Wheels chunking and cracking?

[MDE3 0]

The problem with most wheels is once the outer skin is broken, the wheel grip seems to disappear. This does not seem to be the case with the RR wheels, as we have used them to where they were ravelled and cracked..after say 4 months of 3-4 times/week, but there was minimal loss of grip pretty much right to the end. When I compare these to most of the other single. double and triple pour wheels, even if they had decent grip to start with...most of that grip seemed to fade after about 4 -6 weeks..even if the wheel did not fail mechanically (chunk out, crack, ravel etc.).

Every wheel maker has problems at times with layer separation...but usually it happens pretty quickly if there is a flaw in the pour. When my son used any of these wheels on wood or ice court(as opposed to sport court)..the wheel life would plunge off a cliff. We never got three months out of any wheels before Rink Rats...I litterally have boxes of used wheels which are not chunked out, and which did not appear to be even really damaged when we changed them out....they just don't grip any more. Now they are for wood floors when necessary.

Before Rink Rats we probably used 8 - 12 sets of wheels /year. One of the reasons competitive inline hockey became so expensive.

[stevoc 0]

I just had another wheel go bad, but this one is separating from the hub. This wheel came on a pair of D2C's I bought just a little over a month ago. I can push on the wheel and actually see the wheel separating from the hub. There is an air pocket in there that gets larger as I push.

I am going to call HockeyGiant this morning to see if they will replace it. I just mention it because afer almost 2 years of no problems with Labeda wheels, this is the 3rd one in about a month.

[stevoc 0]

UPDATE: hockeyGiant has told me I am out of luck with this wheel. :(

[Jackal3688 0]

That is a defective wheel contact Labeda customer service (800)524-5892 or (951)674-1665.

Labeda wheels are definitely not fragile.

What kind of wheels are they? Contact Labeda directly. I dealt through TeamLabeda, and they sent me a whole new batch of x-soft dynasty wheels, all for this one defective wheel. Just call them and explain to them your situation, and they'll take care of you.

^^^

Lets hear it for my 100th post :D

[stevoc 0]

What kind of wheels are they?

Mine are Labeda Millenium x-soft wheels.

[stevoc 0]

I can't express how frustrated I am right now. I called Labeda about the wheel, who pretty much told me I had to contact the skate vender for the warranty. They did say someone would call me, but no one has yet.

I called Mission (who doesn't have an 800 number) to speak to their customer support. After navigating their phone menu and waiting for about 5 or so minutes on hold in their queue, the phone begins to ring. I hear someone pick it up, then the phone begins to ring again. After 4 or so rings, I am back in the queue for phone calls, telling me that all reps are busy and my call would be answered in the order it was received. Believe it or not, this happened 3 MORE TIMES!!!! I finally hung up and said screw it! It isn't worth my aggravation to have someone keep putting me into their phone queue for whatever reason, whether they are busy or just not interested...it doesn't matter. They could have spoken to me and said they were busy and offer to call me back, or to have me call back, or something. At least Labeda took my name and number and said someone will call...but what happened with Mission is a disappointment!

[Eazy_b97 1]

Labeda took my name and number as well, but they haven't called back. That was in summer. It's generally best to take it back to where you got it and have them deal with it.

[stevoc 0]

Labeda took my name and number as well, but they haven't called back. That was in summer. It's generally best to take it back to where you got it and have them deal with it.

HockeyGiant said I'm out of luck.

[MDE3 0]

Just curious...what were you skating on? If it was on an abrasive surface like sanded concrete or fine asphalt, the x-soft wheels could well delaminate from lateral stress. They would grip so much you might be able to pull the bond apart. Might also be a faulty wheel like you said..it happens.

[stevoc 0]

Just curious...what were you skating on? If it was on an abrasive surface like sanded concrete or fine asphalt, the x-soft wheels could well delaminate from lateral stress. They would grip so much you might be able to pull the bond apart. Might also be a faulty wheel like you said..it happens.

Strickly sport court.

[teamlabeda 1]

steveOC,

I have a problem with the fact that I know you have called and left a message with Labeda but also Labeda called you back and offered you a wheel replacement. You seem to mention the negative but not the positive. Labeda contacted you as they said they would and offered you a suitable resolution.

[stevoc 0]

steveOC,

I have a problem with the fact that I know you have called and left a message with Labeda but also Labeda called you back and offered you a wheel replacement. You seem to mention the negative but not the positive. Labeda contacted you as they said they would and offered you a suitable resolution.

You are correct, Labeda called me back yesterday after I posted and I didn't add that later in the day to this post due to time. (I was going to update this post with that last night, but I fell asleep putting my daughter to bed) Chuck from Labeda called me back yesterday within the hour (thanks to Chuck!) and later in the afternoon (after I left work) to confirm the wheel size. I left him a message this morning confirming it was a 72mm.

