max LIGHTNING wheel size
Johnny T Chang
72.5 or 76.5? or something else?
thanks.
oh, and if anyone knows what the max size for any skates, including 5-wheelers,
is ...
Mark R Stallard
: a while ago, somebody posted the max wheel size for lightnings ...
: was it ... 72.5 or 76.5? or something else?
Johnny, I'm pretty certain that you can't use higher than 72.5" without
grinding the frame; which is a very radical move. I was at Eric Flaim's in
Boston last night, and the guy there was wearing late-model Lightnings with
three 76 mm wheels on each skate. He confirmed that he had ground out the
wheel wells with a special drill bit.
On both skates, though, he did not have wheel #2 (second from front) at 76mm.
Instead, he had a skateboard wheel (!) in that position on each skate. He
told me that his size (men's size 9) could not be ground far enough for a
76mm wheel in that position. The "next shell size up" (10? 11?) could be
sufficiently ground, but even then (he said) you would have to remove some
material from the boot.
At this point, I'm telling my friends with Lightnings that it's 72mm; I won't
even mention grinding the frame.
|+| M a r k |+|
Anthony Chen
The Lightnings take 72.5mm for max size. 5-wheelers can generally go up to
82mm. There's quite a few rec-level 5-wheelers, so this might be 80mm for
some skates.
-Tony Chen
adc...@cs.fsu.edu
Andy Hill
> was it ... 72.5 or 76.5? or something else?
>
> oh, and if anyone knows what the max size for any skates, including
> 5-wheelers, is ...
>
The max that I've ever heard of (as well as the max that I've ever seen
for sale) is 82mm.
William Bradley
>
>Johnny, I'm pretty certain that you can't use higher than 72.5" without
>grinding the frame; which is a very radical move.
Grinding out your frames *is* pretty severe, but it's a quick and
inexpensive way to a pair of skates that hold 76mm wheels. You don't
necessarily need any special tools...I used a Dremel Roto-Tool to sand down
the rough edges after first using a power drill to remove most of the
excess plastic. There were still a few tight spots after that, so I
shaved them down with a straight file.
>On both skates, though, he did not have wheel #2 (second from front) at 76mm.
>Instead, he had a skateboard wheel (!) in that position on each skate. He
>told me that his size (men's size 9) could not be ground far enough for a
>76mm wheel in that position.
To fit 76mm wheels in a size 9, you do indeed have to grind into the boot.
I ended up going about 2mm (0.1 in) down before the wheel spun free. There
isn't much of the cross-sections left, either.
>At this point, I'm telling my friends with Lightnings that it's 72mm; I won't
>even mention grinding the frame.
I certainly wouldn't recommend doing any extreme skating with ground skates,
but it seems that you don't weaken the frame integrity *too* much. I'm a
pretty light guy, so I'm not too worried. And hey...this sure beats
spending more money on a "better" pair of skates!
Cheers,
Bill
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Dave Woodall
>Johnny, I'm pretty certain that you can't use higher than 72.5" without
>grinding the frame; which is a very radical move. I was at Eric Flaim's in
"very radical move"??? No, it's not. You are right that 72.5mm is
the largest wheel most Lightning/TRS's can hold (without grinding).
I have size 9.5" L/TRS's, and ground mine down to hold 76mm wheels.
I love it!!! People who haven't done it think it weakens the frame,
but you don't grind the frame. You grind the "ceilings" of the wheel
wells.
>Boston last night, and the guy there was wearing late-model Lightnings with
>three 76 mm wheels on each skate. He confirmed that he had ground out the
>wheel wells with a special drill bit.
Yes, I used a cylindrical rasp bit that has a rounded (spherical)
end. Costs a couple of bucks at Home Depot. Worked like a dream.
>On both skates, though, he did not have wheel #2 (second from front) at 76mm.
>Instead, he had a skateboard wheel (!) in that position on each skate. He
>told me that his size (men's size 9) could not be ground far enough for a
>76mm wheel in that position. The "next shell size up" (10? 11?) could be
>sufficiently ground, but even then (he said) you would have to remove some
>material from the boot.
This is true. I had to melt a very small amount of plastic in a very
small area (say 1mm deep) to get wheel #2 to spin freely. But the boot's
sole is very thick, and this hardly made a dent in it. I'm not real tough
on my skates (yet :-), but I have absolutely no worries that my skates are
*any* weaker than they were before.
>At this point, I'm telling my friends with Lightnings that it's 72mm; I won't
>even mention grinding the frame.
You're doing them a disservice, unless they have Tim Taylor's aptitude
for power tools.
The only point to remember is that the bigger the boot, the bigger the
wheel. Here's a few sizes and absolute wheel sizes that I know about:
L/TRS size: max wheel size:
------------+----------------
7.5" | 72mm**
9.5" | 76mm
10.0 | 80mm
**Most wheel makers don't make half sizes any more (ie. 72.5mm).
Actually, they are dropping quite a few of the odd-ball sizes.
The common sizes now are 72, 76, 80 and 82 (or is it 86?).
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Dave Woodall | e-mail: woo...@dseg.ti.com | Plano, TX |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads! Dr. E. L. Brown
Dana Schuh
All 5-wheel frames are not the same. Some have a max of 77 mm and some can
accomodate an 82 mm wheel. Raps had a frame that used a very large wheel in the
rear position with 'normal' size wheels on the rest of the frame. I don't have
the exact size, but it was quite a bit larger than 82 mm.
Mike P.
Karl Fengler
|> The only point to remember is that the bigger the boot, the bigger the
|> wheel. Here's a few sizes and absolute wheel sizes that I know about:
|>
|>
|> L/TRS size: max wheel size:
|> ------------+----------------
|> 7.5" | 72mm**
|> 9.5" | 76mm
|> 10.0 | 80mm
|>
I have 10 1/2 Lightnings and the biggest wheel that will fit is the 72.5.
???
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Dave Woodall
>In article <Csvq6...@skopen.dseg.ti.com>, woo...@adrs1.dseg.ti.com (Dave Woodall) writes:
>
>|> The only point to remember is that the bigger the boot, the bigger the
>|> wheel. Here's a few sizes and absolute wheel sizes that I know about:
>|>
>|>
>|> L/TRS size: max wheel size:
>|> ------------+----------------
>|> 7.5" | 72mm**
>|> 9.5" | 76mm
>|> 10.0 | 80mm
>|>
>
>I have 10 1/2 Lightnings and the biggest wheel that will fit is the 72.5.
>
>???
I guess you haven't been following this thread. 72 is the *normal*
size. Go back and read this thread, and if you want more info,
e-mail me.