are committed to their frames as well.
CLOTHING
Clothing (or lack of it) is another equipment-related factor, which has an important influence on speed. This is because clothing creates a very significant drag on the air. Tight fitting Lycra and spandex outfits are favoured by those seeking speed because they create less drag.
Each spring, as I shed more and more layers of clothing, I am amazed how my route times drop. The reverse happens in the fall. All of my fastest route times have been accomplished shirtless. |