Rock(er)ing this metropolis...

[JustJon]

I rockered my wheels, with new wheels, last night and they feel AMAZING.

Literally felt like I was walking on glass (not like the book. Gross ) and skated better than I have for ages (when I say better I mean I was gliding around doing really quick snake-like turns which felt great). I put on new Hyper Concrete +Grip and I LOVE them. A lot of people on here said they were good so I thought I'd get them.

Anyway I'll cut to the chase. I have a few questions for your faces:

• Is my skating better because of the rockering or the new wheels, or just a combination of both?
• Should I have changed my wheels in the first place? (does the wear on my old wheels warrant a change?)
• Should I carry on using my old wheels? (I skated in them fine last night but it was nowhere near as good as the new ones)

Old wheels (Least wear)

Old wheels (Most wear)

Thanks in advance.

(I'm Jon by the way. I introduced myself on the forums yesterday). .

[evilzzz]

A rockered skate turns as soon as you look at it, so it feels very responsive. So yeah, if your skating immediately feels more fluid then this is largely why; it's the reason slalomers rocker their wheels. The tradeoff is less stability at higher speed than a flat setup.

But new wheels also help, having better roll and rebound than used wheels, which basically means they will go further & faster than a used set, ceteris parabis.

[JustJon]

Ah okay. Yeah it feels like my skating has improved tenfold.

On the old wheels though, should I carry on using them or just put them in a box somewhere?

I know I COULD carry on using them but is it worth it?

Jon.

[evilzzz]

Ah okay. Yeah it feels like my skating has improved tenfold.

On the old wheels though, should I carry on using them or just put them in a box somewhere?

I know I COULD carry on using them but is it worth it?

Jon.

Who knows, dude. you're the best person to answer that. Wheels are expensive so most of us try to get as much reasonable use as we can out of a set.

[JustJon]

Yeah that's what i'm thinking. £50 for a set of wheels! . . .

Thanks for replying. .

Jon

[NS Jason]

What were your old wheels?

It still looks like there is plenty of rubber on them

[JustJon]

Just the standard white seba wheels that came with my Fr1s.

I was finding it quite hard to slalom in them.

I don't know if that was the way they'd worn down or the lack of rockering.

[gummidge]

It looks like you never rotated your old wheels except around the axles. That might be partially why the new ones felt so much better, because your weight was back on the centre line of the wheels again.

[JustJon]

Yeah that was my thoughts exactly when I found out about wheel rotation. The front wheel had the side sliced off. I'm not sure how I should proceed with that set of wheels.

[azumi]

Well, if the wheels in the middle are used and you put on new wheels on toe and heel chances are you are having a flat-setup now.

[JustJon]

I put 8 new wheels on. I'm not sure what you mean. .

Edit:

Okay I understand. I think. Yeah I won't be using my old wheels with the new 76mm ones.

[Dan B]

Yeah that was my thoughts exactly when I found out about wheel rotation. The front wheel had the side sliced off. I'm not sure how I should proceed with that set of wheels.

Keep them for when you're poor and have trashed your new wheels even worse

Or do what most people do, stick them in a corner somewhere and leave them there forever because you never feel quite poor enough to reuse them but can't bring yourself to throw them out either

[JustJon]

Keep them for when you're poor

Yeah I pretty much spent my money buying the new wheels so i'll probably core them later. I didn't think wheels would be so expensive! I guess you get more hours for your money other consumables.

[azumi]

Or do what most people do, stick them in a corner somewhere and leave them there forever because you never feel quite poor enough to reuse them but can't bring yourself to throw them out either

priceless.

I usually give them away.

[Herb]

Good wheels are expensive, but cheap wheels are more expensive... :D Buy one set of good wheels and you'll have them for longer than two-three sets of cheap wheels. Depending on how you skate, Concretes can withstaned even three years of use! Slalom wears wheels fast though, also slides.

Keep your old set. You'll never know when you'll need them. Even Concretes can de-core, but it's rare. It's good to have spare wheel if one in skates failed.

[JustJon]

How can I make my concretes last longer if I'm doing slalom on them? Do I rotate and flip between the skates but not change wheel position?

I am mainly planning to do slalom on them. Well pretty much only slalom. Yeah I won't throw them away. Expensive addiction we've all got here .

[kev0]

just rotate them, not switch when you feel like they become too triangle.

from the picture, i would keep using the old wheels, but if you have new ones, you might as well use the new ones (you will get the same hours of usage combined for both wheels in the bigger picture - so why not?).

i usually wear my wheels down to the point where the wheels become unbearably small, and you can fit your fingers between consecutive wheels, and even then i am still hesitant to change. however not everyone likes wearing down the wheels until they become tiny, and a good compromise is switching your middle two wheels to the outside and replacing the middle two with new wheels, since the front and back wheels usually wear more than the middle. that way, you save buying 4 new wheels.

[JustJon]

Hmm okay. Yeah I feel like I left it a bit late with the ones that went wedge shaped.

Yeah that's true I guess I'll still end up using them for the same amount of time.

Oh god haha. I think that'd drive me crazy. That's a handy tip. Thank you. I'll be sure to rotate and switch in the future.

[gummidge]

Yeah, I used to do all that switching them around. But then you sometime have to spend a while in a very uncomfortable setup (like an inverted rocker) while they even out again. Now I start with a flat setup and simply flip the right foot (my predominant t-braking foot) ones around when they wear one way, then swap them position for position with the left foot wheels when they wear back again. Keeping them in the same position front to back means they develop a natural rocker which I am quite comfortable with. The only big change is when I get new wheels.

[gummidge]

Hmm okay. Yeah I feel like I left it a bit late with the ones that went wedge shaped.

Once flipped they get back close to the centre line pretty quickly if you t-brake on them. Initially the amount that needs to be worn off per millimetre of wear is very small. Conversely, once they get past the centre line there's quite a bit of braking left in them before they become completely wedge shaped.