June 2005

Good Jammin' News

Q&A with Bill The following are Bill Butler's [BB] responses to reader questions.  I am a big skater, 300+ [pounds].  What plate do you think will fit my style the best?  I am a JB skater and I dance. -KH- BB -  I recommend you call one of the reputable companies and tell them your situation and let them recommend something for you.  This way you'll get exactly what you need. I'm an intermediate skater and would like to learn how to skate backward and with a partner - recreationally of course. I plan on skating once no more than twice a week. What type of skates would you recommend purchases? - Stanley - BB -  If you're gonna do a recreational thing, get a Riedell 121 boot and a Sure Grip plate. The plate's available with or without a toe stop, you should take your preference but if you're just a recreational skater, I think you should get a toe stop. You should get a wheel comparable to your skating style, i.e., if you require lateral movement versus non-lateral, if you want a tighter wheel, etc.  You should explain to the place where you're purchasing what type of skating you're doing so that [sales] person, hopefully, will give you the right information.  If there's a problem, I’ll be more than happy to recommend something...so feel free to ask again if you wish to. Hey Bill, I hope you still answer questions.  I bought a pair of Chicago skates. I replaced the wheels with 62 mm roller bones(red), with bsb abec-5 bearings.  My problem is when I skate, my right skate is fine but when I switch to my left, or just roll on both, my left skate trys to roll to the left. I figured it might be the plate so I'm looking for a solid but cheap plate.  I saw the dominion marathon V plate and liked them.  is this a good plate or am I wasting my money?  these are only to get me by till I buy my new skates GT-40's......  are they any good? - MrJohnson - BB -  A 62 mm wheel is fine for certain things but not so good for other things because you can't take a deep edge with those wheels.  They are too tall.  You will need 57 mm so you can take an edge.  Now if you just like to roll, then 62 mm is fine because you're not going to take much of an edge, depending on your weight. As far as the left skate taking off, if you bought those skates with the plate on, what you might look into is an adjustment.  Adjust the trucks because they're not adjusted all the same - you were lucky with the right one.  If you bought them mounted, they did it right for the most part - it's rare that they don't - but the adjustment is not always guaranteed.  Leave the right skate alone, adjust the left one to match it. The way the adjustment works, there's an adjustment bolt and there's a lock nut in a lot of cases.  I'm not familiar with the plate you mentioned, [or the GT 40 skates], but what you need to do is make sure, underneath, there's some adjustment capability.  I’d adjust the left to match the right, don't throw them away yet..... If you just roll around and that's what you like, you can stick with the 62 mm wheel.  If you're looking to dance and cut sharp, do back and forward circles, etc. - the wheel is too tall.  There's not enough space for you to take an edge deep enough to take a circle. If you're a jam skater then don't change the wheel.   A 57 mm tall wheel and a wider racing wheel, that's what the jam skaters use, they take a racing wheel and do all that stuff.  They have a 62 mm wheel  - don't quote me, but I think they do.  The jam skaters use them because they're so wide but I'm speaking about the tallness, the 62 mm in height.  They don't give you much room to lean over, they'll meet the bottom of your plate or foot and throw you over or cause you to stumble. Posted 06/11/05 Thank you all for your questions and I wish you the best. Do you have a specific question on the above information or the Jammin technique?  Ask Bill Back to Top