AmeriCanadian 3 Report post Posted February 8, 2016 So I've been playing ice for quite a while and this will be my first year of inline. I have some experience of sport courts but one of my friends lives near a rink with a smooth concrete and before I go there with him I have some questions about the surface. My main question is about sticks. I use the same ones I do for ice on a sport court but would I use the same ones on a smooth concrete surface or would that damage the blade? Also are bones reds ceramic bearings good quality? Thanks for the help guys! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wicked3Aussie 68 Report post Posted February 8, 2016 I've got bones Swiss ceramics and love them, very smooth.Realistically reds would be almost the same.If you can use a different stick, do it.Otherwise just make sure it's heavily taped. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
althoma1 574 Report post Posted February 8, 2016 I mainly play on Sport Court and use good sticks and wheels (dual pour like Revision Variants) for that. When I play on smooth concrete I use a shaft with an ABS blade and put cheaper single pour wheels on for that (I have some old discontinued wheels, but I know many swear by the 78a Yellow Labeda Grippers for smooth concrete). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ed1587 2 Report post Posted February 12, 2016 Depending on how smooth the concrete is would make a difference on the wheel selection. My local ice rink use to melt off the ice on one of the rinks in the summer time and we would play on that and it was super smooth and had a finish to it. I used the old hyper formula G's which were good 76a indoor wheels at the time and they held up just fine and gave good grip. If i was you i would probably stick to what alhoma1 said and go with a labeda gripper or other comparable wheel. You might even be able to get away with labeda asphalt is the concrete has a little grit to it. As far as the stick goes, if you are going to use one of your nicer composites throw an extra strip of tape along the bottom of the blade before wrapping it. I do this even when i play on sport court for a little extra durability on the bottom. If the concrete isnt smooth enough though you might find there is too much drag with the tape on there and in that case go for the ABS blade. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vet88 674 Report post Posted February 12, 2016 or buy a wraparound, wear out that instead of an expensive stick.http://www.hockeywraparound.com/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites