Wheels and their makers

[flemo004]

I was just wondering, apart from the American made wheels: Powell Peralta, Labeda and Hyper, do many people know about the Cruciani (or *CG* as they are known) wheels and the Universal wheels??
Both of these are Italian, and I was not sure if many other people know of them. They aren't real flash to look at, but they all worked REALLY well on the right surfaces.

[xlracer]

I will get BrokenJoe to respond he is all about the Italian outdoor stuff.

[kiwimaster]

I still have and use a set of cruciani 96a.
The prefered wheels before cruciani and universal were the "Faster" wheels.

[flemo004]

Originally Posted by kiwimaster

I still have and use a set of cruciani 96a.
The prefered wheels before cruciani and universal were the "Faster" wheels.

Yeah, I forgot about Faster. I remember skating Faster Box Country wheels, and I had Faster Rogua plates when I was starting to race.
Not too many people outside of Europe and, for some reason, the Oceania region know about a lot of the European gear.
As you can see, I have a few sets of CG's pictured, but I have many more in a box somewhere.
Come to think of it, I actually have one of Giuseppe's old skate bags, something I treasured for years.

[Doc Sk8]

Originally Posted by flemo004

Yeah, I forgot about Faster. I remember skating Faster Box Country wheels, and I had Faster Rogua plates when I was starting to race.
Not too many people outside of Europe and, for some reason, the Oceania region know about a lot of the European gear.
As you can see, I have a few sets of CG's pictured, but I have many more in a box somewhere.
Come to think of it, I actually have one of Giuseppe's old skate bags, something I treasured for years.

I know, It's not touching my toe

[flemo004]

I know it's not Doc, but I can't hold that against you. The fact you have these makes you COOL in my books.
I am really impressed with the collection of equipment you have, in fact I am a little envious.
It makes me think about the things I have sold off in the past in order to fund my skating: Faster plates sold to buy Boen plates, Boen plates sold to buy Labeda plates, and so on.
At least I still have a lot of my wheels, even though the same things happened here in order to fund more wheels and trips overseas to race.

[merlin]

Hell yeah, CG100's .. the only wheel for a time trial, yeah!!!

Do you remember Jeds?? The best all-purpose road wheels bar none...!!

[flemo004]

I do remember the Jeds, imported and sold by the head Jedite!! HAHA!!
Do you see anything of him now days??

[merlin]

Originally Posted by flemo004

I do remember the Jeds, imported and sold by the head Jedite!! HAHA!!
Do you see anything of him now days??

HAHAHAHA!! yeah, I still have some outdoor quad wheels with TK on the inside edge :-) and yes they STILL out perform anything you can buy today.

As for the big man himself, I'm friends with him on facebook, but he hasn't been part of the skate scene since, oh, say 1990 or something like that.

[flemo004]

Last time I saw him was in 91 - I think - at worlds in Belgium. He seemed to drift off into obscurity after that...as did his wheels... HAHA!

[Doc Sk8]

Originally Posted by flemo004

I know it's not Doc, but I can't hold that against you. The fact you have these makes you COOL in my books.
I am really impressed with the collection of equipment you have, in fact I am a little envious.

No need for that.... I got into this as an adult.... with a bit of extra cash, it was easy enough to do it...Of course now with the massive SEDS outbreak, it takes more cash....

It makes me think about the things I have sold off in the past in order to fund my skating: Fast plates sold to buy Boen plates, Boen plates sold to buy Labeda plates, and so on.

I have never had to do that with sk8s.

At least I still have a lot of my wheels, even though the same things happened here in order to fund more wheels and trips overseas to race.

Well that certainly explains it....Travel will eat your money like nothing else.... my daughter competed for 7 years (Inline speed) The trips to Nationals were not inexpensive....

Any chance we can see a BIG version of your avatar photo??

[flemo004]

Hope this works out Doc, here is the close up of the avatar and I am also in the process of taking close up pics of my wheels and skates to post.


Nope, only gives you the link and not the pic in the post...



Wicked!!! Thanks Bill, I appreciate it.

[Bill in Houston]

in photobucket, click on the box below where it says IMG code, and copy it.

here in skatelog, paste it. once you do it, i'll edit mine so i'm not posting your photo...

[flemo004]

Here you are, a fresh post with the pic of my kit.

[Doc Sk8]

The spoked hubs are interesting.... http://www.skaterdirect.com/wheels.html Seems like a close clone is still in production....

[flemo004]

With the 6spoked hub you had a wheels that had a little more flex, so it was a little more forgiving on the rougher roads, as well as giving a bit extra when pushing.
The 12spoked hub was the firmer version, not as much flex, but more in the roll department. Better on the nice smooth road tracks.
I have to say, the *CG* wheels are not real flash to look at, and they all pretty much look the same, but they were some of the best wheels ever made.
Giuseppe Cruciani also had his own plates being made by Boen, with a bit more angle on the kingpin, and, unlike the Boen Special, they were not made for right and left feet.

