Rough pavement.

[Janne]

I often has to ride on rough pavement. :( Which high end speedinlines will be most comfortable for me? :D

[IW Staff]

Any skates will work really. You'll just have to find a wheel hardness that feels good with the surface you are skating.

80mm/80a for example. First number is the size and the 2nd the hardness. The higher the #, the harder the wheel. Thing is, the harder the wheel the more durable it will be. At the same time, the more bumps you'll feel. Softer will absorb more bumps, but will wear faster and grip more so you lose speed.

So get a skate that is comfortable (always the most important), and then flirt with different wheels to find ones that fit your surface best without wearing down in a week :)

Thanks for the post!

Stan @ IW

[Janne]

Doesn't wheelsize make any difference in this case? :?

[IW Staff]

Naturally if you have a large wheel you may have more wheel to wear. A small wheel can get held up in cracks and such easier, sure. But when you are talking 80mm vs 82mm, you're not going to see any difference. 72mm vs 82mm, sure.

The hardness is what will help to absorb bumps.

[Roz]

And avoiding rough surfaces as much as you can ;)

If you are uncomfortable and finding the surface difficult shorter sharper strokes should help*

*the gumbie speaks!

[GhostRider]

To Janne,

What are you used to skating on now? That can give some indication of what you might want to move to in a gradual change. Stan has the mark pretty good about the 80 80 range. Quick note though, grip is as key as roll. You want a good balance of both.. not just one or the other. The grip gives you the return of being able to produce power as a wheel that slips will make you chop more and not have the same push off from your strokes.

A lot depends on what type of skating you want to do and how well you can perform on them. The boot is also absolutely critical. You need to determine what kind of boot works for your feet.. all else is secondary. If the boot doesnt work for you then anything else wont matter.

Sit down and figure out exactly what you want from the skates and what you want to do now and in the near future and then go from there.

Quick question.. how much do you skate on rough surfaces compared to smoother surfaces? This can also help to figure out what to buy. The question you have will end up in mixed results since your asking about faster skates at the same time your asking about skating on rough surfaces.

Thanks.

[westcat]

I have the Radical 100 and Radical 90's, both are smoother on rough pavement than my old Mod GX 5x80's. I would go for the 90's, it's a great skate, feels more like my old GX's but better in just about every way. Doesn't seem to be too much difference between the 100's and 90's as far as smoothness goes, but the 100's are a big skate and not nearly as manuverable.

[GhostRider]

Im not sure I can really agree with that. I could see the 4x90s being slightly more maneuverable then the 4x100s and I have not tried the 4x90s myself.. but.. I can easily say that 4x100s from my experiences with them so far are much more maneuverable then my 5x84 rig was. I can pull some very tight turns, crossovers, etc.. on my RB 10 4x100s with little effort. I dont think the 4x90s would be that major of a difference. Now I primarly do speed skating so extreme maneuverability is not critical for me.. what type of skating are you using your skates for?

What I would be more curious about is the 5x90 rigs.. that is a darn big frame! ;)

[Skatin Sailor]

Running with K2 Velocity 4.0 Fitness, 80mm/80a wheels, and I have a similar problem with the rough pavement.

I just moved back to the States after 7 years in Japan. In Japan I was commuting approximately 4.6 miles (one way) to work, but the pavement was very smooth and I never ran into any problems.

Now living in Oregon and skating (mostly in the bike lanes) and find that some areas are rougher than others.

My biggest concern is wet pavement. I'm an all-weather (well, except for snow) skater, and need to find a wheel that will grip better when it's a little (sometimes a lot) wet out.

I'm willing to sacrifice some speed for grip, so should I just get a set of 74a wheels for those wetter rides?

Skatin' Sailor

[kel]

That's what I'd do, as it is I just take the subway if rain gets in the way. But if you can swap wheels as needed, softer ones have a lesser "this is like being on ice" effect when the pavement is wet.

I prefer to avoid the wet stuff myself, it gets dirt and crap much too easily on everything, especially the bearings.