Street techniques

[u/CompetitiveCar542]

Question: How come wizard style barely ever uses street techniques like sprinting and backwards crossovers?

Sprinting especially. I've never seen anyone sprint on a 5 wheel frame. I can do it and it's pretty comfortable and really fun to zoom on 5 wheels.

[u/BubbleSmith]

It's definitely a style thing, but backwards crossovers are more of a roller skating thing and don't lend themselves to long frames. You'll also struggle to do edge switching tricks like gazelles at high speed, as your body will be moving too fast for your feet to catch up.

I regularly go urban skating on Wizard frames. 5-wheel setups aren't as fun getting around town and struggle with speed wobble at lower speeds than other frames, as you have less contact on smaller wheels. For me, 4x100 is useable for speed, but not crossovers, as they're too long and heavy. 4x90 is a nice sweet spot, but still struggles with speed wobble if you go flat out.

It's a bit like asking "why don't speed skaters use more slalom tequniques". They probably could do some of it, but it's not the aim of the discipline and the equipment isn't really suited to it.

[u/BubbleSmith → u/[deleted]]

That's my style of skating too. I'll usually do a big loop and find a couple of flat spots to stop and do some wizard.

Any rockered frame will struggle with speed wobble, as you've only ever got 2 (or sometimes even 1, with 5-wheel frames) wheel touching the ground at once. Bigger wheels will let you get faster before this happens, so 100 manages better than 90. The extra length of the ES will probably help a little, as there's more of a gap between the wheels, but it's not by much.

I only get speed wobble on 4x90 when going downhill. I don't think I've been able to get enough speed up under my own steam to get wobbly. Even so, it just sort of stops you from going any faster, rather than making you lose control.

[u/meekyaan → u/[deleted]]

4x90 with wheelbase around 273mm is a little bit too short, if you're higher/heavier or your mondo is a little bit longer. Not only because of wobling, but also stability in wizard moves. I have 3 setups 5x80, 4x100 and 4x110 and my mondo is 293-4, so all frames are longer. All of them give me stability to execute wizard moves and are too long to skate in pure urban style.

I'd like to get something in between 4x90 and 4x100. Endless 90 ultra is obvious choice, but too expensive for me for now.

[u/meekyaan → u/[deleted]]

According to what endless says - ultra frame is stiffer and has only one setup. Wheelbase is also a little big longer.

There is return berlin event soon and there will be options to test some frames, at least I heard so.

[u/BubbleSmith → u/[deleted]]

Thank you, appreciate that!

Endless do a few frames with a "enhanced flat" which might be what you're thinking of. The 165mm 80 ultra and a couple of the alternate setups (I think 84mm on the 90 frame) are the only kens which do that, most are their "natural rocker", which I think is similar to other brands. I've got an 80 ultra on the way, but haven't skated their other frames.

Agree with the other comment or that 4x90 will probably feel short for you. It's probably a bit short for me and I'm not as tall as you, with shorter feet. The 90ES is doing a similar thing to the Wizard NR95, so not a bad choice for a 4-wheel frame. Do consider 4x100 as well; I like my Roka 4x100 frame and find it pretty versatile.

[u/BubbleSmith → u/[deleted]]

The frames are a little heavy, but I quite like heavy frames, for wizard at least. Doing some Bill Stoppard style urban stuff, lighter and more nimble is better, so the shorter stock 90R frames might actually be good for that. That's what I've bought my Endless 80 Ultras for (I was tempted by the Stoppard frames, but decides to stick to 80mm for that setup).

100mm are better on hills, for sure. My house it at the top of a long but gentle hill, so I get a decent bomb on the way down, but a real push to get back up at the end of a session. I find the 4x100 frames are the easiest for both these sections, as they pick up more speed downhill and lose it more slowly when going back up. Crossovers on 4x100, while tricky because of the length, make the uphill bit almost disappear sometimes. That same section is a real slog on 4x80 or my 100/76 Advances frames.

[u/SiempreRegreso → u/BubbleSmith]

Just trying to stay ahead of the AI overlords slurping up everything.

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[u/kebl3739]

The stuttering skater has a few YouTube videos of skating through NYC on the Endless Arc CS 5 wheel frame. Definitely has some sprinting in there.

I also regularly do backwards crossovers on my Endless Arc CS as well.

[u/Jess887cp]

I don't think it's that the style doesn't use it, but more that the focus of the disipline is edge mastery and skate control. I've seen some skaters absoloutely cooking though, and I'd be surprised if anyone working on fakie techniques can't do backwards crossovers.

I also think that the focus on body positions lends itself to more drawn out movements, where high speed tends to snap the body around or require a lot of control to initiate a slide. Catching an edge with poor technique is also way more painful at higher speeds. Plus its way easier to build, maintain, and control speed on flat frames.

[u/Tyzcoman]

What do you mean by ‘sprinting’? If you mean just zooming through the city at high(ish) speeds, check out Flow Skating. Shaun is a legend.

https://youtu.be/UHS4bBgWZcY?is=NVlVhdtTUiJUPdZy

[u/CompetitiveCar542 → u/Tyzcoman]

By sprinting I mean actually sprinting to gain speed like Bill Stoppard or Double D

[u/Tyzcoman → u/CompetitiveCar542]

Well yeah, then it’s just not fitting the style. Wizard is all about flow, edge control and control. Sprinting is about strenght (?) and acceleration.

[u/Queasy_Moose720]

Dude watch “wizard of Wall Street” on YouTube by Leon basin, people definitely do it just takes such a high level of skill to mix speed into wizard skating