Rink Rat Hub Problem?

[blahster 3]

I have been skating mainly Rink Rat and sometimes Revision for the last few years, and always have a problem with a wheel or two from each purchase using Rink Rats. The problem is with the hub, or at least I believe. After installing the bearings and spacers and tightening down the axle, the wheel will bind up and stop rolling when spun. In fact, if you barely spin the wheel it will actually stop and go backwards! I know it is not the bearings or spacer related, as I have tried many different ones. It's also not frame related, as I can move the wheel from skate to skate or different locations and still get the problem. It is not urethane rubbing either. I beleive it is poor machining or molding on the hubs causing the bearings to seat poorly. It is such a frustration that I no longer even order wheels online in case I need to exchange. This is not a rare occurance for me either. It almost always happens with at least one wheel. After exchanging the wheel(s) I have no issue at all. A teamate of mine also has the same problem. It's to the point where I almost want to go back to Revision, which I find on par, or at least close with Rink Rat. Anyone else notice this problem? I'm hoping they improve quality control at some point so I don't even have to think about it when I spend $80 on a set of wheels.

[blahster 3]

Those bearings are Bones Swiss Ceramic btw. And yes they are clean. Here's a video I uploaded to youtube to show the problem...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq-OvrcZLP4

[gxc999 7]

I'm not sure whether that's a hub problem or not. How long have you had the skates? What about the chassis? Are they beaten up? I hate to ask you the obvious questions, but in my meandering and occasionally experience in switching wheels out, cleaning them etc, it usually is a small, obvious problem that must be solved.

[blahster 3]

It does not matter what skate, location, bearing, or spacer. It is definitely wheel related. After a replacment all is well. If this was a rare occurance I would just chock it up as a rare tolerance problem. But everytime I buy a new set??

[gxc999 7]

It does not matter what skate, location, bearing, or spacer. It is definitely wheel related. After a replacment all is well. If this was a rare occurance I would just chock it up as a rare tolerance problem. But everytime I buy a new set??

Really, really weird. If it happens everytime you buy a new set, I have absolutely no clue, and have never heard of such a problem before. I think we should ask someone more qualified, like Spreed or TBLFan, either of those guys might have an idea...

[Frib 0]

I have the same prob with my sons skates. Thought it was the hubless design of the hyper 250's. Check the inside of the chassis and make sure it isnt grooved from over tightening. I sometimes take a metal file and smooth out the inside. When all else fails I use teflon tape on the screw so I dont have tighten the screw all the way. The next thing Im going to try are new axle spacers (hop up kit). Aluminum is a pretty soft metal so dont expect it to keep its shape for very long.

[Abilectic 0]

Thats crazy, I didnt really undersand what you were talking about until I saw the video. If this was a car tire Id say it was out of balance, like a heavy spot somewhere on rim or tire that can be corrected with weights. On a skate wheel my inclination is to believe the same thing, like there is a defect in the wheel, bearing, or axle thats creating an out of round or heavy spot somewhere, based on your input you seem to have eliminated the axle, bearing, chassis location, and spacer as parts of the equation, so that leaves the wheel, and if you keep replacing wheels and coming up with the same problem I'd say find a new brand of wheel.

Id be curious to see if the problem persists after backing off the axle a half turn or so, if you put the same wheels setup on a different pair of skates does the problem go away?

[liroadrunners 0]

actually for 2008 rink rat has a new hub design. i'd email rink rat send them your video and explain. maybe they'll give you a new set. mikes a really nice guy.

[blahster 3]

Id be curious to see if the problem persists after backing off the axle a half turn or so, if you put the same wheels setup on a different pair of skates does the problem go away?

The problem happens on any skate. It only happens if the axle is tightened down all the way. Like I said, the urethane is not rubbing and I believe the hub is causing the bearing to seat poorly, and when tightened bind up. If I backed the axle off the problem goes away. But that is not a solution, as the bearings and wheels are designed to to be snug in the frame. I am not WAY overcranking the axle... as soon as it gets slightly snug this problem occurs.

[blahster 3]

i'd email rink rat send them your video and explain. maybe they'll give you a new set. mikes a really nice guy.

Mike is a nice guy and took care of me last time I had the problem with the wheels seperating from the hub as seen in this thread...

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index...amp;hl=blahster

In fact the wheel seen in my video is a replacment wheel sent to me directly from Rink Rat. So, although nice, and great customer service.. it doesn't help to go from one problem to another and just hope I get a rare good batch. I'm hoping someone can address the problem and clean up quality control. Seems from my expierence that it is a 12-25% bad hub batch. What would cause this high of a problem? I don't know how many hubs their machines produce at a time, but maybe a handful of the molds were made incorrectly? Just a guess.. hopefully Rink Rat can comment on the problem.

