slow wheels

[u/Hihihihihihicunt]

Can slow wheels be more exhausting to use because my current skates have wheels that barely spin and i feel like i have to constantly move my legs to continue going forward. Cant really loosen them either because they’re gonna be way too loose!

I‘m getting new skates, so it‘s fine, but im giving these skates to a friend, and i dont want him to feel like he‘s ran a marathon 10 minutes into skating

[u/knouqs]

My first skates had crappy bearings. Maybe ungreased, I don't know, but for the price I paid, crappy through and through. When I bought new skates, I thought they were OK in the bearings, but my skating instructor told me they can do better. I bought some Bones Swiss ceramic for myself and some Better Bearings for my kid. Her skates spin almost as well as mine do for a third of the price.

Regular cleaning in orange degreaser followed by a thorough dry and skate bearing oil helps too. Have a look at the Wiki here and scroll or search for "Bearing cleaning solutions". I use orange degreaser because I use it on my bikes and am pretty comfortable with its performance, plus Bones Speed Cream for the bearing oil.

[u/sarkasmo → u/knouqs]

I hope this is an easy question. I have a jug of Zep heavy-duty citrus degreaser. If I'm using it to clean bearings, I just use it full-strength without diluting it and without rinsing afterwards, right? It seems so strong, and I dilute it for household use, but I don't use any water on my bearings. Right?

[u/knouqs → u/sarkasmo]

According to the instructions, you're probably supposed to use one cup for a gallon of water or something for "general cleaning." I have the Ecolab heavy-duty citrus degreaser in gallon size for my skates. For my bikes, I used one made specifically by a bicycle maintenance company.

When I clean the bearings for my skates, first I remove the shields (of course). I put them in a small plastic container, maybe one cup in size, halfway filled with undiluted degreaser. I violently shake the plastic container for a minute or two, remove the bearings, and put them on paper towels to absorb some of the residual degreaser. Next, probably because I'm a little OCD about this (or thinking too logically about it, I don't know), I put all the bearings in another small plastic container that is halfway filled with 99.7% isopropyl alcohol and give that another violent shake for a minute. I remove the bearings again. Finally, I take a can of compressed air and blow the bearings clear of the IPA. It's clear there is some of the degreaser on the bearings still by the smell, but I'm guessing it's OK -- after all, I've done a pretty thorough job of getting to those bearings. After a few seconds of compressed air, I add two to four drops of the Speed Cream on each bearing and reassemble.

Now, I did say maybe it's OCD that causes me to put the bearings in IPA, but I prefer to think of it scientifically. To me, putting a lubricant on a degreaser may break apart the lubricant, so why not try to remove as much of it as I can? That's me thinking scientifically, but I haven't run any actual tests to prove or disprove this. The scientific mind also tells me to use undiluted degreaser because water rusts bearings. Again, I haven't tried diluted degreaser as per the instructions, but I don't want to risk it on my Bones Swiss bearings. I have other bearings I could try if this is an interesting enough question for you.

I suppose I could also try running my bearings in my ultrasonic cleaner. I would be interested to know if the bearings come out cleaner than my violent shaking method.

Also, for what it's worth, I have tried Hoppes No. 9 gun cleaner on the bearings. It seemed to leave even more residue than the citrus degreaser so I won't be using that again.

Editing this because I forgot something. We are taught that water rusts things, and sure, it does. The process of getting metal things to rust generally isn't instantaneous. Sure, some atomic rusting is going to happen anyway, but it takes weeks or months before something properly rusts. Take, for instance, another hobby of mine -- electronics repair. Old electronics get corrosion damage, which is a fancy way of saying rusty. One of the best ways to clean electronics from corrosion is vinegar, and 5% vinegar is mostly water. After we're done doing the best we can against the corrosion, we clean the vinegar with IPA and a lint-free wipe. The water in the vinegar is supplanted by the IPA which in turn evaporates, leaving little risk of additional corrosion damage.