ohfreak

I was out on my daily skate today when my left skate started to make a
good deal of racket. A couple of minutes later, the 2nd wheel from
the front came to a complete stop. Luckily I wasn't going all that
fast and was also within walking distance from home.

When I inspected it, to my surprise the wheel had actually *bulged*
out and was lodged in the frame... strings of plastic were hanging off
and I had to work like hell to get the wheel dislodged.

Anyone have this happen to them or know what the heck happened? Very
bizarre!

--C

fnguy

I'd guess the bearings or axle degraded to the point that the #2 wheel
tilted over and rubbed against the frame, which physically peeled off some
material, while the friction overheated it. The #2 wheel is the most
"crowded" wheel on most frames. I always carry my skate wrench along for
just such an occasion. The #2 is the least critical wheel, and you can go
far without it. Thus, if another wheel failed, I'd replace it with the #2.

It would help if you told us the brand/model/size of both the skate and the
wheels.

Glad you're OK. A wheel "lock up" like that could easily send you
tumbling, though you did receive fair warining via the "racket".

ese002

I think if you inspect the wheel closely you will find that the urethane
has separated from the core. This is a manufacturing defect, of a kind
that every wheel manufacturer seems to be guilty of at one time or
another. My most recent encounter with the problem was with a set of
Rollerblade branded aluminum hub wheels. But I've also has a set of
"DB Cooper"s do this and a set of Hyper Assault XT's.

--
Use the From: header. Sending mail to ese002@news8.exile.org
or ese002@news7.exile.org will only result in frustration.

philip weissman

Did the wheel material come off the hub? This rarely happens but yes it
does happen. I think the term for it is "chunk", as in the wheel "chunked".
It's only ever happened to me once while skating on Explorer wheels that
were seconds gotten for free through Skate Patrol. It was my rear wheel and
it happened while braking with the brake. Since I was braking, it wasn't
dangerous. I just couldn't get going again.

ohfreak

Yah, the material had kind of "bulged* out from the spot right next to
the hub and then ground its way into the frame.

They're 2000 K2 Eclipses, and the wheels were 76mm/82a Hypers that I
bought from someone on the ol' Ebay. From what I could tell the
axle and bearing were in fine shape still...

fnguy

Oh well, my lack of experience led to a bad guess. I have wondered why so
many wheels have just a smooth outer hub-to-urethane interface, while only
a few designs have hubs with loops/spikes/paddles/etc. which project
outward for the urethane to "lock onto"... those latter kind are what I'll
be keeping an eye out for... of course it's tough to tell if the urethane
is opaque...

We inliners are just sons of toil and danger I reckon... ;^)

b fuhrmann

But at least you are willing to learn, unlike johns and John Doe (aka
several other names including lshaping)

I have wondered why so


I just looked at the clear wheels that I have around.
Two different models from each of: Labeda, Hyper, and Salomon, plus 2
different brands of lighted wheels.
All had a center rib on the hub with holes through it. That means that the
largest mass of urethane forms solid loops of material locking it to the
hub.

--
Bill Fuhrmann
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fnguy

You're probably right that locking "ribs" are more the norm than not--
my lack of experience again. But I have some old Black Hole wheels that
just have some shallow grooves around the hub, and I've seen others too...
perhaps above a certain durometer, or below a certain diameter, it's not as
critical?

But even with ribs/loops, I haven't noticed any wheels where the hub has a
significant flange to prevent the urethane from bulging out beyond (and
off) the edge of the hub, which is the NOT uncommon failure that happened
here.

Oh well, hope I'm not leaning too far forward when it happens to me... or
that I have my full coverage helmet on if I am... D'OH!!

Yeah, that guy is... amusing... kinda sorta sometimes... :/