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Big Wheels Keep on Turning: Part II
By Gavin Thulien and Charles (Carl) Britney
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Big wheels keep on turning whether it is the wheels of big business or the wheels of advancing technology. As we continue on with this series it is important to look at all the components before we delve into the complete setups. |
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What we are seeing from the skate and component manufactures is a large increase in different wheel sizes being offered. The impact is at both entry level and advanced fitness/speed models alike.
For one major manufacturer, the entry-level wheel is 78mm from 72mm only 2 years ago, while another has a totally new range of 90 & 100 mm speed and fitness models for 2005.
So what are the pros and cons of the larger wheels?
The main enhancement here has been the introduction of 84, 88, 90 and 100-millimeter wheels to the fitness and speed skates over the widely used 80mm that has been the standard in both speed and fitness over the last 5 years. Due to rulings as to the size limits from some of the sports governing bodies there are likely to be no wheels larger than 100 mm. There are a number of factors to consider in determining which wheel size is more suitable to you.
Rolling Resistance - most agree that rolling resistance will be reduced with larger wheel diameters. The larger wheel turns less for the equivalent distance than a smaller one.
Road Surface - The increased diameter means that the effect of ruff road surfaces and many obstacles will be reduced. The obvious benefit is reduced fatigue over long distances.
Overall Height - The height of the skater above the road will be greater as will be their center of gravity. This may have impacts on the initial effectiveness of moving to larger wheels for many skaters. Some skaters may find moving to large wheels (e.g. 100mm from 80mm) will require a change in technique.
Wheel Weight - Larger wheels weight more than smaller wheels as the same technology can be applied to both. This weight factor, especially in 5 wheel configurations, may be critical for lighter skaters or those with less strength.
Rotational Aspects - Two factors of rotation should be considered: acceleration and gyroscopic action.
Larger wheels have more mass and will require more energy to accelerate initially. However, once at speed, larger wheels should hold their rotation speed better than smaller ones.
The larger wheels will, however, demonstrate more gyroscopic action due to the mass than smaller ones. As with the weight factor, a change in technique and an initial learning period may result.
Profiles - Currently 84, 88, 90 and 100 mm wheels are only being made in a racing profile. While this may not be an issue with long distance skaters, this may result in less maneuverability and greater wear for shorter distance and fitness skaters.
Price - Finally, the current prices for the largest wheels (100, 90 mm) are sometimes more than double those of 80 and 84 mm wheels hence replacing a 4 or 5 wheel setup will be quite expensive. Once a trend or the new staple is established, the prices of the volume sizes should drop but over the short haul a skater should consider this.
These are some of the key aspects of larger wheels, but in looking at the wheel size alone this does not give a definitive answer. In future articles the other points that need to be addressed, are boots, frames, configurations. Boots need to be looked at both individually and as complete skates.
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