Complex sentence: The polymers used at the time had some significant shortcomings, the most obvious being that skaters could not glide on these surfaces as they can on real ice without the regular application of a silicone compound.
Split into simpler sentences: The polymers used at the time had some significant shortcomings. The most obvious being that skaters could not glide on these surfaces as they can on real ice without the regular application of a silicone compound.