[liroadrunners 0]

the 2008 rinkrat line features a new hub.

[blahster 3]

the 2008 rinkrat line features a new hub.

But have they cleaned up quality control? Where can one buy the new 08 wheel? I haven't seen it. Actually I'm not even seeing the 62/80a wheel on Rink Rats website. Am I missing it? I hope not because the 62/80s were pefect for my game.

[Spreedizzle 1]

It does not matter what skate, location, bearing, or spacer. It is definitely wheel related. After a replacment all is well. If this was a rare occurance I would just chock it up as a rare tolerance problem. But everytime I buy a new set??

Really, really weird. If it happens everytime you buy a new set, I have absolutely no clue, and have never heard of such a problem before. I think we should ask someone more qualified, like Spreed or TBLFan, either of those guys might have an idea...

TBL is more of an ice guy, inline when he HAS to. ;) I play both because I am obsessed with hockey...but thanks for the props. :D

Unfortunately....despite props....I don't have a definitive answer for you. There is some form of binding going on here. My advice, pull both bearings out of the wheel, hold the inner race of the bearing between your fingers and rotate the outer race and see if the same thing occurs. Try and isolate each piece of the puzzle here and see what you come up with. My thoughts....the only thing that would cause this would be a binding/loading inside the bearing on the inner/outer bearing races. Remove the dust seals, hit the balls with a degreaser, hit them with compressed air, re-lube and re-assemble. Good luck, and keep us posted.

[TheProfessor 2]

I've seen a very similar problem with Rink Rat Hornets. I too think it's a problem with the hub. I never had problems with the Hot Shots, which would make sense given that the Hot shot has a plastic hub instead of the urethane "hubless" design of the Hornet.

I contacted Rink Rat and they sent a replacement set, but honestly I had similar problems with the replacement set and finally just scrapped the wheels. I tried swapping out wheels, bearings, and even tried different skates to see if the frame was contributing to the problem. The only thing I found that seemed to help the free-spin was changing out the spacer. I've got a bag of spacers, and tried swapping them out until the wheel spun freely when tightened.

[sniper_23 0]

I have been skating mainly Rink Rat and sometimes Revision for the last few years, and always have a problem with a wheel or two from each purchase using Rink Rats. The problem is with the hub, or at least I believe. After installing the bearings and spacers and tightening down the axle, the wheel will bind up and stop rolling when spun. In fact, if you barely spin the wheel it will actually stop and go backwards! I know it is not the bearings or spacer related, as I have tried many different ones. It's also not frame related, as I can move the wheel from skate to skate or different locations and still get the problem. It is not urethane rubbing either. I beleive it is poor machining or molding on the hubs causing the bearings to seat poorly. It is such a frustration that I no longer even order wheels online in case I need to exchange. This is not a rare occurance for me either. It almost always happens with at least one wheel. After exchanging the wheel(s) I have no issue at all. A teamate of mine also has the same problem. It's to the point where I almost want to go back to Revision, which I find on par, or at least close with Rink Rat. Anyone else notice this problem? I'm hoping they improve quality control at some point so I don't even have to think about it when I spend $80 on a set of wheels.

Rink Rat sent me a replacement set that had the same problem. There was some excess material inside the mini-bearing hub. I couldn't even put the bearing spacer inside the wheel because they weren't machined right like you said. Luckily they sent me two sets by accident and the 2nd set was fine. All 8 wheels from the 1st set were unusable. Definitely frustrating seeing that they were brand new.

I have been skating mainly Rink Rat and sometimes Revision for the last few years, and always have a problem with a wheel or two from each purchase using Rink Rats. The problem is with the hub, or at least I believe. After installing the bearings and spacers and tightening down the axle, the wheel will bind up and stop rolling when spun. In fact, if you barely spin the wheel it will actually stop and go backwards! I know it is not the bearings or spacer related, as I have tried many different ones. It's also not frame related, as I can move the wheel from skate to skate or different locations and still get the problem. It is not urethane rubbing either. I beleive it is poor machining or molding on the hubs causing the bearings to seat poorly. It is such a frustration that I no longer even order wheels online in case I need to exchange. This is not a rare occurance for me either. It almost always happens with at least one wheel. After exchanging the wheel(s) I have no issue at all. A teamate of mine also has the same problem. It's to the point where I almost want to go back to Revision, which I find on par, or at least close with Rink Rat. Anyone else notice this problem? I'm hoping they improve quality control at some point so I don't even have to think about it when I spend $80 on a set of wheels.

