Expand Quote
Cross post from the other Dragons thread to see if I'm the only one experiencing this -
After a 3 hour session, it seemed like I was having to push more or the wheels just weren’t as fast.
The bearings were shifting around slightly and causing my wheels to get tight. I would have to use my thumbs to push the outside of the wheel against the hanger or axle nut in order to get them seated and spinning correctly.
I’ve only had this issue with Radial Slims previously. I’m not sure if it’s a bearing seat issue or how soft the wheels are.
Anyone else had this happen?
Do you use spacers in these wheels?
Sometimes the spacers can be too long which then cause the bearings to shift and your wheels getting stuck over time. Just my experience with other softer wheels.
The bearings can definitely move, even with spacers. but tightened down will not move as much. I normally have a lot of play in my wheels, but some like that set, I had to have almost no play and make sure the spacers were a good length too.
I had some softer Spitfire wheels that I rode on a slippery ramp I used to skate all the time. Whenever I did certain tricks like pushed hard into smith grinds, that pressure on the wheel would push it off center on the bearings, which took me a bit to work out, but after every run, I would push and pull the wheels to get the bearings back in to where they were supposed to be to get them freely spinning again.
That overall was such a pain, but I got used to doing it after a while, so it was not too bad. Have a run, stop, push and pull (click click) and have another run.
When I had the chance to change wheels, I never looked back though.
* Re spacers, I almost forgot, but I found with some brands, I could tighten the nuts down equally on both sides, then tighten it another half turn or so which crushed the spacers in a bit, which made them fit in the wheels better. Not recommended for any and every situation (as I could see bearings being crushed too) but it did work when there was too much length in the spacers and they fit better as a result.
I used to do that to even up axle slip on older trucks, which was a common problem once, so just happened on it by mistake really, but it worked.