Vertical Rollerskating

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Message 11785 (14. Jan. 2010 00:50) (Tree)

Beer Hunter
Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate...
I accidentally posted that last picture twice. This is the pic that was intended...


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Beer Hunter: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (13. Jan. 2010 23:36)
 ...an the resulting bastard child has characteristics of both parents, but still has it's own individual looks and personality.

When Tim Altic was in town I got a good look at his skates when we first met. The way his grinders mount in a floating fashion and the Rollerblade boots he used got me thinking. I was getting tired of falling and then dealing with a bruised ankle bone repeatedly. A hard shell inline boot would definitely cover the affected area. Also, the leather from the toe area of my speed skate boots is worn through on one skate. I do not have money to buy nice leather only to tear them up in the park.

So, I went shopping on eBay and scored a pair of these for 17.50 shipped.


The Victim

Made in 1999 these Bladerunners are from Rollerblade's 'budget' line of skates. The wheels were still in good shape and made of soft urethane, and at 72 mm were just the right size for a transplant to one of my nephew's skates... to replace the useless PVC wheels that came with those kids skates. The liners were made of polyester. In my experience, anytime you combine 'polyester' and 'inexpensive' the result is a fabric which smells really foul, even when freshly cleaned. This liner was no exception, so out it came. I have an old pair of inlines purchased new from Wal-Mart years ago. The liners fit well, after a little help from the dremel.


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I also cut the top off from the rear of the cuff as it was too high.

The truck/plate assembly transferred over with 6 new T nuts per skate, 4 in the front and 2 rearward. These T nuts are of the brad-nail type which are flat on the bottom. As the truck bolts are tightened down these nuts seem to create a friction fit with the hard plastic shell and do not spin or slip. Assembly is very simple.


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A heel block was cut from scrap wood that I took off an old pallet. I used the heel from my old Oberhamer hockey boots for the pattern.

The inline frame, once inverted, fit perfectly around the kingpins and bushings. That is, after a some extensive modification.


Floating Mount


Floating  Mount 2


This all happened to the left skate first. After getting 90 percent complete, just enough to test it out, I went to LBJ for a test to make sure it would be useful as well as fun. With the new setup on my left foot and the old one on the right, I hit the park. Yep, it worked well. Just a few tweaks for fit and function and then the other skate could be done using the first as a pattern.

This all took several days of looking and thinking and cutting and grinding and....

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After finishing up both skates, I went up to Jaws for a test run. Heel blocks painted black and a set of 8-Ball wheel nuts that have been sitting on my shelf for a few years now to help the looks a little. The skates weigh in at 4 lbs 10 ounces each, a little heavier than the previous setup. But, these skates actually FEEL lighter than the the prior since there is no heavy metal grind plate near the ground leveraging against my leg movements. Also, the trucks now turn very tightly compared to before.


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The plastic grinders are not uber slick like the old steel on steel coping, which made it difficult to simply stand still. They do, however, slide very well with a little momentum. I actually started practicing jumping onto the ledges in the street area of the park, from a standstill, in order to get the proper form while balancing.

It was not long before I could jump with both feet hitting the ledge at a right angle and locking both grinders simultaneously and then jumping backward to land for a dismount. With the steel plates I was terrified to even attempt such a thing with a jump.

After almost a 2 hour session the crowd began to thicken, so I took my leave feeling extremely satisfied with my new setup. I can now get the same speed pumping with less effort so my bowl runs will certainly improve more rapidly. Rolling up over the coping also feels much more controllable now.

I want to thank everyone on the forum who has posted pics of their skates. Everything gets consideration before any one course of action is taken. You all make this place fun to visit on a daily basis!
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Robert: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (14. Jan. 2010 00:35)
 That is so cool. Great job.
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Beer Hunter: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (14. Jan. 2010 00:50)
 I accidentally posted that last picture twice. This is the pic that was intended...


