r/Speedskating

Went down a rabbit hole on wheel profile this week and it cleared up something that used to confuse me. Profile is just the shape of the riding surface when you look at the wheel end on, and it sets how big your contact patch is, which is the tiny bit of rubber actually touching the floor at any moment. A sharper bullet profile gives a smaller patch that rolls freer on clean fast asphalt, while a rounder profile spreads the rubber wider and grips better on slick or dusty tracks. Body weight plays in too, since a heavier skater loads the wheel enough to run a sharper profile and still find grip, while a lighter skater usually wants the extra bite of a rounder shape. One more thing that helped me: wheels cone as you lean and push on one edge, and once they cone the two edges grip differently and the skate starts feeling twitchy, so rotating on a schedule keeps the profile even and lets you use all the urethane.

Full write-up here: https://www.livelica.com/blogs/inline-speed-skating/inline-speed-wheel-profile-and-contact-patch-how-wheel-shape-changes-grip-and-roll

(wrote this one up on our LiveLica blog)

So I have PS ACCEL boots and also PS ACCEL carbon fiber frame. While I was in a camp in Geisingen I bought tltf wheels 4x110 that are used for 3 flying laps for 140 euros which I think is a steal. And I have wicked Nick Lomax bearings that I wanna upgrade to some ceramic bearings.

So, is this setup good?

Spent ages fussing over blades and rocker before I realised the thing costing me the most was how I laced my boots. The trick that changed it was treating the lace as three zones instead of one long pull. Keep the forefoot loose so your toes can spread and stay warm, pull the instep firm since that is what actually pins your foot down and stops the heel floating, and keep the ankle supportive but loose enough to still flex your shin forward into a deep knee bend. Then build a heel lock at the top two rows, you run each lace straight up its own side to leave a small loop, cross each end through the opposite loop and pull down and out, and it hauls the heel back into the pocket so the push goes to the blade instead of into a gap. Quick test: lace up, sink into position, and your heel should stay planted while your toes can still wiggle, and if your toes go numb in a few minutes you laced the forefoot too tight.

Full write-up here: https://www.livelica.com/blogs/short-track/short-track-boot-lacing-how-to-lace-for-a-locked-heel-and-full-control

(wrote this one up on our LiveLica blog)