Spacers

[Oicusk82huh]

Hello. I have questions about spacers. My new frame came with spacers, so I figured I'd put em in my wheels to see how it would go. I noticed that two of the wheels did this thing where the bearing would pop out, just a little, luckily the nuts kept them from going too far. The wheel moved about a 1/4 inch back and forth on the axel. I never saw bearings do this before.

Did I do something wrong?

What is your experience with spacers? I never used them before. I took them out of the affected wheels and just used the wheels normally. Nothing bad happened, in fact it was much better.

What's the deal with spacers? There are no artistic skaters near me to ask. Thanks, any help is appreciated.

PS: the new plates give me super powers hahahaha, just kidding, but I am cuddling with my skates right now.

[larryoracing]

Ummmm,

The Roll Line Plates come with spacers. I do not know why? When you buy Roll Line Wheels, they don't come with Spacers. Why would you include new spacers only when you buy Roll Line Plates? It seems the Roll Line wheels would come with spacers, but they do not. You only get Roll Line Spacers when you buy new Roll Line Plates/frames????????

Usually when you buy Roll Line plates/frames, they come with one extra set of cushions? Usually the salesman will ask you which hardness extra set of cushions, would you like when you order your new Roll Line Plates. It's part of the package/deal/sales price.

The spacers you got with the frames will only fit Roll Line Wheels. I think the Komplex Wheels use the same size spacers if you wish. The Roll Line spacers also fit STD Wheels. They will not fit Bones Elite or Bones Super Elite wheels.

You need a shorter spacer so the spacers don't "pop" out. You would have to steal some spacers out of some old Clay wheels made 50 years ago if you wanted some spacers in the Bones Elite of Bones Super Elite Wheels.

That's what I had to do. Buy some old skates with really old wheels and take
the spacers out of those wheels to use on the Bones Elite or Bones Super Elite Wheels.

I personally think if you are going to jump and spins on your New Matrix Plates, running spacers is a good idea. You would need somebody in the "know" to help you. A lot of people buy several sets of spacers from different manufacturers until they get the right size for the Wheels (Particular Wheels) you are running/rolling on.

Sincerely,

Larry Otani and Good Luck!

[Oicusk82huh]

Larryo, did you say that Komplex Wheels may use the same size spacer? Thank you! I'll reach out to them. I actually thought the Roll Line dealer would send different cushions too, but it only came with one set. Now I know.

There's a chance I'd probably be fine if I never got spacers, but these are my new babies, and I want the best for them.

The experience of this new plate is almost surreal. So smooth, centered, fast, precise. Worth every single penny. I just can't believe it!!! How is it possible to feel this good on skates? How do you explain this?

[rwsz]

Originally Posted by Oicusk82huh

Larryo, did you say that Komplex Wheels may use the same size spacer? Thank you! I'll reach out to them. I actually thought the Roll Line dealer would send different cushions too, but it only came with one set. Now I know.

There's a chance I'd probably be fine if I never got spacers, but these are my new babies, and I want the best for them.

The experience of this new plate is almost surreal. So smooth, centered, fast, precise. Worth every single penny. I just can't believe it!!! How is it possible to feel this good on skates? How do you explain this?

you don't really need spacers unless the wheels wont fit without them right. rolline wheels have them somewhat build in. popping up could be dangerous

[Oicusk82huh]

The wheels appear to fit well without the spacers. There's been no popping out since removing them. I'm going to remove the rest of the spacers before skating tonight, and check on the Komplex spacers.

I actually do have a pair of Roll Line wheels and comparing them to my current wheels, they seem to have the same, or similar lip on the inside (which may be "built in" spacers).

My current wheels are more of a security blanket than anything else. When trying the new plate, I didn't want "total" shock. I wanted to ease into the transition by keeping my old favorite wheels.

Do you think it would be okay to keep my security blanket wheels for some time, if their giving me no problems? My current wheels have a metal hub.