[kiwimaster]

Development of outdoor speed rollerskate plates ceased in roughly 1980 or so with boen,labeda developed a little further after that I guess but not much.
Wheel development ceased in 1990 or so with cruciani.

Question..since its at least 20 years since anyone has been thinking of ways to go fast on rollerskates outdoors,what would happen if we applied year 2009 technology to quads..ie a better boot(yes, ive seen the bonts but more can be done yet)
lighter plates configured for possibly bigger wheels?(interesting discussion would be wheel size,inliners are now 115mm of the ground)

Has anybody tried the quadline style skate..seems to me that this style could be the future once the designs are tidyed up,made lighter etc.

Many of the track world records are still held by quad skaters,my first 100m is still faster on quads than inlines..Now that the road T/T is 200m and not 300m would a new age quad skate be faster??

Luca was 3rd at 1992 worlds in the 300m on quads,many inliners behind him...of course that was near the start of the inline era.

All food for thought.

[flemo004]

Originally Posted by kiwimaster

Development of outdoor speed rollerskate plates ceased in roughly 1980 or so with boen,labeda developed a little further after that I guess but not much.
Wheel development ceased in 1990 or so with cruciani.

Question..since its at least 20 years since anyone has been thinking of ways to go fast on rollerskates outdoors,what would happen if we applied year 2009 technology to quads..ie a better boot(yes, ive seen the bonts but more can be done yet)
lighter plates configured for possibly bigger wheels?(interesting discussion would be wheel size,inliners are now 115mm of the ground)

I always thought using a smaller wheel was the way to go with a sprint, easier to get them wound up - around 57-59mm - but the longer distances were always about using a larger wheel for their rolling ability - the Hyper Strada and the Labeda Bad Boyz were both 66mm and good for this.
I guess there is more that could be done with wheels, they were always an ever evolving beast, and with the new urethanes out now I am sure there is something that can be made that is nice and lively.

As for the boots, Inze looked at the Risports when we received them and said "They are the most perfect boot I have ever seen". That really means something when it comes from a man who has made his living and name from making boots. He did try to make his boots as rigid as the Risports, but was never able to emulate this.
BTW, does anyone know of any old long track ice skaters that may have a pair of these boots??? Preferably a 44Euro???...just asking.

What more could be done with the plates though?? Giving them the ability to take a larger wheel and to make them lighter is pretty much it...isn't it??

Originally Posted by kiwimaster

Has anybody tried the quadline style skate..seems to me that this style could be the future once the designs are tidyed up,made lighter etc.

HAHA!! Whitby was trying to do this back in about 1992!! SO there is a good reason not to worry about this...HAHAHA!!!
It stands to reason that they would be faster, since there is as much contact with the ground with all of the wheels that are an inline style as there is with 1 quad wheel. But how do they handle?? I think this is where Whitby had problems was with the handing of them - there was none!

Originally Posted by kiwimaster

Many of the track world records are still held by quad skaters,my first 100m is still faster on quads than inlines..Now that the road T/T is 200m and not 300m would a new age quad skate be faster??

Yeah, my 100m was just over 10.50secs - just a straight dash from a standing start - on a nice pair of quads.
I can't believe they have shortened the TT distance! I will get a copy of the 300m TT Luca Antoniel did in 1988 at Cassano D'adda, man to this very day it is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!! He rolls around a whole corner and is still able to win the world title!!

Originally Posted by kiwimaster

Luca was 3rd at 1992 worlds in the 300m on quads,many inliners behind him...of course that was near the start of the inline era.

As I mentioned above, he was simply amazing!! Yet another name that slipped into oblivion when the brilliant decision to scrap quads and make inlines the skate of choice! Not much of a democratic decision, simply "If you want to skate, this is how you will do it!".

Originally Posted by kiwimaster

All food for thought.

It sure is...It sure is.

[kiwimaster]

Quadline style.

I am not thinking of the inline wheels.rather a purpose built wheel about 30 mm wide and perhaps 100mm high or higher.
The defining feature though would be similar to the skorpion skate..ie lower axles.we can be the same height of the ground that we are now with 100mm wheels!
The quadline and skorpion skates suffer from being to wide,many report trouble with crossovers.But I belive this can be overcome by making them as narrow as possible.

The narrow wheels will still grip as the larger diameter has a larger contact surface.

more food.....

[kiwimaster]

Found a box in the back of the shed yesterday..I knew i had wheels somewhere.
left to right.
96a cruciani,70mm 78a Kyrpto roadrunner
99a box faster,99a cruciani.
91a/89a box faster doubles..and a few carbon plates plus some spare boen parts.
Got my skates in peices ,refurbishing them.