A Message From Rink Rat

[RINK RAT 15 0]

A MESSAGE FROM RINK RAT . . .

Rink Rat will begin its fifth exciting year of the roller hockey in January 2007. As with all hockey equipment manufacturers we have had our trials and tribulations but at the end of the day we take immense pride in our customer service and reputation for quality state of the art products. Rink Rat hockey wheels use Mtech (multilayer technology) a soft high rebound, inner material in conjunction with a hard high wear, outer material. Mtech is the essence of our two patents that separate us apart from the competition.

Rink Rat has been inundated with requests by players to make a statement in regard to recent information posted on the web about the new Hyper Trinity wheels alledgedly using Rink Rat’s technology. While Rink Rat welcomes competition, more manufacturers and fresh blood to help grow the game of roller hockey, we have a duty to protect and defend Rink Rat’s loyal customers and our technologies. We have highlighted some of the information posted on the internet; much talked about in chat rooms. In short, it professes how well Rink Rat’s Mtech works and that Hyper Trinities have “embraced†it and the reaction Hyper found “on a variety of skaters….(was) WOW!!!†Rink Rat certainly concurs that Mtech provides the best wheel in the marketplace and that’s why you find us on more player’s skates than any other wheel. To learn more about Mtech and our twelve Rink Rat wheel styles designed with various dimensions of soft inners and harder outers (tailor made for performance, a players ability and price/including goalie wheels) go to www.rinkrat.com. There you can read “The Inside Story†and how it describes our wheels and their differences versus other wheels in the marketplace. If that is not enough, we strongly suggest, if you haven’t been on Rink Rat wheels lately, try them out yourself and you be the judge.

Below are excerpts from the internet we read on October 11th about the new Hyper Trinity wheel:

Hyper has embraced the technology of the Rink Rat Hornet -and kicked it up to a whole new level of performance by adding a unique Flex Groove and a new pour technology to stake a claim as the best roller hockey wheel on the market.

Flex Groove Technology

The all-new Trinity uses this ''soft inner-hard outer design, but adds a new wrinkle that makes it work even better. A groove has been added to the outer surface of the wheel that allows the wheel to flex naturally. The wheel only flexes when in a turn, a stop or the push-off portion of your stride. The flex gives the wheel a larger contact patch during these times - increasing grip and power. The Flex Groove basically allows the ''soft inner-hard outer'' to work to its highest potential.

Triple Pour Technology

Many of today's top wheels utilize flex to increase the contact patch size, giving you better grip while not reducing straight line rolling speed. This is normally accomplished through the use of the soft inner pour with harder outer pour (Rink Rat Hornet wheels are a good example of this technology). The new Trinity uses this technology - with a several unique characteristics. 1) The inner pour is a dual pour that perfectly fine tunes the stiffness and flex of the wheel. 2) The outer pour (the clear portion) utilizes the legendary Urethane used in Hyper racing wheels. This outer pour compound has unreal grip and rebound that cannot be matched in any other wheel.

On the Rink

The first question everyone asks is ''how does it compare to Rink Rat?''. We set out to find that answer. In past years, Rink Rat has been increasingly dominant in the wheel market due in large part to their soft inner/hard outer design. This year Hyper has embraced this winning formula. We tried the wheels on a variety of skaters, and found that a unanimous reaction: WOW!!! By utilizing the Rink Rat style of pouring the urethane and adding in the Flex Groove and the Urethanium - this wheel is off the chart. Basically, Hyper has kicked it up a notch in all aspects of performance - especially grip in the cornering phase of play. The Trinity's stopped on a dime, cut and swooped like a sparrow picking off mosquitoes and felt extremely fast in terms of straight line roll.

OK GAME ON…. Our response:

Rink Rat does not believe Hyper (or anyone else for that matter) legally can, has, or knows how to embrace Mtech. Here are some answers to questions raised on the hockey chat sites. Based on all of Rink Rat’s internal testing to date, no wheel company uses a soft inner material in their wheels including the new Hyper Trinity or they would be infringing on Rink Rat’s two patents. Rink Rat will continue monitoring for infringement.

