New to game, need equipment help

[piperclap 0]

Hey guys, I've been reading this forum a lot recently trying to get a grasp on this roller hockey thing, and I have a few questions.

I recently signed up to coach a new U-12 travel team and to play in a local men's league, and I'm starting to buy gear. I grew up playing ice hockey, and since we had ice all year long with select teams and summer leagues, we never gave roller much thought. I have no clue at all.

I bought a pair of Mission HE 5500's, and I love the fit and the price. The problem Im having is with wheels-they came with some Hot Shots (78A), and we play outdoors on unpainted concrete (that will become painted when the money gets raised). I went out skating, tried stopping the way I was told to, and bit it. over and over again. I was wondering, would some harder/different wheels make it easier? I bought a set of hyper pro 150's, but they don't fit in the mission chassis, and will be returned. What wheels should I get? I'm about 6', 200.

Another question about bearings-I noticed that my bearings are getting really dirty (our rink is outside, in the middle of the desert), and while I'm familiar with cleaning the old ABEC 5 twin cams I had on my old fitness skates, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how the shield comes off on the Mission bearings that came with my skates.

Anyone have suggestions for pants, shin pads, girdle? I'd like to get out the door for less than $200, but I'm willing to go a little higher for better quality stuff that will last more than a season.

Thanks for your help!

[rwclifto 0]

http://wwww.epuck.com has some great deals on inline equipment. Good prices, fast shipping, and great customer service. You can easily find what you are looking for for under $200. As for the wheels and bearings I am not really sure. But I would think that you would need about 82A-84A wheels for that surface. Ask the guys at ePuck, they specialize in roller hockey.

[hockeysc23 0]

I ditto what RW said. If you choose to buy online I have had great experiences with epuck and I have used all the major sources (hockeymonkey, hockeygiant) and epuck was the best.

As far as pants because you are outside I would just go with the cheapest since they all will rip intime do to your rink. I currently use Mission pants that have held up well, about a season or 2 for indoor with no major holes at all.

As far as girdle I have never used one until this past year, playing D I keep taking more pucks to the quads. I went with the cheapest CCM one on epuck and it has done its job and then some.

So search some reviews on different gear if you want more info there is a ton on this site.

[DamnLocust 0]

I'll agree with the suggestion of not paying a whole lot of money on the pants. I play outdoor on ashphalt, and played 2 seasons on polished concrete and you could wreck a pair of pants pretty quickly. I'd suggest going for a pair of closeout missions from last year.

I could never get used to a girdle for roller, but I had tried the Gear girdle (from hockeygiant) which was only about $20. It doesn't offer a whole lot of protection, but it's better than nothing. Without the girdle, I've taken a few pucks to the thigh, but nothing that gave more than a bruise. As far as shin pads, theres a lot of info on different shins, as well as the review section which covers a few different models.

As far as the wheels not fitting in your chassis, I remembered a few threads that touched on the issue.

Here's a thread discussing wheel spin issues in the 5500.

Here, Justin from Mission suggests filing down the chassis a bit for the wheels to spin properly.

[notorious#29 0]

As far as wheels go. I'd recommend the Rink Rat World Cup wheels. They are an 84a durometer and will last you a good amount of time on concrete, they also grip pretty well for an outdoor wheel.

http://www.epuck.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ser...ategory_rn=4924

For pants, I second what DamnLocust said. You can find some pretty good deals online for last years Mission pants.

[Patrick67 1]

For wheels Hyper 250 are the way to go, if they fit your chassis.

[piperclap 0]

Well, I took the new skates out for a spin (after successfully baking them at home.) It was the first time I really pushed things-still having a hard time with stopping (again, I want to blame the grippiness of the wheels, but it could be my not getting the hang of it yet.

So far the gear I'm using-

Skates-Mission HE 5500's with Bones Reds and Rink Rat Hotshots

Gloves-Started with my old ice gloves (some all leather Louisville ones) but soon dropped those and actually have been very happy and comfortable using my lacrosse gloves (light, ventilated, comfortable).

Stick-Reebok 1K (The red one). From what I've seen, I'm just going to thrash sticks. I used to go through a few dozen in an ice season. I can't justify going to a composite shaft at this point, so I think I'll just try and get my old hockey shop back north to ship me a dozen of these RBKs.

I'll be shopping around for pants sometime soon, but no big rush since men's league is a few weeks off. Heck, I might even go old school ice style and just pull some sweats over the top of my shin pads.

Elbow pads-my old school Jofa's that I got when I was 15. They still fit, so what the heck.

Its a bummer living in an area without a LHS-there's a sport shop that sells sticks (where the RBK was one of two senior LH models), but its tough to find a place to go try things out.

You all have been a great help-just one question remaining-how to take that shield off the Mission bearings? I've searched all over and can't find anything about it-am I that daft?

[iceburg19 1]

if your looking to keep your bearings clean or just keep them spinning,find a spray can type lubricant,lay out your bearings and spray them,get into the ring area,then with your hands just spin the bearings till there spinning free then dry them real good because they are going to collect dust and dirt again.if you want to take the shield off,there is a thin metal ring around most bearings,use an thin,small blade knife to take the ring out -this is a pain in the ass way to clean the bearings.

[piperclap 0]

if your looking to keep your bearings clean or just keep them spinning,find a spray can type lubricant,lay out your bearings and spray them,get into the ring area,then with your hands just spin the bearings till there spinning free then dry them real good because they are going to collect dust and dirt again.if you want to take the shield off,there is a thin metal ring around most bearings,use an thin,small blade knife to take the ring out -this is a pain in the ass way to clean the bearings.

Not really a pain in the butt so much as the correct way to really clean them out. I'm familiar with removing the c-clip on most bearings, the issue is I can't seem to locate it on these. I'll try and upload a picture sometime this weekend to clarify the issue. (The issue being there doesn't seem to be a removable c-clip)