difference between skate wheels and scooter wheels?

[John Doe]

I suppose there's typically a bigger frame and less rubber on a
skate wheel? So that would make using scooter wheels too heavy? Is
that about the only difference between a skate wheel and a scooter
wheel?

Just curious.

[inlina]

Post by John Doe
I suppose there's typically a bigger frame and less rubber on a
skate wheel? So that would make using scooter wheels too heavy? Is
that about the only difference between a skate wheel and a scooter
wheel?
Just curious.

The hubs tend to be different as you mention, for lightweighting. Other
than that, they are not really different at all. It's a matter of
quality that seperates them, generally with the urethane quality.

As far I I know, the scooter craze back in the mid to late 90's was the
enabler for big wheels for inline. Some guys (may have been Xenan
first) toyed with the idea of using the scooter wheels that had been
made available on inlines...the rest is history.

CG

[Jim White]

I, and others, skated on scooter wheels, a few years ago. I loaned som
of my old ones, a couple of weeks ago, to a friend who needed som
temporarily. He was happy with them.

I chose scooter wheels even though inline wheels were available (earl
ones, not so good). I used scooter wheels for training, not racing. Th
scotter wheels I used were a little softer than race wheels, and thu
more comfortable to skate on. Beyond that, they just felt good
although I don't know why.

Yes, they are typically heavier than skate wheels, so take more effor
to use. But most people who want the easy way watch TV rather tha
skating. My philosophy was that if I could build my muscles to handl
the heavy wheels, I'd be like Superman when I put on the light wheels.

Scooter wheels, at least recently, had a relatively round profile. I
other words, if you cut the wheel in half so you were looking at wha
would be the back half on a skate, the bottom of the wheel would b
shaped like a letter U. If you did the same with a skate wheel, th
profile would be more like a V.

Skate race wheels come in various hardnesses and degrees of adhesion
which some skaters choose between depending on the surface on whic
they are skating. Also, I expect that high-end skate wheels are mor
precise than high-end scooter wheels, if such a thing exists.

Many skaters may not care about most of the things above. But they ar
important to skaters who win/lose races, and thousands of dollars, b
less than the length of a skate

--
Jim Whit
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[Ken Roberts]

Jim White wrote
[ in the midst of lots of rather helpful analysis ]

Scooter wheels, at least recently, had a relatively round profile. In
other words, if you cut the wheel in half so you were looking at what
would be the back half on a skate, the bottom of the wheel would be
shaped like a letter U. If you did the same with a skate wheel, the
profile would be more like a V.

My guess is that the V or "parabolic" profile of inline racing wheels is so
that they have relatively lower rolling resistance when they're tilted -
(see details in the "theory of skating rolling resistance" thread).

Which would suggest that measuring or comparing the rolling resistance of
wheels by running them untilted straight down a hill with weight evenly
distributed over both skates is not getting at what serious racing skate
wheels are mainly designed for.

Ken

[DJ]

Post by Ken Roberts
My guess is that the V or "parabolic" profile of inline racing wheels is so
that they have relatively lower rolling resistance when they're tilted -
(see details in the "theory of skating rolling resistance" thread). ...

Hmm, haven't thought through the physics of this. But I remember
(hopefully correctly) from Barryboy's class (and DVD?) his explanation
that the ellipitcal profile was motivated by enhancement of weight
transfer and therefore push.

Off topic warning:
Maybe I should apologize for my part in the recent inclination of this
WG towards the scientific. Those who like to flame and troll call must
be getting really irritated with you Ken. :o)

DJ

[IV]

I have actually seen scooters which have inline wheels on them. Be careful
which scooter wheels you try, though, as some seem to be thicker than inline
wheels.

[aaJoe]

This might be an interesting way of snagging 100mm wheels cheap as so
many kids break their scooters and throw them away. What should the
exact width be for a 100mm wheel? Do scooter wheels usually mention the
durometer on them?

[inlina]

Post by aaJoe
This might be an interesting way of snagging 100mm wheels cheap as so
many kids break their scooters and throw them away. What should the
exact width be for a 100mm wheel? Do scooter wheels usually mention the
durometer on them?

Typically the same width as an inline wheel, as they first used inline
hubs with more urethane to get to the 100mm dia.

I have never seen a scooter specific wheel that meantion DURO, as they
are usually out of cheap crappy suppliers (China), who mix some A with
some B to make their urethane. They are typically much lower quality
and quite hard with poor visco-elastic properties (energy draining).

CG