Photobucket
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claudine: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (14. Jan. 2010 04:07)
 Wow, nice job! I'm looking at boots now for next time. I had to put in way too much time/money to get my speed boots to fit my scrawny ankles. Seems like the best option is a custom boot, but at my income, I might have to come up with something creative like that. Those sliders look sweet!
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ufra: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (14. Jan. 2010 20:13)
 Hi.
nice skates. You have a great transform.I think this kind of boots it's high for my I prefer slower than this boots. But I look like confortable.
Thanks a lot.Have a good one.
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claudine: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (14. Jan. 2010 21:35)
 I thought the same thing, isnt it hard to bend your ankles with these?
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joe90: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (15. Jan. 2010 02:44)
 Bulk,bulk,bulk rad Beerhunter.They look the goods in every way.If they do restrict ankle movement,you could just start lowering the boot height a bit at a time till your happy.
Noice work.

cheers joe

capcha is "banishes change",quite the opposite round these parts I recon.Progression rocks.
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Beer Hunter: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (15. Jan. 2010 05:37)
  Ankle movement is severely restricted with the cuff strap cinched down snugly. What I found while testing is to loosen them one click at a time, then do some solemn moves on flat ground. At one point the cuffs will be quite loose and the ankles will have full range of motion. They ended up being so loose that they may as well not even be in place on the boot, I think.
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Beer Hunter: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (15. Jan. 2010 05:54)
  This is precisely what I had in mind! Remove some material a little at a time, and eventually I will have the correct balance of flexibility and protection.

One thing I did not like about these boots is the buckles. They are low quality and as such tend to slip a notch here and there. However this did not affect my skating on the first day since I did not fully notice the looseness until looking down.

What I had in mind originally was to get a nice pair of aggressive inline boots and mount them up using the stock 2 bolt UFS mounting system with plate mods to suit. That way I could use any aggressive inline boot in the future with a fairly simple swap. That plan will have to wait until I am in good financial standing (which could very well be a long time). Until then, I will make do with what I have now and modify as needed.
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joe90: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (15. Jan. 2010 06:38)
 Hey BH I believe you can get replacement(quality} ratchet buckles at ski shops at a decent price.

cheers joe
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Beer Hunter: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (15. Jan. 2010 14:23)
 Thanks for that info Joe, I had not thought of it before. We do have a Sun & Ski Sports here in San Antonio so that is a possibility. I had been thinking along the lines of drilling lace holes in the boots, but I like this idea better.
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Bernhard: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (15. Jan. 2010 14:32)
 Great work, Tim! It seems that there are about as many diverse ideas how to build a vertical roller skate as there are vertical roller skaters.

I also prefer higher boots because of ankle protection. However, I now use a leather boot instead of a plastic shell. An ice hockey player who also has been ramp skating 20 years ago kept on insisting that leather was better. ;)
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Beer Hunter: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (15. Jan. 2010 15:47)
  I agree with you Bernhard that leather fits better. There is nothing else that even comes close for the comfort offered by a well broken in leather boot. My first vert setup build did have an Oberhamer roller hockey boot!


VertSetup1


I later removed the heel since the forward pitch was simply too much for me to deal with.


Vert Setup 2


Unfortunately, the boots were manufactured with a soft leather sole. The sole of one boot eventually tore through at the rear mounts. I do miss the way those boots fit (though they were a REAL bitch to break in). Perhaps one day I can get them re-soled with a the proper firm material and then put them back into use again.

However, the hard plastic shell of this new boot will take any and all impact force and leave my ankle nubs feeling completely untouched. Even a really hard hit while wearing good leather will leave you feeling a little sore.
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Bernhard: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (15. Jan. 2010 15:56)
 It's a pity that your Oberhamer boots aren't usable anymore! But any boot is better than no boot or else you couldn't skate.

I think my Fesl boot protect my ankles really well. They have some thick and strong padding which makes it more difficult to get into the boots but makes them fit better and reduces impact on the ankles. To be honest, I can't remember when I hit my ankles the last time and therefore can't tell how bad it was.


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Beer Hunter: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (15. Jan. 2010 17:46)
  Perhaps you did fall and take a hit to an ankle, but the boot did it's job and prevented any damage. I did not experience any real ankle pain until after switching to low-cut speed boots. After that it seemed to happen quite frequently.
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biffsk8er: Inline Skate is Raped by a Quad Vert Skate... (16. Jan. 2010 10:07)
 Bah! Girly ankles. PHTH!

heh heh
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