Monza 98a

[fierocious1]

I loaded up the wheels this morning and swapped wheels out at the rink. 45 minutes is all it took to break them in. I really think Scott is putting pressure on the "production companies" to make better wheels. These wheel are harder and you feel every crack in the floor. But they hooked up about 25 minutes after hitting the floor(scuffing them in). Ride is smooth, no bad wheels, just floor feedback is more than I expected. Roll is very good and I expect to get much better in a couple of months. Gonna run the crapola out of these if I can hook them up at the Lufkin rink. Put in several good laps with no issues as traffic was light after 3:30
Also blew out another yellow cone. Second one in 2 months. Left front...Gotta order some more soon.
Very happy with these wheels. Could have been a better day but I ran a chainsaw all day yesterday.

[Mort]

Bearing fitment good? I presume they are the same quality hubs as the Zombie line. If you can, measure the bearing seat widths and they all come out the same,(.2995) they are newly produced hibs, not just old stock, newly poured.

Im guessing with better urethane than the zombies as well.

[fierocious1]

Originally Posted by Mort

Bearing fitment good? I presume they are the same quality hubs as the Zombie line. If you can, measure the bearing seat widths and they all come out the same,(.2995) they are newly produced hibs, not just old stock, newly poured.

Im guessing with better urethane than the zombies as well.

I know they are about standard, If too wide these flips will not let me lock them on with out some force because I use O rings behind the inside bearing. They fit like the Shamans do. I have one flip that it takes effort anyway to latch the wheel, same effort as the Shamans. So it is very close to standard.

[fierocious1]

For it's hardness it does a great job! Hit the Lufkin rink tonight. Started off on the Monzas.... They had traction! Lots of traction, until I really pushed them in the turns. But were very predictable. I skated them for about an hour then switched back to the White Shamans. They gripped awesomely as well, just a hair grippier than the Monzas. Not a lot of difference between the two but enough that if you are on a marginal floor, the drop in duro or from the Monzas to the Shaman, there will be a slight difference in grip, not much difference in roll between the two. The Monzas are slightly harder, enough that you can feel it on the floor.
Very satisfied with the results from the Monza wheels. I highly recommend the Monza wheels. Bear in mind that they are a very hard wheel and may not grip on sketchy floors with marginal traction. If you are skating hard suspension, they may not grip at all.. DA45 RULES!!

[Rossman76]

Thanks for the insight.ive been thinking about buying a set and this is giving me the nudge that I needed.they are on the way now as we speak!

[fierocious1]

Ran the Monzas again in Lufkin today. They did very well until you push them deep, then they break loose. That is because of this floor. In Spring, they hook up and don't slip no matter. My new favorite wheel for skating there. So I'm back to three sets of wheels that will handle all the floors I skate on. Happy camper is me...

[jotson]

Originally Posted by fierocious1

floor feedback is more than I expected. Roll is very good and I expect to get much better in a couple of months.

That's the same thing I thought when changing from RBT to Zombie. The solid aluminum core on the Zombie (and apparently Monza) do a dramatic job of transferring the floor surface to your feet.

[AZSHOT]

Hi, I'm trying to decide on a new wheel for a new build I'm about to do. My current orange Cannibals 95A seem about perfect. I do notice they're starting to slide controllably when I do speed skating at full speed. Sometimes it seems it's when the floor is dusty, but I know they dustmop it before sessions.

I've also got a set of old green Shamans, and they seem to slide too, even more so. But they may be the old formula ones, their labels have worn off.

Anyway, I wonder if I could go harder, with the Monzas or the white Shaman? I'm hearing the Monza grips better for a normal 98A. But I don't want to get something too hard, that will be sliding whatever I do....

[fierocious1]

Originally Posted by AZSHOT

Hi, I'm trying to decide on a new wheel for a new build I'm about to do. My current orange Cannibals 95A seem about perfect. I do notice they're starting to slide controllably when I do speed skating at full speed. Sometimes it seems it's when the floor is dusty, but I know they dustmop it before sessions.

I've also got a set of old green Shamans, and they seem to slide too, even more so. But they may be the old formula ones, their labels have worn off.

Anyway, I wonder if I could go harder, with the Monzas or the white Shaman? I'm hearing the Monza grips better for a normal 98A. But I don't want to get something too hard, that will be sliding whatever I do....

Generally, you can get better traction going to softer durometers(not always true due to urethane properties). Harder will usually make you slide more.
So from what you are stating, either you have a very tight suspension, a floor with no gripping properties(old or very worn floorcoat) or very dirty wheels.. update us with more of this info.
To test a floor I clean my wheels before I skate. That way I can see what the floor is actually like. Starting off with dirty wheels or with wheels that might have residue(skating different floors will put different particle into the urethane that needs to be cleaned out) doesn't give you a good baseline to start with. So clean, then test. Even wetting the wheels with water and rolling them on a tile floor before skating will get a lot of crap off the wheels but minty alcohol works well for me. I carry a small hand spray bottle in my bag.

[AZSHOT]

I skated the greens again last night. I keep them clean. They seemed to get grippier as I skated, maybe they needed to warm up. They would still slide if I made them, but didn't feel as slick as the last time I used them for only about 10 laps, then switched. This time it was the only skates I had, so I had to use them for about 2 hours. They worked out alright, but even backwards I would feel my right toe break loose when doing backwards cross steps. That doesn't happen with my Cannibals. Weird

[AZSHOT]

I decided the white Labeda Stilettos were the next wheels for me. Coming next week.