06 May 2008 06:19:40

Larry

Slower wheels for V2 150s?

Hi, I use V2 150 combis for skating. I'm down to my last pair of good wheels and need to decide on a course of action before I ship half a dozen of them to be re-mounted. I won't save much by doing that compared to buying new wheels - I just hate accumulating them. And I'm not doing it myself - I've tried. I've been told that people get up to 5 years from their wheels. Assuming we ski at the same rate (three or so hours every weekend), I'm wearing them out 5 or more times faster. And by the way, when they blow, it's not just the tube - the tire is bald and showing threads too. There's probably a third of a mile of very coarse pavement where I ski, but it seems that the main reason is that I don't inflate them all the way to the recommended 90psi. Even at 80, they are way too fast to be effective for endurance training, and too uncomfortable for long glide. My preference is around 60, but I weigh 185lbs, which may be pushing it as evidenced by a small pile of worn-out wheels. Speed reducers are kind of funny - first notch feels OK and works while the wheels are new. Wear them down a bit, and the first notch becomes ineffective. Second notch is way too much - no glide whatsoever, just a safety feature for downhills. Which brings me to my question: are there any slow wheels that can be used with 150s? Any other options? Maybe I should just under-inflate and pay the price. Thanks!

06 May 2008 08:41:16

Re: Slower wheels for V2 150s?

I went through a very similar experience with those, which led me to change rollerski brands and where I go, given no reducers. I'm a much better skier for it and have gotten rid of the frustration and material overhead. Unless you've done that before and are hard set on the 150s, I'd suggest calling Finn Sisu in Saint Paul and trying a demo pair of Mare 610s for a week. RM Larry <vmarfitsin@yahoo.com > wrote: > Hi, > > I use V2 150 combis for skating. I'm down to my last pair of good > wheels and need to decide on a course of action before I ship half a > dozen of them to be re-mounted. I won't save much by doing that > compared to buying new wheels - I just hate accumulating them. And I'm > not doing it myself - I've tried. > > I've been told that people get up to 5 years from their wheels. > Assuming we ski at the same rate (three or so hours every weekend), > I'm wearing them out 5 or more times faster. And by the way, when they > blow, it's not just the tube - the tire is bald and showing threads > too. There's probably a third of a mile of very coarse pavement where > I ski, but it seems that the main reason is that I don't inflate them > all the way to the recommended 90psi. Even at 80, they are way too > fast to be effective for endurance training, and too uncomfortable for > long glide. My preference is around 60, but I weigh 185lbs, which may > be pushing it as evidenced by a small pile of worn-out wheels. Speed > reducers are kind of funny - first notch feels OK and works while the > wheels are new. Wear them down a bit, and the first notch becomes > ineffective. Second notch is way too much - no glide whatsoever, just > a safety feature for downhills. > > Which brings me to my question: are there any slow wheels that can be > used with 150s? Any other options? Maybe I should just under-inflate > and pay the price. > > Thanks!

06 May 2008 08:09:21

Re: Slower wheels for V2 150s?

I second the suggestion to switch rollerskis, and the 610s are excellent Honeycomb composite shaft, which has flex. Unlike aluminum, which are stiff. Durable - three seasons of hard use and no problems. Rear wheels last about 1000km. Front wheels even longer. I've tried the 150s and IMO they are not a good rollerski to develop proper skate technique. They're very heavy, which cause the ski to hang which causes the skier to use bad technique to compensate. You have already documented the wheel maintenance problems. Marwe wheels are very expensive ($45), but there is an alternative wheel from RollerSkiShop.com which costs about half the price. They offer three speeds 1 - fast, 2 - med, 3 - slow, so you can pick based on fitness or the level of intensity you want. Speed 2 seems to represent average snow speed.