The Voice from the Pacific Northwest Newsletter
What
Frame Length? Which Size Wheels?...continued
By Conny
Strub
These
seem to be the most current questions amongst skaters across
the globe. A sponsored skater may have the choice to play around
and test the newest and most recently developed equipment to
find out what works best for him/her, but how do normal mortals
decide what works best for them?.
Technical
abilities certainly play a big role in choosing the right frame.
Additionally, body size and foot size is a consideration. I
for one cannot mount any 100mm frames to my Vaypors. My feet
are too small to accommodate 190mm spacing. TRU REV now offers
a 4/100 with 165mm spacing, which is an option, the drawback
to this is being about 5mm higher off the ground. I can go to
a 4x90mm frame, which I believe is an excellent choice for indoor
skating, especially for smaller women and weaker skaters. I
am an outdoor distance skater with a strong push, and I want
as much length as I can possibly handle to take full advantage
of the gliding phase. The 5/84 Snipers I presently use suit
me just fine, as they are stiff, nimble and very responsive.
I can feel the road and the length is right.
I
am suspicious about the shorter 100m frames. What happens when
any kind of force and torque is applied by a bigger person?
Maybe someone out there can educate me.
Over
the last few months I have seen skaters switch from a 5/84 to
a 4/100 set up. I noticed that, after switching to the shorter
frame the skaters' technique fell apart, they lost their form
and glide. To quote one of the world's top speed skater, inline
and ice: "These stupid 100mm frames only really work for
a guy with a small ass foot that can still get some torque out
of the toe but someone with a 10 or larger it feels like a damn
hockey skate under the foot and I spin out like I did on those
80mm, 12.8 frames." This confirms my thinking.
In
our last newsletter, Eddy Matzger states: “Now all the top skaters
have 100 mm wheels. And the only ones who don't are sponsored
by companies who are still trying to get rid of their 84, 88
or 90 mm wheels.
I
have to disagree with this statement, as will I am sure, a number
of manufacturers. For example, Bont, the maker and inventor
of the 5 x 88mm wheel/frame combo had done their homework -
about a year’s worth - and enlisted the services of the premiere
engineer in the inline skating industry, Neal Piper.
Together
with Neal, they came to the conclusion that the 88mm is the
optimal size for strong skaters. They are the first to admit
that this set-up is not for everyone – it will be too hard for
most to push – but they are certainly not trying to “dump” the
frames, as inferred in the comment above. In addition, the North
American Team skaters are free to use any set-up, from the 5
x 80mm to the 5 x 88mm to the 4 x 100mm. They do not have one
single skater opt for the 4 x 100mm. In fact, all male skaters
have adopted the 5 x 88mm set-up, and asked not to alter the
configuration. Ryan Cox, previously from the Hyper Team, using
their 4 x 100mm frame, swears that he’ll never go back to that
configuration after trying the 5 x 88mm set-up.
Having
said all this, I think that each individual will need to find
his/her optimal wheel and frame configuration. Remember when
we all wondered about the 5/84s? It’s old history now
For
your reference, below are some specifications for some of the
frames available (quoted in single frame length):
5x80mm:
12.8" weight: 180g - 280g
5x84mm: 13.33” - 13.5" Weight: 164g – 240g
5x88mm: 14" Weight: 224g
5x90mm: 14.44” Weight: 175g – 190g (magnesium)
4x100mm: 12.1” – 13.4” Weight: 179g – 260g
A
few manufactures (past and present) use a magnesium alloy instead
of an aluminum alloy for their frames, which is about 20% lighter.
A 220g aluminum frame would weight around 175g if it were made
from a magnesium alloy.
I'm
guessing that 90% of all frames from 5x80mm to 4x100m and everything
in between will weigh between 200g to 240g. The exception is
magnesium frames. The sub-200g 5x80mm frames from the past have
all disappeared, this includes the first generation 5x80mm Sniper
frame. In general the longer frames (5x88 and 5x90) will weigh
more, but a 5x88 Sniper frame at 224g is less than some popular
4x84mm frames and a lot of the 5x80mm frames of the past, including
the original Mogema Diamond, and the Ultimate Attitude frames.
Couple the lightness of the 88mm Sniper with the weight savings
of the mini bearing in the 88mm Bont Cragar wheel, and the full
setup (frames, wheels, bearings and bearing spacers) weighs
less than most 84mm setups with 608 bearings.
Don’t
forget about the frame height, the vertical measure from the
rear platform to the ground:
5x80mm:
96 - 98mm
5x84mm: 98 - 101mm
5x90mm: 101 - 105mm
3x100+84: 100 - 105mm
4x100: 106mm - 110mm (190/195mm mount)
4x80mm: 96mm - 98mm
4x84mm: 98mm - 101mm
4x90mm: 100mm - 104mm
Happy
Skating 2005
Conny
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