Shop Talk: What To Do When Your Wheel Wear Out

Congratulations, you have achieved the distinction of skiing enough to wear down your wheels to the point where they need to be replaced. The question is... when the rubber hits the road, what wheels should you buy? Since there are many options for wheels, I am going to help you figure out what you should run on your skis to get the most out of your experience.

First and foremost: know what model of skis you are running! Each ski has their own wheel size, axle length, etc. Rather than knowing every specification and compatibility between models, knowing what model you have will help you figure out exactly which wheel you need. Have a Finstep? Buy Finstep wheels. Have a Skate Elite? Buy Skate Elite wheels. Are you looking for Racing wheels? Any aluminum skate frame or Alutech Frame will fit those. We offer more Rollerskis than any other brand, and as a result have many different sizes of wheel. The model of ski can be typically found on the sidewall of the body of the ski.

Once you pick your model you must pick a speed. Here is a quick rundown of the speeds on offer from fastest to slowest: Racing Ceramic, #1, #2 (Default), #3, #4. Apart from our racing wheels, our wheels feature speed reduction not only in the bearings but in the rubber.

I am confident in saying over 85% of skiers here in the States are running #2 wheels or a #3/#2 combination on their skis. #2 wheels come stock on most pairs of Swenor skis, junior skis and racing skis being the exception. Gus Schumacher, and Ian Torchia both run #3/#2 combination on their skis for training as it is a good balance of speed and resistance. My recommendation would be to try the default combination first and decide if you want to go faster or slower than that. Some folks go in assuming that they want the slowest wheel speed, and then find that they cannot practice skiing at L1, because their heart is jumping out of their chest when skiing at their regular pace.

TL;DR (too long, didn't read). Don't reinvent the wheel! Select your wheel speed based on your needs as a skier. Get a good feel for the standard speed and determine if you would like to go faster or slower when you replace them. Oh, and if you're a coach we'll give you a deal on some fresh urethane, so you can keep up with the kids.

Happy trails,

Jacob Huseby

EnjoyWinter.com

Still not sure what wheels fit your needs? Drop me a line Jacobh@endurance-enterprises.com