[larryoracing]

Whatever works.

Most people change wheels because they are looking for something different or better. If you like your wheels I would stay with them until you are dissatisfied and can't do something new with your skates...ie.. a new jump or spin or whatever...lol!

I went to Nationals last year and everybody was using Komplex wheels.
I bought a set and they seemed to be the same size wheels as the Roll-Line in construction and such. Put the Roll Line spacers in them and they seemed to work. These Komplex wheels are for figures going around those black circles painted on the floor at the skating rink. I don't do any turns on those wheels. There might be a problem with those spacers if I jumped and spun on the Komplex wheels. I don't do that with my Komplex wheels.

In general I'm old school. 50 years ago all skates had spacers. If you spend 800 dollars on a set of plates. 1200 dollars on a pair of custom boots. $250.00 on a set of Ceramic Bearings and $150.00 on a set of wheels and your 800 dollar skates come with spacers and they are recommended by Roll Line. Guess What? You might want to use them. But it's your choice...your money...your life...lol!

Take care and have fun!

Sincerely,

Larry Otani

[Oicusk82huh]

Thanks Larry, I'm gonna stick with my "security blanket" wheels for now. But honestly, the wheels that were not popping out seemed to roll so much smoother with the spacers. I'm still gonna look around for spacers, but I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. Then when I'm feeling adventurous I'll put my Roll Line wheels in.

Thanks for the help guys. There's a lot to learn.

[rwsz]

Originally Posted by Oicusk82huh

Thanks Larry, I'm gonna stick with my "security blanket" wheels for now. But honestly, the wheels that were not popping out seemed to roll so much smoother with the spacers. I'm still gonna look around for spacers, but I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. Then when I'm feeling adventurous I'll put my Roll Line wheels in.

Thanks for thE help guys. There's a lot to learn.

Glad its working out for you, you will find what your most comfortable with.

[Mort]

Spacers aren't a necessary item in quads. This is due to how the skate assemble vs inlines. Where inlines create a hold by torqued threads, they must have a spacer to keep the inner races from being pressed together when everything is tightened.

A quad skate uses nylock nuts, and does not require the same configuration to be made. Now, does it make much difference? No. Does it have measureable effect on the skates performance? Yes, but that depends on what you are doing if it matters.

If the bearing is "popped out" a little.. this means the spacer is too wide for the hub and is larger than the bearing seat width, so both bearings cannot be fully seated when a spacer is too wide. This causes the bearings to shift in the hub when skating when a heavy load is applied axially.

If the spacer is too small, the wheels will lose their ability to free spin when the axle nut is tightened down. This is due to the inner races being squeezed out of alignments with the outer races. The same happens on inline wheels sometimes when a spacer or wheel is out of tolerance. .001 inch of inconsistent width is all it takes for some bearings to develop drag, such as Qube 8 balls. Bearings like bones reds, which are a looser built bearing, will tolerate more inconsistencies before they start to bind up.

A correctly setup spacer in quad skates increases grip potential
. It braces the axle, as well as makes the wheel have virtually 0 play, and dampens vibrations, which reduces the tendency for a quad wheel to chatter/vibrate. It makes slides harder to control though.

A spacer typically makes a quad wheel perform with more consistent friction as well. So that is probably why a figure skater may want them installed correctly.

[busta9876]

I buy .400 wide inline skate spacers, and machine them down on my lathe to fit each wheel. It does take some work to make them work good.

I recently had some issues with the trucks on my reactor pro plates. I had two wheels that would not roll properly, when nut was tight the wheel would stop in a few seconds, and actually turn backwards a 1/4 to 1/2 turn. The binding was enough to cause the OUTER bearing race to move in the wheel bore and cause galling between the steel bearing outer race and aluminum wheel. The issues was the trucks not having a machined, square surface for the inner bearing to go up against.

[rwsz]

shame u had to go to all the work to get it to work the way it should work out the box. good job,,,,shouldn't be that way