Straight chassis with 80-76mm setup?

[TexasHockey85 1]

Hey guys,

 

Currently I am skating on a pair of Missions with the Hi-Lo 80-76mm setup in the past I have used Tours and the straight chassis setup before. I prefer the feel of the Hi Lo chassis over the straight setup. I recently have been become very curious about the Verbero skates and want to give them a shot, I know they use a straight chassis so my question is if I were to put a pair of 76mm wheels on the front of my skates to help create a forward pitch would it cause any issues I am not fore-seeing? I understand the forward pitch wont be as aggressive as the Hi-Lo design but I figured it may help be medium between straight speed and agility. Also I know I can buy the Verbero boot and mount a Hi-Lo chassis if I wanted to that bad but, that would be a big hassle for a boot I am not sure I will be in love with. Thanks in advance for any help guys.

[Larry54 243]

I think that's a bad idea. The bottoms of the wheels won't be on the same plane so the second wheel from the front won't touch the ground, so it would be the same as not having a wheel in the second spot.  At any given moment, you'll be either riding only on wheels 1 and 3, or only on 3 and 4. The only way you could have different sized wheels on a flat chassis is if the size difference is the same increment between adjacent wheels, like if you had from back to front 80, 78, 76, 74. I don't even know if they've ever made 74mm wheels but I've seen the three other sizes. Or you can have 80, 78, 76, 72 if you don't mind having the front wheel rockered.

[TexasHockey85 1]

That makes sense. I totally over looked that aspect. Well now I need to think long and hard if the Hi-Lo setup means that much to me or if I should go back to the straight setup. Thanks for the input Larry.

[althoma1 574]

Easy solution.  Buy just the Verbero boots and then have your HI Lo chassis mounted on them. Verbero is one of the few companies that sell undrilled boots separately. Getting a chassis mounted isn't expensive.  I have gotten several boots converted to roller and it cost me $30 to have the ice chassis removed and a Sprung chassis mounted.  I imagine having a roller chassis removed from an old pair of boots and mounted to undrilled Verberos would cost about the same.

[TexasHockey85 1]

Instead of the 80-78-76-72 setup, would a 80-78-76-76 setup keep all wheels touching the ground and not rocker the front wheel so bad? 

[TexasHockey85 1]

Very true Althoma. I may end up doing that if the Verbero boot fits my foot as well as say my old Bauer Supreme 8090's. Actually if the fits that good ill likely buy two pairs of Verbero boots and find another set of Hi-Los on ebay or elsehwere. I appreciate the input.

[althoma1 574]

I think it will feel weird and unstable.  If you buy the whole Verbero setup I would try them with the all 80 setup and then if you like the boots, but not the chassis you can have either your old chassis or a new one mounted. 

[Larry54 243]

Just now, TexasHockey85 said:

Instead of the 80-78-76-72 setup, would a 80-78-76-76 setup keep all wheels touching the ground and not rocker the front wheel so bad? 

If you did 80-78-76-76, the 2 middle wheels wouldn't touch the ground, maybe the second from the rear would touch a bit because the end wheels would compress a bit under weight. If you want to use common sized wheel, you could try 80-76-72-68. That would allow all wheels to touch the ground but you might get more forward pitch than you like.

[TexasHockey85 1]

True. Plus 78mm wheels arent as common as 80/76mm. At the $220p price point,  I dont have much to lose if the skates a bust. Again thanks for the info. 

[althoma1 574]

If you play both ice and roller you may want to consider the Sprung chassis or the new Fizix frames the creator of Sprungs is working on. The Sprungs feel more ice like and make the transition from inline to ice easier. Neither chassis is cheap though; so if you're happy with the HI Lo chassis it'll be easier on your budget. 

[TexasHockey85 1]

Ive read up on both of those and am a bit undecided if I'd like to try Sprung/Fizix or Marsblade. Seems like good concepts but idk if id like it that much more than my Hi-Lo setup.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Or just put a heel lift giving you more pitch.

[TexasHockey85 1]

JR you think Verbero would do that for me before sending em off to me? I live on the Texas/Mexico border so there arent any local guys who remove and replace rivets. I only ask you because Im sure you have more knowledge of their customer service abilities.

[Larry54 243]

37 minutes ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Or just put a heel lift giving you more pitch.

I'm curious about something here. I've never skated on Hi-Lo. I went directly from straight 76 to Sprung 76. Is there actually a pitch difference between the typical straight frame and the typical Hi-Lo? Or does it only feel that way, somehow? Because, technically a Hi-Lo can be manufactured to the same pitch as a straight frame. So just adding forward pitch to a straight frame wouldn't necessarily make it feel like Hi-Lo, would it?

[Wicked3Aussie 68]

I did it on my CA9 Alkalis for the last 12 months that I used them as a means of making them behave a bit better.

For all the above perceived disadvantages, it worked better for me.

With the smaller front wheels you've got a slight drop in height for better pitch and balance as well as weight, weight and balance being one of the biggest disadvantages on a straight chassis.

The above 2 advantages is what's gained from companies since recessing the second wheel.

There is a slight rock to the skates as well but in my opinion it contributes to the better balance.

I recommend giving it a go and seeing if you like it.

[TexasHockey85 1]

17 hours ago, Wicked3Aussie said:

I did it on my CA9 Alkalis for the last 12 months that I used them as a means of making them behave a bit better.

For all the above perceived disadvantages, it worked better for me.

With the smaller front wheels you've got a slight drop in height for better pitch and balance as well as weight, weight and balance being one of the biggest disadvantages on a straight chassis.

The above 2 advantages is what's gained from companies since recessing the second wheel.

There is a slight rock to the skates as well but in my opinion it contributes to the better balance.

I recommend giving it a go and seeing if you like it.

I appreciate the feedback. Ill let you know what I decide to do and how I like the outcome.

[Vet88 673]

On 10/10/2016 at 10:49 AM, Larry54 said:

I'm curious about something here. I've never skated on Hi-Lo. I went directly from straight 76 to Sprung 76. Is there actually a pitch difference between the typical straight frame and the typical Hi-Lo? Or does it only feel that way, somehow? Because, technically a Hi-Lo can be manufactured to the same pitch as a straight frame. So just adding forward pitch to a straight frame wouldn't necessarily make it feel like Hi-Lo, would it?

I've measured the pitch on Alkali and Labeda (on Alkali boots) straight frames and Mission hi lo 80 / 76 and there is very little difference. I suspect this isn't by accident as the Mission designer was then the Alkali designer and I would assume these companies have done a lot of work in calculating the optimal pitch. The frame which had the most pitch I've ever measured was the Tri d lite frame on Rbks.

[Larry54 243]

I always suspected that pitch wasn't necessarily different between straight frames and Hi-Lo. But from reading many people's comments, there seems to be an assumption that Hi-Lo has more forward pitch but I guess it's just a popular misconception. So while the two feel different it's not necessarily due to a difference in pitch. So, neither putting smaller wheels on the front of a straight frame nor adding a heel lift would necessarily make it feel like a Hi-Lo, but it might possibly reproduce one of the factors that gives the feel that one is looking for in a Hi-Lo.

[TexasHockey85 1]

Sounds like I have some experimenting to do. Thanks for all the input guys.