New to inlines and concerned about wheel longevity. (long)

[wm_b]

This is my first post after a few weeks of lurking and searching. I skated on quads quite a bit but that was many, many years ago. I only got started with inline skating a little over a month ago when a friend I normally cycle with asked if I'd give it a try since he just got a new pair. The basics came back to me pretty quickly and I was invigorated by the experience.

Advance a couple weeks and a few more outings I was sure this was something I could enjoy. I decided to get a pair for myself. My friend and I have different types of bikes and it kind of effects where we go. His new skates were Landrollers and compared to the chattering old rollerblades I was using they were the lap of luxury. Stable, smooth and very easy on just about any hard surface. I decided I would get a pair.

I am very happy with the Landrollers but I have an issue that I keep tearing up the front wheels. I've been in contact with Landroller and they have been very helpful. They say it sounds like I got wheels with "soft urethane" and have sent replacements. Less than 10 miles later and the new wheels are breaking up again.

I start wondering if it's me. Could I be doing something wrong? I started searching the web and found tons of tutorials and videos. Many told of the most power coming from the heel and not to flick your toe at the end of the stride. I really started focusing on technique. I went out for a skate and managed to go about 12 miles with both front wheels intact. Great!

Two days later I headed out for a quick 4 mile trip. I get back to the car and found that one of the wheels had a chunk of rubber broken away from the inside edge. *&@%!!!

More self doubting, internet searching, emailing to Landroller with detailed closeup photos.

Meanwhile I am growing frustrated that this new endeavor has become a frustration because of equipment issues. Out of this frustration I decided I would get another pair of traditional inline skates as a backup. While I was waiting to get the LR issue sorted I could at least be skating. This is where it gets crazy.

I got a pair of K2 Moto's. I took them for one skate of less than a mile and the wheels were totally trashed. Chunks were missing and the actual sensation while rolling was totally crazy as it sounded like one continuously splatting water balloon. It must be me. My 212 pounds is simply more than these little rubber wheels can tolerate.

I emailed K2 and they said basically they same thing as Landroller. More soft urethane. I took the skates back to the retailer and out of frustration and fear of getting another set of Motos with bad wheels I decided to get a pair of K2 moto 90's. They had a higher durometer rating and i figured I would have half a chance with harder wheels.

I took them out for a run at the same place that most recently trashed my LR wheels. The moto 90's are very fast and much harder to stop but the wheels barely looked used after 5 miles. They were still nearly transparent. I think I would have been walking back had I taken the first pair of motos on the same outing.

I have formed a theory that the LR wheels were failing in a particular situation: Any time I had to go up an incline that was steep enough that I had to really dig in it would break the rubber at the inside edge since that was where the maximum force was applied.

So here I am with two pairs of skates. I have a new set of front wheels from LR that are from a new shipment. The wheels do feel firmer but it's hard to tell and I wont know till I try them. I'm heading out this weekend to put the newly arrived wheels through their paces.

So this long-winded post is basically me wondering how often this "soft urethane" problem happens? I really just want to skate and get better, not be a wheel researcher.

I would appreciate any insight that anyone has regarding wheel longevity, particularly landrollers.

Sorry this is such a long post but I felt like the back story was necessary.

Cheers, William

[chuckboucher]

Which K2 Moto skates did you buy? What size wheels do they have? I've seen some with big wheels (100mm and/or 110mm) or smaller wheels (80mm and/or 84mm and/or 90mm)

Wheel size will determine what's available in today's wheel market. A good all-around wheel group are the Matter Juice series of wheels. For a mid-grade pavement type, I'd advise the natural colored wheels, which is a medium durometer (hardness). They run from $7.50 each for the 80mm and 84mm to $12.00 each for the $110mm.

Also to remember is how your skating technique is. If you pronate (skate in the severe insides of your wheels, feet tilted inward), you tend to wear wheels faster. I would advise honing your outdoor technique.

[wm_b]

The first pair I got as an alternative to the landrollers were just "MOTOS". They had a hilo setup with 84mm in the back and 80's in the front (Black/red boot and frame). The second pair and the ones I still have are MOTO 90's with 90 mm wheels (black/bronze boot and frame). The Moto 90's seem to have pretty hard wheels compared to the landrollers or anything else I've tried. I think they are going to hold up but they are a little ahead of my experience right now.

I'm not too sure what good outdoor technique is. Since the second wheel on the landroller started breaking up I have been examining my how I skate. I started making sure I always started each stride from the outside edge of the heel and rolling through to the inside. I try to make sure the stride ends with my heel lifting and not flicking my toe.

The only place I am unable to keep this together is when I have to go up an incline. The strides end up short and steeply angled out to the sides. I am leaning forward, solely on the inside edge and this is what breaks on the landroller wheel. The landroller wheels aren't wearing away, they're breaking away.

[BWI-Sheldon]

I think you just had a bad batch of wheels for the first pair of K2 skates. There was talk on the forum a few months back of such a batch from K2. The Landrollers are just plain weird and are made for a leisure roll once in a while, but not for an everyday fitness workout. I can see how they would come apart under heavy conditions such as climbing hills hard.

I am of the same weight and can really put on some massive horsepower climbing hills, (I out climb all the other people in my club who are 40 to 60 lbs lighter) and I don't rip the wheels apart. True, I do wear them faster than most on this forum, but in the past 3500 miles I never ripped a chunk out of a wheel.