LondonSkaters Speed Team - Speed Skating & Rollerblading Club in London

dan_b · Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 2428

It's about time I forked out for a new set of wheels, I think. What do the in-crowd use these days for road/outdoor? Back in the day I used to like Matter Reds, but I bet they've been superseded by something now

ed!

I'm currently using Bont Mint greens as my everyday wheels. They're not cheap, and it's down to pure laziness as to why I'm using them instead of something cheaper.
Personally, Matters are still my choice race wheel - unless it rains, where Storm Surges come into the frame (so to speak).

Bont G3 wheels, were pretty good value for money all round wheels, but not sure how much they cost these days.

Sparky · Joined: 03 Jun 2004 Posts: 450

Hey Dan what did you go for?

Fred_Paris · Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 10:25 am Subject:

Hmm Don't remenber seing this post Smile

I have to say I didn't see that much changes in the Wheels this year.

As Training wheels I use the MPC street fighter as they are very good even in the wet.

Racing I would go for Yellow matters or MPC road wars

Bont wheels seem to be quite popular and people in the club are happy wih them. So I would consider them for training.

I am not planning on buying new wheels this year as I am still working my way through previous buys Smile

Wild Phil · Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 26

Has anyone tried Gyro wheels for racing?

ed! · Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 1:54 pm Subject:

Not used for racing, but for general use:

http://www.londonspeedskaters.com/forums/--p42668.php#42668
http://www.londonspeedskaters.com/forums/--p50390.php#50390

Personally, I wouldn't use them for racing, there are much better wheels out there and whilst more expensive, are worth the difference (sorry Phil!)

As a training wheel, then maybe, but due to current laziness, my race wheels have turned into my training wheels Embarassed

Wild Phil · Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 26

Barrie · Joined: 21 May 2006 Posts: 1380 Location: Putney

I had to stop using my Gyros as after some major wear ( 5mm or so?) they'd lost all roll - which means their lifespan even as a street/marshaling wheel is limited.

I've got some Blue AM-Wing Jets (which were going pretty cheap last year), and seem pretty good for a training wheel so far*, to the extent that I might try the harder pink (er, I mean red) ones if I see them cheap.

I read one review, which I'd agree with, which said that they feel like a soft wheel, but roll like a hard wheel. Last year at a track meet at Tatem lots of people had them, and one guy really liked them as they felt like they were gliding on air - they do feel really smoooooth.

However I'm not sure that their softness would stand up to marshaling, T-stopping etc., and vs yellow Matters I'm not sure that their roll would be enough for a marathon**, and they're pretty heavy.

So yeah, unless you like soft wheels, the pinky/red ones might be better... (guesswork would place them feeling like white matters, but perhaps with a bit more roll) but still on the heavy side I'd imagine.

It'd probably be an idea for Ed and someone else to give my blue ones a whizz for a second opinion before I wear them down...

* They've still got the seam on after quite a few indoor sessions, which bodes well for their wear rate, but obviously I can't yet tell how they perform once worn.
** I do have greased bearings in them at the moment, which can't help the roll, though it might not hinder it much either.

Wild Phil · Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 26

I have to disagree on the Gyros not being up to marshalling. I use gyros for it and totally *cane* them tstopping from v high speeds and they are holding up just fine.

Although, I havent tried matters and can only compare them to Hyper Concretes which I used previously, and they are about the same durability (possibly a little less), but the Gyros feel like a smoother ride.

Barrie · Joined: 21 May 2006 Posts: 1380 Location: Putney

Mine were 110mm 2008 Gyro Orbitrons, given the favourable reviews of the 80mm wheels they must be quite different.

For my green 85a Orbitrons... they went from being OK to begin with (winter 2008/2009), to pretty iffy when hot (soft, melting?, and losing grip summer 2009), and to a lesser extent, iffy when cold (hard and losing grip winter 2009/2010 until I got some heat in to them), to being mahoosively slow (Spring 2010).

I genuinely believe my 80mm worn to 76mm Hyper Concretes will roll noticeably better.

At skaiti I used both those and some almost new white matters ( similar hardness ), if I hadn't experienced the swap, I'd never have believed quite how much the Orbitrons had lost it.

Good for resistance training now though!