The right wheels for the job

[peter]

I had not really thought about just how signifiant wheel choice as for the surface you are skating on until my son decided he wanted to do the double marathon at the annual Goodwood (UK) Roller Marathon on quad skates.

Goodwood is not the smoothest of surfaces, but as I skate the event on inlines (yes I occasionally go to the dark side) I am not over bothered about what wheels I use as long as they are 82a-ish.

Anyway, to get back to quad wheels, we tried Reno Heliums (82a?), Airwave something or others (78A) and Hyper Rollos (65mm 78A). This story somewhat parallels the Goldilocks and the porridge story.

The Airwaves were really good on smooth surfaces, but didn't inspire any confidence when there was any roughness or surface debris around.

We managed to talk our way onto the track a couple of weeks before the marathon and tried out the Heliums. They were fast alright, but were just too hard to be comfortable on the Goodwood track. After 8 laps (20 miles) my son had to stop because he was getting too much vibration to be comfortable any longer.

So he settled on the Hyper Rollo's. With a new set of bearings his wheels were so quiet that I had to keep looking round to see if he was still there when he was skating behind me

Attempting a double marathon, the wheels were of paramount importance. It became apparent, looking at other quaddies with similar skates, that the wheels were the single most important change he made. He was able to keep up with the fastest quad skaters who were doing the shorther distances (mini, half and full marathons).

We didn't finish the double marathon - my fault- I ran out of steam. But 46 miles non-stop on quads isn't bad.

[cliff]

Are the Reno Heliums the same as the Roll-Line Heliums?

Nice going on the distance. I haven't done anything above 15 miles on quads lately.

[yedaki_de]

We didn't finish the double marathon - my fault- I ran out of steam. But 46 miles non-stop on quads isn't bad.

double marathon on quad is a real challenge. Respect!!!:)
And also 46 miles are a long way , next time you will get it.

What was your preparation for the double maraton?

I my case I found out that I can incrase the distance every trainig unit only up to 10km that it doesnt feel to hard.
e.g. if I like to do 70km it is better when I made some days before 60km and so on.

Johannes

[peter]

Are the Reno Heliums the same as the Roll-Line Heliums?

.

Oops - sorry - I meant Roll Line.

[peter]

What was your preparation for the double maraton?



It was my 18 year old son on quads, not me. He did very little training other than then odd 7 or 8 miles a couple of times a week. Although the marathon we skated at Goodwood two weeks prior to the actual event was to check our fitness levels, it was also the perfect opportunity to determine which wheels to use on the day. If he had used the Roll Lines, which he originally planned to do, the double marathon would have been a disaster. Hence my realisation about the importamnce of getting the right wheels for the job.

I was really sorry I was not able to carry on as I am sure he could have finished.

Anyway, he reckons if we train properly, we could make the 22 laps next year. And he is going to stick with Hyper Rollos as he really feels these are the quad wheels for the Goodwood surface.