I was going to add that all that to this post saying that I did get great response from Labeda...TeamLabeda beat me to it. Thanks for the reminder.

So as TeamLabeda mentioned - yes, Labeda did get back to me and said they would send out a replacement. Chuck was the man and was very helpful.

Sorry for not posting this info sooner. A+ for Labeda on this one...great response!!! :D

[teamlabeda 1]

No worries Steve, thanks for the response!

[stevoc 0]

I would like to clarify that the frustration was focused at Mission's response...not Labeda's. After re-reading my post, I can see how that isn't clear.

Sorry about that.

[stevoc 0]

My replacement wheel arrived today from Labeda. Thanks to Rob and Chuck for the fantastic support!

I am a happy camper once again!! :D :D

[kovalchuk71 212]

Friends having huge problems with Factory.......Wheels basically chunked in half (had a huge piece come out) twice on 2 different skates!

[Thockey17 1]

Very weird. I've used my z-rated's outdoors for over 20games, and they have minimal wear.

Give shayne a call. He's very easy to deal with

[kovalchuk71 212]

One of my friends did, and he got 2 pairs for free.....

Wow, my other friend had the z-rated from his 950's and after about 1 month the grip is already totally gone :o

[MDE3 0]

actually that's about average for most wheels for us(4 -6 wks before "fade" takes place)...except RR's.

[LickerLongTail 0]

I think that Factory Halo and the Z rated are horrid wheels. I tried both and would never buy another wheel from Factory. When I get my 950's im gonna put RR on them asap

Tomas

[Eazy_b97 1]

what was it you don't particularly like? I have a set of Shadows right now as they fit my surface well, and Shane went out of his way to help me out. The wheels seem a bit thick, I've only been on them once, they were nice, but nothing unbelievably. I'm anxious to try them out on a regular basis.

[MDE3 0]

I have a good RR story about customer support to tell, but I have held off. Although it is intended to complement them, they may not appreciate the telling......

A couple of weeks ago we decided it was time to replace the original Dynasties on the Beemers my son has been using.... about 5 weeks into the life of the wheels. No chunking or cracking, just that the grip was fading. So we need them for a game weekend for the XIHL, but none of our local dealers has any. Our home rink has only 4 x 80 mm wheels.....not quite enough for the Hum'er chassis.

I called RR and talked to their regional sales manager and explained my problem. Normally they will try not to sell to a retail customer and so support their dealers, but I had made a significant effort to locate the wheels and could not, so they agreed to sell me one set directly. I ordered 8 x 80 mm Hornets 78/62's...my son's wheels of choice. A few days went by and a UPS box showed up. When I bent down to pick up this box of eight wheels, it fell from my hand. Instead of weighing maybe 4 lbs it weighed about 15 lbs.

I opened the box to find eight sets of 4 wheels each......I called Mike Hunt and explained their shipping error. I was not even too concerned that they had force sold me 32 wheels, because we know lots who would buy them from us, so it was no big deal. I just wanted to warn him that he had some logistics problems with his shipping department.

Mike said simply...."well if we charged you you can return the surplus for credit, or sell them, whichever you want. However if we only charged you for the 8 wheels and not the 32 wheels, ..just keep the rest....our mistake".

They only charged us for 8 wheels......pretty generous way of dealing with a customer when you have made an honest mistake like this.....thanks RR and Mike Hunt in particular.

[TourDragon91 0]

Thockey...is that John Lechmanski?? ;)

[RINK RAT 15 0]

MDE,

Thanks for the kind words but let me clear 1 thing up for the record. Our order taker originally believed you were a new retailer opening an account, she wasn't aware you were a regular customer, "and a valuable one I might add" Under normal circumstances she would have directed you to a local retailer but she made an error. No worries though, Once it was approved and extra was sent it was no problem to let you keep the extra. Make sure you get the extras to future Rink Rat's and thanks for all you kind post's in the past...

Have a safe and Happy Holiday

and I'll see you at the rink

Mike

[MDE3 0]

We have already given one set to a team mate who loves them...his first time on a complete set.

Also for the record Mike... I explained when I called to both your Sales Manager as well as the clerk my situation...I was trying to find a set rush for a weekend XIHL "festival" and none of the local shops of the five I contacted had any, or enough to do a full set of 80 mm's.

I asked your people only as a favor, if they could sell me a set retail, understanding your policies of not doing so, but because I had made a serious effort to buy them through the regular channels, they agreed. I didn't realize they were going to do me THAT big a favor....anyway we will share the wealth and be sure they do not go unappreciated.

Thanks again....

PS...Simon's first game back on the RinkRat's in XIHL after the switch back from the stock Dynasty's was a five goal effort...of course I am sure that had nothing to do with it...... :P