Off-road roller skis - preliminary 12/7/98
copies of previous postings to rec.skiing.nordic
On 7 Dec 1998 15:06:36 GMT, mkwbr@aol.com (MkWbr) wrote:
>Does anyone have any experience with these rollerskis, especially skating
on
>cinder/crushed limestone paths?
Not possible unless the crushed limestone is extremely small (fines)
has been there so long it's embedded in the soil.
> If you have, which wheels do/did you use?
>(According to the Reliable Racing catalog, there are two different
wheels --
>pneumatic and tube.)
I've got the pneumatic. They use the small diameter wheelchair
tires. The ones shipped with mine wore poorly but the replacements
I got from a wheelchair parts dealer were excellent.
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copy of earlier posts attached
I've used them for 2 years and they were a good investment for me.
Before getting them, make certain you have adequate milage of good hard-packed
surface available. Even though they are called off-road, this does
not mean any trail. Locally, I have available 186 miles of the C+O
canal towpath with about 160 miles usable for off-road roller skis.
I would be hesitant to use them on dirt roads because of the problems with
loose gravel on each side of the tire track - the roller skis are very
difficult to use on loose gravel so it presents problems in getting out
of the way of an obstinate driver. The rollers will go over trail
obstacles such as small branches up to the size of a garden hose.
The amount of water/mud on a trail is also important since they don't do
well on a wet dirt surface - but you can double pole with no kick to get
through it. Be warned that wet leaf litter in the fall can be a killer.
The rollers will work on dry, short grass but it will be an intense aerobic
workout since there is absolutely no "glide" and a lot of friction.
Of course they work just fine on pavement and will allow you to use the
rougher asphalt that you would avoid with other roller skis. However,
they are too fast on asphalt for me. YMMV. One super
advantage on dirt is that you never have problems with pole slippage like
you do on asphalt - even so use the carbide tips since the dirt will rapidly
erode the standard steel tip.
There is one additional problem you face with the off-road roller
skis on the trail - cobwebs. A real annoyance at best and heart stopping
when you discover a gold and black spider with a leg span of 4 inches plastered
on your chest. The bite isn't poisonous but the adrenaline rush can
be hazardous.
The time I knew the off-road rollers were for me was the day
I did a 20 mile out and back from Ft. Frederick to Hancock on the towpath
in August. No road crossings, wild flowers in bloom on both sides
of the trail, ducks and herons in the canal next to the towpath, and deer
foraging in the woods. One of the best skiing experiences I've ever
had.
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"Never send a monster to do the work of an evil genius."
I bought and use the earlier version which has larger diameter
but narrower wheels. It's a bit tippy but the wider rollers on the
new model should solve that problem. They tend to be slower on all
but very hard packed and smooth dirt. Surface roughness inherently
acts as a brake. If you want an intense areobic workout at low speed,
just get off into a grassy field - like trying so ski in molasses.
OTOH they can be very fast on pavement. I made the mistake once of
getting on the upper end of a gentle slope to a boat ramp. Before
I was able to stop, I was having to consider if the poles might be good
for spear fishing.
You will also find several nusience problems in off road roller
skis on dirt paths that you never encounter while skiing in winter: cobwebs
and associated spiders. In some sections, I wait until the
bikers clear the trail before I head out in the morning.
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Economist John Kenneth Galbraith: The only function of
economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.