Rink Rat sent me a replacement set that had the same problem. There was some excess material inside the mini-bearing hub. I couldn't even put the bearing spacer inside the wheel because they weren't machined right like you said. Luckily they sent me two sets by accident and the 2nd set was fine. All 8 wheels from the 1st set were unusable. Definitely frustrating seeing that they were brand new.

Forgot to add that the wheels were MB816's

[blahster 3]

Mike, if you see this I have been waiting for the replacment set for months now and have yet to receive them. I was told they were due to ship and haven't heard a word from you or anyone else since. I have sent emails and would like a response one way or another.. as I need a new wheels in the very near future. Thanks.

[TheBert 0]

He most likely forgot, but give him a ring by searching his posts for a number.

[RINK RAT 15 0]

Hey Guys

BLA Send me an email I have been in Canada doing Team Canada business the last few weeks so I lost you in the shuffle. My apologies!

As far as the hubs go the hubs in question were from last years models. We have changed all our Hornet hubs to the same hub as the Hotshot. You will not see this problem moving forward.

Our wheel line for 2008 is as follows

Hornet

XXX Grip Used to be labeled 62-76

XX Grip Used to be labeled 62-78

We have discontinued the 62-80A wheels

The reason we discontinued the 62-80 wheels is there wasn't much demand for them and producing them took away production time for the bulk of our sales which is the XXX wheels.

Hotshot

XXX Grip

XX Grip

62-80 wheels have been discontinued

MB816

XXX Grip only

62-78 and 62-80 Have been discontinued, The reasons is pretty much the same as above but also because the the micro hub is so large their isnt a ton of room for urethane. We felt after extensive testing that the XXX wheel is the only hardness that makes sense in the micro bearing wheel.

World Cup

X grip or 62-84

Crossbar Goalie wheel

XXX Grip in 47mm size only ( we discontinued the 59mm)

If your a goalie and you would like a 59mm goalie wheel buy our Hotshot 59mm its pretty much the same wheel as the 59mm crossbar!

We have also changed the VT wheels completely

The VT 733 indoor wheel has a new dynamic purple color and is a 74A

single pour wheel.

The VT 333 outdoor wheel also has a color and hardness change which is Green and has a duro of 84A

As you can see we have condensed our over all line, changed the look of a few wheels and made our Hornet wheel even better.

You can see all the new wheel at www.rinkrat.com

Were building a new website but this will give you an idea of what were doing.

Also, regarding the MB816 2007 wheel, we understand there was a cracking problem and we have done our best to replace all of the bad parts in the field. We changed the material in the MB816 hub 9 months ago and there hasn't been any problems with them. What you may see is some of the old MB 816 wheels that still may be on 2007 skates. If you buy a pair of skates from last year and your MB816 wheels crack just send me a picture of the wheels and i will replace them. Not all the wheels were bad but there were a few so if you have an issue just let me know.

I hope that helps a little guys, Please note that we have made thse changes to ensure the industry's best hockey wheel (Rink Rat) stays the best!

If your trying to reach me please be aware that I will be traveling on these dates

June 6-10th Vancouver and Edmonton (Team Canada)

June 17th-30th IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Slovakia

June 30th - July 6th AAU JUNIOR OLYMPICS (RINK RAT BOOTH SET UP IN PHILLY)

I will also be showing my face at Torhs and Narch so send me an email at

mhunt@mearthane.com and I will get to you the minute I can!

If you have an issue that is desperate please send an email to Dan Reilly at Rink Rat his email is dreilly@mearthane.com

Thank guys and catch you at the rink!

Michael Hunt

Rink Rat

[JoeyJ0506 192]

I went over the boards in a game Thursday night and felt something give in my right skate. I thought I'd broken the front rocker arm on my Sprungs, but in between periods I looked at my wheel and the hub was cracked the entire way through, and separated. Wheel is useless, and it's only been used at most four times. Any ideas?

[jpeaslee 30]

I had that happen with about 4 or 5 of the wheels that came on my He9500's. I don't use mini bearings anymore.

[JoeyJ0506 192]

I wish switching to standard was an option because they look sturdier, but I've invested a lot of money into a pretty solid micro-hub setup. It's just little things like a brand new wheel going belly up after 4 sessions that makes me a bit angry.

[jpeaslee 30]

Just out of curiosity, how big a fella are you?

[JoeyJ0506 192]

6 feet even, and between 200 and 205 pounds

[fatwabbit 93]

Rink Rat 15 should be able to help you, he's the RR rep on MSH...

I'm the same height, and heavier. I've had some issues with previous RR wheels, but my current MB816 are doing great.

[Ray 0]

I'm 250 lbs and only broke one of my MB816 wheels so far. It was a high speed crash into the boards. I have been pretty happy with the performance, and strength of these wheels so far.