Vapor XX w/ Hummer Frame

[HerobyDay 0]

As i said before in another post i was currently mounting a Bauer Vapor XX boot to a Labeda Hummer Frame. Today was the day I finally finished the job.

Review to follow once i get a chance to use them.

[duckjob 1]

very nice, how much of the outsole did you have to dremel out, or did the guys at hs&o do that for you?

[Lucius 0]

It looks like the frame is mounted awfully far back; that could just be the angle of the picture, however.

[dgaronzik 1]

looks like it was mounted right to me. I think thats the first time Ive seen the hummer from that view up close, the rear wheel is way too far behind the heel. You can tell the frame size itself is right from the mounting points, just that the wheelbase is too long.

I think the XX has a scooped out area stock, might have worked out perfectly.

[Lucius 0]

Right - I couldn't deal with a wheel that amounts to a giant extension off of the back of my skate.

[GekigangarIII 0]

Right - I couldn't deal with a wheel that amounts to a giant extension off of the back of my skate.

That mount looks perfect to me.

if you think that's alot of wheel behind the heel, you must wear a smaller size skate that can use a small chassis, almost every inline I've ever used has had a good 1/2" of wheel behind the heel.

[Lucius 0]

My 10.5 Bauers are fashioned with a medium Red Star chassis; I suppose that I must have just about the largest skate that can fit that size chassis. I understand that the shape of the chassis requires it to be attached to a certain point on the boot, but why wouldn't Tour have engineered the chassis so that the wheelbase would be a bit more equal on each end of the boot? I'd rather have an extra half inch on both the front and the back than an inch on the back.

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Right - I couldn't deal with a wheel that amounts to a giant extension off of the back of my skate.

That mount looks perfect to me.

if you think that's alot of wheel behind the heel, you must wear a smaller size skate that can use a small chassis, almost every inline I've ever used has had a good 1/2" of wheel behind the heel.

Actually, looking at it, I think it could've been moved up actually. There's not enough in front...

[GekigangarIII 0]

Actually, looking at it, I think it could've been moved up actually. There's not enough in front...

Turning up the brightnes on my monitor and actually seeing the toe-cap ;), I think you guys are right... it looks like it could move up about 1/3" or so. Of course some guys don't like to see their front wheel when the look at their toecap... dunno.

[teamlabeda 1]

While everyone has their own preferences when mounting a frame, whether it be pushing the frame a little further forward or moving it back, an inside mount versus a center mount, that part will never change.

There is not set way to mount the Hummer, it could have been moved further forward or backward even. I personally believe it is too far back. I like to be able to look down and see about a 1/2" of wheel when standing over my skates but that again is me.

What you must also realize is what ever mount you are currently using you should move the Hummer forward slightly. The reason for this is the 80mm up front is different from having a 72 or 76mm in that the wheel is bigger but the contact point of wheel and floor is in a different spot. So even though you see a little bit more wheel than you are use to were the wheel touches the floor is probably the same. Just a little insight!

[Miseaujeu 291]

All Copper?

Hope you don't have to take them off soon.

They do look a little too far back for my tastes.

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Two signs of a sloppy riveter...it's too far back and he took the easy way out by mounting copper.

[MDE3 0]

To support what Team Labeda has said..the actual contact centers of each wheel on the floor were exactly the same on the Hum'er chassis(medium) as were the original chassis on my son's HiHo's. Meaning that the wheel center distance from the front axle to the rear axle for the chassis were identical. Because of the difference in wheel diameter..not all of the wheels had an identical contact point.

One thing I did notice, is that the total height of the chassis plates off the floor with wheels mounted was almost identical to the original mounting..meaning that the height of the boot above the floor was just about identical even with the larger wheels, when compared to the Nike HiHo chassis with the traditional 72/80 set up.

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

it just doesnt look right to me, as others have said, it looks about half an inch too far back. How did they manage to fit the bigger wheels in the front anyway? And what made you want to use that chassis? Technically that chassis doesnt make sense to me. It would seem taht you lose alot of mobility with four big wheels, as opposed to the hi-lo chassis. Plust it just looks goofy to me.

[GekigangarIII 0]

And what made you want to use that chassis? Technically that chassis doesnt make sense to me. It would seem taht you lose alot of mobility with four big wheels, as opposed to the hi-lo chassis.

discussed at length here:

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/index.php?showtopic=285&st=0

[MDE3 0]

it just doesnt look right to me, as others have said, it looks about half an inch too far back. How did they manage to fit the bigger wheels in the front anyway? And what made you want to use that chassis? Technically that chassis doesnt make sense to me. It would seem taht you lose alot of mobility with four big wheels, as opposed to the hi-lo chassis. Plust it just looks goofy to me.

I agree it looks too far back, but if you look closely you will see that to mount the rear sole plate any farther forward, the leading edge of the rear sole plate might start to cut into the arch of the skate slightly..maybe a different size chassis was needed.

As far as the mobility..I have heard this argument often, but not from the users of the chassis...just from those who look at it. Think about how you pivot on your skates to effect a turn.....I do not think you keep the weight flat on the floor equally distributed on all four wheels..do you?

To turn on any chassis, or perhaps "to make a cut" would be a better example..it requires a weight shift. Some people like to pivot off the rear of the skate allowing the front to change direction, while others shift the weight forward to allow the rear of the skate to move...I am not sure one is better than the other, but both require a weight shift to accomplish a "cut" on a weight loaded skate. Hence when you switch to an all 80 mm wheel set up, all that changes is a slight increase in the amount of weight shift, and most people seem to adapt to this very quickly on the Hum'er.

So with only a minute adjustment to your skating style, you retain equal agility, but gain the benefits of additional speed, and acceleration as well as better stopping power.

[HerobyDay 0]

The picture was taken laying down on my chair so the front of the skate has a slight lean making the back look even more far out then it is. The wheel base on these frames is huge i put the smallest frame on the boot i could. When looking down on the skate you can see about a half inch of wheel on both sides. Maybe it could of been mounted alittle more forward but it seems all the 04 tours have alittle more hanging off the back then the front. I did have to dremel out part of the boot. The vapor xx almost made the perfect non oem boot for this frame with the insole already indented in wheel contacting areas. The second wheel was the only place the boot and frame had any problems so i just took out the dremel and dug out a nice little niche. The reason i went all coppers is im a pretty big guy and i have always used coppers, black rivets always seem to pop out on me.

[MDE3 0]

There are two different chassis(at least) available in the Hum'ers with the same wheel base. The only difference is the space between the sole plates. The 9.3 and the 9.6 chassis are the same wheel base, but by using the 9.6 you would have been able to mount the chassis farther forward and still been in the correct mounting area under the heel. I had exactly the same problem when I mounted the Hum'ers on my son's HiHo's..I had to move the rear sole plate too far forward in order to have the chassis centered longditudinally, and added a rear shim to help with the clearance. If I had used the 9.6 chassis instead (didn't know better at the time) I would have had a lot less problem mounting it.

Looking at a set of Beemers which are size 9 and have the 9.6 chassis, they are mounted with equal amounts of wheel projecting out forward and behind. The size 9 Beemer and the size 8 Nike HiHo are almost identical....maybe the Beemer boot is an 1/8" longer on the outside, but they fit my son's foot almost identically. For those of you looking to convert to a Hum'er chassis keep this in mind....for size 9 and above (8 in the Nike HiHo's) up to maybe size 10.5, use the medium, not the small chassis..no increase in the wheel base. The "small" chassis is probably good for size 6 - 8 in most skates.