From: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: Re: Question on rockering skates
Date: 12 Sep 92 18:46:08 GMT
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

In article <18qg82INNc34@bigboote.WPI.EDU> ford@wpi.WPI.EDU (Matthew P Ford) writes:
> Hey all out there...
> I got a few things I'd like to get some response to.  I'm waiting for a new
> pair of SlalomBlades to arrive, and the question crossed my mind as to if
> I should rocker the middle 3 wheels or not.  I'm an intermediate skater 
> (backwards, turns, spins all within my ability) and if it helps, I'm a very
> advanced skier (On the WPI Ski Team).  I'm getting the new skates basically
> because the pair I have now, Zetra 303's, are really holding me back. {BTW,
> The Zetras are for sale too...make an offer...size 10-11 will fit :} and 
> I'm tired of having to work my BUTT off keeping up with the guys I skate with
> on Lightning TRS and Aeroblades.  My main concern it so be able to keep control
> of my speed.  We're blading in a big city and I'm not too keen on becoming a
> hood orniment sometime soon.  BUT, I do like to move while I'm on them and 
> am able to keep my speed down by parrelling down the road.  It works and it
> so similar to skiing I do it almost without trying.  Soooo....can somebody 
> either write me or post what are the main advantages and disadvantages to 
> rockering a pair of skates.  Thanx in advance and fly like the wind!

I'm not sure that you can rocker the 5-wheels skates.  They may not have any
provision for it, and if they do I would expect the effect to be considerably
less than on a 4-wheels skate.

The intent of rockering the wheels to provide a 2-point contact at neutral
balance so that when you "edge" the skates, you have 2 "points" somewhere on
the edge radius of the wheels rolling along the resulting arc.  As soon as
you have a third co-linear point, all the of the points can no longer be on
the arc and there is some skidding/dragging component added.

The first downside of rockering is that the effective wheelbase of the skates
is shortened.  If you haven't cultiviated a neutrally balanced stance, you
may feed threatened by the skate "rocking" from the center wheels onto the
heel or toe pair.  As a skiier, you have probably been through this "how
far can I lean" when you first started blading.

The result of the additional drag is to either slow you down (when edging)
or to reduce the ease of turning on the skates.  The longer the distance
between the wheeels and the sharper the arc, the greater the drag.

On the other hand, the magic of the 5-wheel skate is less clear.  Part of it
is that the longer wheelbase allows provides a more stable platform and
perhaps a longer power stroke.  There may be more mechanical advantages -
less wheel deformation due to reduced per-axle loading, reliable linear
contact resulting in a more efficient "inclined plane" effect on the
stroke, I dunno really.

The 5-wheel skates are intended for speed or efficient distance travel, not
maneuverability.  In general you should expect that the radius of turns that
you effect primarily be edging to be considerably enlarged and sharper turns
will require crossover stroking.

Do you have the Zetra's rockered?  If they have provision for this, why not
play with it some.  Unless you finances are tight, don't be in a huge rush
to unload the old skates, work with both and learn something about what the
5-wheels do for you and whether there are some things you might want to
keep the other for.

Newsgroups: rec.skate