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welcome to another ThundrThursday
today we are going to talk about one of the most frequent questions
we get from fellow skaters from around the world
let's get to the topic of 2 wheels versus 4 wheels in inline skates
so get the intro
let's get started by taking a look in inline skates
inline skates are called inline
because of the arrangement of the wheels
it sound pretty obvious
but back in the 80s inline skates were nowhere in sight
as the rollerskates were the most popular ones
they were so popular back then that they appeared here:
the old rollerskates are now also called quad skates
and they use 4 wheels per foot
in a configuration of 2 x 2 just like a car
and that wheel configuration was also copied to invent the skateboard
skateboards are just single foot rollerskates
what about the inlines?
whats the difference
inline skates started to become popular in the late 80s
when ice hockey players needed a tool to keep training in summer
so you take a metal blade and try to mimic it with wheels
so you have the inline skte or you might say roller blade
you get the wheels in line. check!
but why did they go with 4 wheels? I mean, if you think a little bit about it
just 2 wheels should be enough right?
nowadays you have most inline skates using 4 wheels but
we aso have skates with 2 wheels, 3 wheels, 5 wheels and 6 wheels even.
and even this crazy invention with only one wheel
why 4 wheels became the most popular choice?
to proper explain this I need to
to first tackle what is efficiency
Efficiency is the amount of power the person exerts
that is actually converted into movement
in other words it's the proportion of energy
by the quantity of movement generated
it's a proportion, but there's always losses
so a 100% efficiency is really impossible
for example let's say you have a 90% efficiency
if you burn a 1000 calories from your own energy
only 900 woud be converted into actual movement
so, is the number of wheels related to efficiency? yeah!
let's take a look on how the number of wheels affect efficiency
the wheels in skates are made from polyorethan that has various hardness levels
when you have 4 wheels per foot
it means that you whole body weight is being supported by
8 points of contact
there's 2 feet
each supporting 1/8 of your body weight
meaning that each wheel is deformed by a force equal to 1/8 of your body weight
the more deformation the wheel suffers, the more it hurts efficiency
since it's absorbing the person's energy, much like a suspension
more wheels mean more efficiency
but wait
that's not the only factor
the other thing affecting efficiency is the wheel size
this is easy, right? the size of the wheels affect rolling resistance
meaning... how much the wheels resist when rolling
since the roads or any other surface are not completely smooth
you have small imperfections at various heights
the bigger the wheel diameter, the easier it is to climb them
a bigger wheel diameter makes for a more smooth rolling and a better efficiency
if we are talking only about the wheels, it comes to those 2 main factors
number of wheels and wheel diameter
people have put up to 6 wheels per foot and we have
put wheels up to 125mm in skates
but there's still research going on to determine what's the best for skating
POWERSLIDE believes that 3 wheels with a 125mm diameter is the solution
and a lot of their skates are coming with a 3-wheeled setup
we have several reasons to decide on how many wheels we need on any skate setup
aggressive skaters have been using 2 wheels for a long time
and that trend doesn't seem to fade
mainly the choose a 2-wheeled setup for grind tricks
they have more space in the frame to slide over obstacles
without the wheels "biting" the pipe or ledge
there are other advantages like a lighter skate
less wheels, less screws, les sbearing means less weight
slalom skaters use 4 wheels, but in a rockered setup
that makes only 2 wheels touch the ground at a time
they use this setup to make it easier to spin
and give better maneuverability for turns
allowing them to perform those crazy tricks
downhill skaters prefer a longer wheelbase to be more stable at the higher speeds they get
let's say... 70km/h (45mph)
yeah, a longer wheelbase is essential and since the frame is longer
you can actually put more wheels, like 5 or 6
to help with rolling resistance
also you don't want a tall skate
so a 125mm wheel usually don't make the cut
but this could change in the future, we don't know yet
marathon and speed skaters are all about performance
and they will use anything that will make them faster
that's why you will probably never see a 2-wheeled setup in these categories
but Powerslide is trying to promote the 3-wheeled setup and have won a few races already
so the trend might shift from 3-wheeled to 4-wheeled skates
but this will be dictated by the athletes results
and one more thing to consider
about the number of wheels in inline skate is grip
more wheels means more grip
there's more points of friction to the ground, so more grip
so it's easir to brake and make high speed sharp turns
that's essential in downhill skating and inline hockey
but not so much in everyday casual skating
for commuters, fitness enthusiasts, beginners and kids
having 2, 3 or 4 wheels doesn't change much, if anything
most commercial skates choose the number of wheels based on
marketing and common sense rather than actual science
Thundrblade will come in a 2-wheeled setup with 125mm wheels
so you can still get a really nice rolling out of the big wheels even when not using the motors
don't worry about braking either
even if you are going as fast as 35km/h or faster
Thundrblade has regenarative braking so it's really easy and efficient
and much more efficient than sliding your wheels through the asphalt
but gonna talk about braking in another video
be sure to subscribe and check back every week for another thundrthursday
Thank you for watching and we want to know what setup do you use
tell us in the comments bellow
thank you