How do I get my wheels to spin more freely?

[EndGame 0]

My wheels spin fine on the bearings when they're NOT mounted onto my skate, but when I tighten the bolts, they don't spin too well. I suspect this is taking away a little speed, and since I'm not the fastest skater in the world, I can't spare any. Does anyone know what's wrong here? Is it the spacers? I have Mission D3s, if that matters. My old Missions (don't remember the model, but they're older) don't have this problem. The wheels spin great on them, and the bearings aren't half as good on those wheels.

[reaper07 0]

depends

just cuase ur wheels spin well without u skating on them doesnt mean ur losing speed

cause that spin is just slop spin

when u skate on them the pressure of u on the bearings is wut gets em goin

or something like that

had the same problems wit my mission 350's i changed bearings and wheels and there wasnt any difference in speed

[#96 0]

Are the wheels you're using now new wheels? Are the spacers new?

I encountered this problem on the Rink Rat MB816 wheels that came on my 9500s.

What I wound up doing was grinding out some of the shoulder material inside the hub of the wheel. This allowed the bearing to sit deeper inside the hub. With the wheel sitting deeper, it didn't stick out at all. When the bearing sticks out, it causes friction with the chassis and doesn't spin well.

The wheels now spin amazingly well.

[EndGame 0]

Are the wheels you're using now new wheels? Are the spacers new?

I encountered this problem on the Rink Rat MB816 wheels that came on my 9500s.

What I wound up doing was grinding out some of the shoulder material inside the hub of the wheel. This allowed the bearing to sit deeper inside the hub. With the wheel sitting deeper, it didn't stick out at all. When the bearing sticks out, it causes friction with the chassis and doesn't spin well.

The wheels now spin amazingly well.

Nah .. not new wheels or spacers. I actually tried swapping the spacers with my outdoor wheels, which didn't help. I'll look into the idea of sanding down the hub of the wheel a bit. That might help.

[Cheechoo 0]

Any chance you're tightening the bolts too much?

[#96 0]

That's a possibility. But the bolts should be tight anyway so they don't come loose. I tend to tighten them to the point where they won't tighten anymore, but not further. Some people "Gorilla" them, use all their muscle and that puppy ain't goin any tighter.

I think it's the wheels though.

[malcb33 99]

It doesn't really matter how much your wheels spin(unless they don't spin at all, or are rubbing against your chassis) when in your skate. When you have your wieght on your skate they will work fine! Spining a wheel while in your hand is not a good test of how good a bearing works, because when you're skate there is more presure and wieght applied to the bearing. Of course if you spin a wheel with the bearings in, and it doesn't spin or you can hear them clunking (when you have dirt inside them) then you need to clean them or get new ones!

[EndGame 0]

I just feel SO much slower in those D3s. I guess it must just be the surface. I play on painted asphalt outside in my older skates, and on sportcourt with the D3s.

[#96 0]

It doesn't really matter how much your wheels spin(unless they don't spin at all, or are rubbing against your chassis) when in your skate. When you have your wieght on your skate they will work fine! Spining a wheel while in your hand is not a good test of how good a bearing works, because when you're skate there is more presure and wieght applied to the bearing. Of course if you spin a wheel with the bearings in, and it doesn't spin or you can hear them clunking (when you have dirt inside them) then you need to clean them or get new ones!

I'm not sure how true that is, Malcb. If a wheel isn't spinning well when you aren't them, they will only spin less effectively once you are in them.

Any friction will slow you down, or effect glide. The question is, how much friction and loss of speed/glide are you willing to lose? Me, personally, I like a nice free-spinning wheel. But I do know people like you that are less concerned about the how free the wheel is spinning, as long as does spin.

[malcb33 99]

It makes sense to me! Spinning a wheel with no load on it means what? It can spin well! How does that translate into performance on your skate under a load(your weight)? Bearings work totally different under a load, and just spinning them won't always tell you how good the bearings are!

[#96 0]

It makes sense to me! Spinning a wheel with no load on it means what? It can spin well! How does that translate into performance on your skate under a load(your weight)? Bearings work totally different under a load, and just spinning them won't always tell you how good the bearings are!

I don't completely disagree with you! You have a good point! But what I'm saying is that wheel spin with no load is a good indicator of how it might spin under a load! If a wheel doesn't spin well to start, it probably has some kind of obstruction/squeezed to tight and it will only continue to spin poorly with the addition of a body in skates.

I think what you're tryin to elude to is that even though wheels may not spin great, once you start skating, and using foot power and stride, it will cause the wheels to spin. However, ANY additional friction will cause the bearing to slow down prematurely.

This basically means, your wheels won't spin as long as they should and will result in less glide speed and free-roll to get the wheels going quickly to top speed. Will you be able to skate? Yes. Will you be skating as well as you should? No.