Here are Rink Rat’s independent test results to prove it:

Hyper Trinity, yellow/purple, 74A model

-68 to 70A ASTM inner wheel duro (74-75A on the wheel duro)

-75A ASTM yellow inner duro

-75A ASTM purple inner duro

-wheel rebound 70%

Note: Average Mtech wheel 80-82%

Hyper Trinity, green/black, 76A model

-68 to 70A ASTM inner wheel duro (74-75A on the wheel duro)

-70A ASTM green inner duro

-68 to 70A ASTM black inner duro (black material continues to fall off)

-wheel rebound 66%

Note: Average Mtech wheel 80-82%

ASTM: (American Standard Test Methodology)

Summary: Copycat stuff and deceptive ads; the sport of roller hockey deserves better and so do you! Some internet charts say things like other wheel companies hard inner materials are used to keep their soft outer materials from deforming, they don’t. Other wheel companies inner layer(s) are typically the same hardness or harder than their clear outer layer! They say their hard inner material has a higher rebound than its outer, it doesn’t. Rink Rat’s inner Mtech material is the only wheel that absolutely does and we have proved it. Their inner materials do add color to one or two sides of the wheel though. Soft outer layers do provide grip but inherently wear out quickly, lose grip, and tend to chunk.

Hyper’s “Flex Groove Technology†has been on another brand’s wheel hub for years, its ok (it does not provide the greatest contact area, soft or air bladder inners do) but its definitely not new. Air bladders are obviously soft but have poor rebound that’s why their hockey wheels are sluggish. Here is the deal with cutting flex grooves in the side of a wheel. It makes the wheel less stable and it twists, it does bend the wheel on to its side but it does not provide a consistent amount of wheel on the court. So flex wheels skip, skid and chatter during the game. Soft inners, by compressing not leaning, keep a consistent amount of tread on the skating surface. Mtech does feel different (Soft Heart Hard Body) but that’s why Rink Rat makes three hardnesses in every wheel model. Player can go by weight, mix them, match them, it’s all explained on the Rink Rat website.

Rink Rat has been saying for years, known by championship teams, Atoms to Pros, International Medalists Team Canada and IIHF 2006 Team USA:

It’s What’s Inside That Counts!

[#28tz 0]

Hi mike can i ask if you got my email about my wheels as I have emailed you a few times over the last two weeks and ive had no reply :(

Thanks

[RINK RAT 15 0]

28

Please send me another email at mhunt@mearthane.com and I will have your issue taken care of on Monday!

Thanks buddy!

and sorry for the short delay!

Mike

[#28tz 0]

Will do thanks Mike.

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

It's ePuck, what do you expect?

[Hoffer 0]

Mike thanks for all the information on the wheels. Good read for sure.

[stevoc 0]

It's ePuck, what do you expect?

Hey, I like epuck. :D

[ATLstealth09 0]

EPuck is down to earth...

kind of...

[nummer55 10]

Now, is Hyper infringing on the patent?

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

It's ePuck, what do you expect? 

Hey, I like epuck. :D

At least Giant and Monkey have real LHSs.

[gman 0]

inlinewarehouse.com / icewarehouse.com have showrooms where you can go and try on gear and see it if you happen to live close enough. Plus they have great CS from my experience.

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

ePuck has a small store, but it's nothing to write home about. None of my old reps would even bother visiting.

I have food poisoning so I'm being confrontational today.

[ATLstealth09 0]

ePuck has a small store, but it's nothing to write home about. None of my old reps would even bother visiting.

I have food poisoning so I'm being confrontational today.

It's those damn Oscar Mayer weiners...

[Aussie Joe 0]

I got the poison'n as well! Damn Mickey D's Lean Beef burgers..... this is gonna put me off the golden arches for life. ;-)

[Shayne Arsenault 0]

Hunter,

Pretty informative post my friend, not 100% accurate, but good stuff. Just an FYI, I have never , nor has anyone else representing Hyper, claimed we have a softer inner. That was posted by EPUCK. We also have patents for "softer" inners that we currently don't use.

I could come on the board and quote numbers that may or may not be accurate, but I won't. Numbers can tell whatever story you want them to tell, the true test is through experience. Every player skates differently, and let's face it here Mike, if you are the one testing my wheels, the unstable comment and the sluggish comment aren't the wheels!

Continued succes to you and Rink Rat, see you at the rink.

Shayne

[stevoc 0]

It's ePuck, what do you expect? 

Hey, I like epuck.

At least Giant and Monkey have real LHSs.

Hey, I like giant and monkey. :D

Since they are close to home, shipping from them is quite fast.

And while we're on it, I like inlinewarehouse too. :D

On a more personal note, hope you're feeling better.