A beautiful DUH moment...

So I got these fabulous new wheels and bearings and couldn't wait to switch them out. When I put them on, I noticed that when I tightened the axles too tight, the wheels wouldn't spin. So I had to leave them all a bit loose. Out on my skate last Friday, the front wheel of my left skate worked itself loose and almost came off while I was skating!! I nearly lost my balance and the arm flailing that ensued was highly entertaining I'm sure! Luckily I always carry my skate tool with me so I tightened it up and went on my way. Of course, since all of the axles had to be left loose so the wheels would roll, I was clicking, clacking and vibrating the entire time. Basically it sucked.

On my outing this past Tuesday I felt like I had to work harder to get up any speed. So I figured it was time to clean the bearings. Last night I popped them out and opened one up - pristine. Not a speck of dirt. Now I was completely puzzled... Then I recalled an article I had read on Inline Planet yesterday about what to pack in your skate bag and the author had mentioned to keep a spare set of wheel spacers... Wheel spacers? What are those? Do I need those? (Do I actually have those without even knowing it??) So I asked my husband if he knew what a wheel spacer was. He said he thought it was the little 'ring thing' that was in my other set of 90 mm wheels. Basically they look like this:

So I took them out of my 90 mm wheels and put them in the 100's. They fit in-between the bearings in the center of the wheel. I put the wheels back on, tightened the axles really tight: and the wheels spun for days... Problem solved... My next time out should be a lot more comfortable...

The kicker to this incredibly duh moment? On a whim I peeked at the bearing set-up on the stock wheels that I had just taken off of my skates last week and lo and behold: spacers... I'll take those out and put them on the Street Fights. (Now that I know what they are and how vital they are...)

There are days when I feel like an advanced skater with a good grasp on the sport. And then there are days when I feel like a complete and total rank amateur. Guess which one it was yesterday?

Happy trails!