Speed skating wheels and hardness

Glenn Koshi, Bont.com

Hi London Skaters,

A little background on myself...I've been in the inline industry for 17 years, selling speed skates for 15 of those years. I've been an inline consultant for companies such as Fila, Rollerblade, Roces and Nike. I have been working with Bont for five years, although I've been selling Bont product for the last 15 years. I'm honored to be asked to write this for your group.

A question has come up about inline wheels. I wanted to explain a little about the wheel differences. People don't often realize that not only are there differences between each model and brand, but even each batch of wheels (from one pour to another), even within the same model and hardness. The question posed was "Do harder wheels last longer, or not as long as soft wheels?" The topic also questioned the differences between brands, and indoor wheels versus outdoor wheels. On we go:

When you compare Labeda to Hyper (or Bont, Explore, etc.), you're comparing apples to oranges. The "a" scale (or durometer) of hardnesses of wheels is really relative to each company. Even the best measuring devises can and will be off, and "poking" the same wheel with a meter, in the same spot, will give you different readings. It's generally thought in the industry that Hyper wheels are a bit harder than their label, and Labedas are softer (the concensus is that the Labeda's are more true to scale). You can bet money that the two companies are not using the same meter to measure their wheels. I've seen durometer readings on Hyper's 83a up to 86a.

Plus, since they are using completely different urethane formulas, one company's true 83a and the other's will undoubtedly wear different from each other (as well as roll differently). Also, don't forget about the various grades of urethane...any good chemist can make wheels of the same hardness last longer or not as long by changing the urethane formula. This may account for the difference you might experience within one brand. Even pigment (color) changes the characteristics of the urethane, affecting roll and wear. Ever wonder why you really don't see black inline wheels? The black pigment really doesn't work well for inline wheels.

That being said...softer wheels will normally wear out faster. The exception is the indoor wheel. It's all in the chemistry of the urethane. This is from the chemist who makes our wheels, and who happened to make all of the Hyper wheels up until a few years ago (his compounds are still used today by Hyper, for the wheels you're used to seeing...the Hyperformance, Bank Robber and +G, and their indoor wheels). "Indoor wheels are made of a different chemistry family that optimizes grip at the expense of durability. To get all that grip you have to give up something. Since the floors are smooth, the one to lower is abrasion resistance. Outdoor wheels must have more of a balance between grip, roll, and durability."

In other words...there are three characteristics of the wheel: grip, roll (rebound) and durability. To raise one aspect, with the chemical compounds of today, you need to sacrifice one or both of the other aspects. What do you want out of your wheel, knowing that you have to sacrifice one or more of the three aspects?

One more thing about wheels within one particular company...we're constantly trying to improve our (Bont) wheels, even our existing ones. We make small, subtle changes to the chemistry, but the effect on roll and wear can be huge. We had a wear problem on our 83a's that we have since fixed. The chemistry was changed ever so slightly, but the result is that the wheel now lasts a lot longer. Our input comes from our teams. From all of our testing, though, and the feedback I get from all over North America, the 83a doesn't last as long as the 84a, which doesn't last as long as the 85a.

Glenn

Credits

Thanks to Glenn Koshi and Bont Skates for this informative article.  Glenn is the North American representative, and team manager for Team Bont North America.  Bont is one of the top manufacturers of inline speedskates, credited with inventing the modern speedskate.

Also credit must go to the Inline North Carolina group which is where the original discussion originated that resulted in Glenn's article here.  They're a super bunch of friendly skaters!

Mike: I'm currently using some Invasion Generation 2 wheels, and rate them as top quality. They have superb ride quality, low rolling resistance and excellent grip, but wear slightly faster than Hyper + Grips, which ties in very well with what Glenn says above about Hyper wheels tending to be a little harder.

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