Why do (outdoor) wheels lose grip?

[hockeydad3 51]

I (96kg) made the experience that my 80mm Labeda asphalt 85a lost the grip after a month and a few weeks in the next outdoor season. They have a good wear resistance and are fast and the grip was good when they were new. Most time i was skating on a smooth unpainted concrete rink, some times on a washed out, rough old concrete rink. On hot days the temperatures have been over 30°C. The loss of PU was not very high, loosing about 4mm in diameter, but the elliptical shape went to a V shape. I regularly rotated the wheels. The used surface is very smooth.

Is this the typical usage?

Is the PU getting hard over time of usage, or is this the consequence of loosing the initial shape?

Should I try softer wheels with the consequence of skating on wheels beeing too soft/slow for the first weeks?

[Leif 161]

Harder wheels do have less grip anyway, a parallel slide is much easier on hard wheels. They are grippier when new, something to do with a coating or just the smooth surface, but that soon goes after an hour or two.  As to why yours became less grippy over time, maybe a cross section change. You said you rotate them so you’re not creating a rocker. I haven’t noticed this with my outdoor wheels. 

[steve66 45]

It sounds counter-intuitive, but soft wheels grip better on rough surfaces, and hard wheels grip better on smooth surfaces, as the soft wheel will compress over all the tiny bumps in the skating surface whereas a hard wheel won’t.

Despite being grippier and faster, the reason hard wheels aren't recommended for use on smooth rinks is that once they do slide, it’ll be a sudden snap and they’ll go forever, whereas soft wheels will be much more gradual.

After the initial outer compound of the wheel wears off, the grip does seem to drop off outdoors. With you skating on a smoother concrete rink there's going to be a fine tuning line to find that balance of durability in a harder wheel, and also counter balance that sudden loss of grip. It might be that dropping down a notch on the hardness might give a little more grip once that beautiful new wheel feeling has worn away?

Perhaps the Revision Clinger outdoor wheel at 82A is worth a shot? 

[hockeydad3 51]

11 hours ago, steve66 said:

It might be that dropping down a notch on the hardness might give a little more grip once that beautiful new wheel feeling has worn away?

That´s the way I went at the end of the last season (Matter/Prime Centurio 82a/84a mix). Only thing that I remember ist the wheels had good grip but have been slow compared to the Labeda Asphalts 85a. Only skated three times on them. I will give them a try next week as our season will start after shutdown. The second way is to discard the Labedas after some mm`s of wear. Third way is to find a better wheel for my purpose, but i don`t want to go through tons of wheels. Because we are playing in a mixed group of different ages and levels of play(I´m 53, adult beginner to intermediate) my target is speed not durability. In Europe we`re having a limited selection of wheels and a some of the outdoor wheels are sold out at the moment.

Edited June 10, 2020 by hockeydad3

[steve66 45]

1 hour ago, hockeydad3 said:

In Europe we`re having a limited selection of wheels and a some of the outdoor wheels are sold out at the moment.

For sure, they've been flying out of stores since the lockdown. Great to see so many people playing and skating outside again, it feels like 25 years ago.

 

1 hour ago, hockeydad3 said:

my target is speed not durability

If you're happy with the speed over durability, the best option without having to try many wheels for that secret sauce is to keep with the 85A options... like you say many are sold out. But there are still some Labeda Asphalts and Revision Asphalt Pro 2s in stores.