Rink Rat wheels are they worth the extra $$$

[irishplayer]

Hi,

I am a defenceman, being able to have a good grip is important to me. I have skated in games before where i havent had any grip and it has affected my play. I mostly play on basketball courts which are wooden flooring, will rink rat wheels grip a dusty wooden floor aswell as sports court.



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[rinkrat15]

A dusty wooden floor? good question, they grip fantastic on wood, and we have had a couple of wood floor rinks order from us and we havent heard any "bad"news about how long wheels hold up on wood. Its always been a touching surface for all wheels. I know our wheels grip fantastic on wood, hope that helps.....Mike

National Inline manager for Rink Rat wheels.

[-venom-]

they grip well, BUT in my personal experience, wood tears them apart :(

[rinkrat15]

WOOD GERNERALLY TEARS MOST WHEELS APART, WERE WORKING ON GETTING A BETTER WOOD FLOOR WHEEL, WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN WERE THERE..MIKE

National Inline manager for Rink Rat wheels.

[-venom-]

agreed 100% mike.... any quality wheel for sportcourt takes a beating on wood. not bashing RR wheels man, you know thats all I skate on ;)

[rinkrat15]

No worries my man, I know your a Rat member...Peace

National Inline manager for Rink Rat wheels.

[bobbyorio]

Hey Nigel trying to pull out all the stops to get an edge on your competitors nice work!

[MDE3]

Generally most wooden floors have a polyurethane varnish and tend to be grippier floors by nature. If dust is the problem, then there are not many wheels which will grip, until they allow studs to be implanted in the wheels. In general all wheels which grip well on sport court type surfaces will get torn up on wood floors due to the high c.f. and will chunk out quickly. The old Formula G's from Hyper in a 74 - 78 durometer, or the old Labeda Grippers (not Millenuiums, but the white 75 - 78 durometer wheels) used to work very well on wood and have some life as well. If the problem is the dust.........may I suggest a dust mop being passed on occasion? I know this mat seem a bit "over the top" to suggest cleaning the floor, but it is certainly worth it.

[MDE3]

Same experience with the RR wheels on wood. They lasted fine on sport court, but after 2-3 usages on wood they began to tear up. No argument about the grip however.

[irishplayer]

ya know me Bob, everyones been raving about these RR wheels and since little Island gets too dam slippy i might aswell get the best grip going.





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[GROWL]

Well to be completely honest, I have seen many cases of chucked rink rat wheels. Having skated on them myself, they were the best grip I've had in a wheel, also the longest life, but I've seen a lot of heavier players and hard stoppers chuck wheels. Then again this was when they first came out, Mike and crew may have addressed the problem. I agree with the first chap, the old Labeda (white) grippers seemed to be the best on wood.

[JMUDukes26]

Yes... worth every penny in my opinion, but I don't know if wood floors will rip them apart. My thinking is that they'll last longer than millennium's because of the design of them, but they're kinda pricky to replace every few weeks....

Gary LaBelle
President
JMU Roller Hockey<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by JMUDukes26 on 11/27/03 01:07 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

[JMUDukes26]

I have heard through the grape vine that the problem with alot of the wheels chunking is due to the pro-shops, not the wheels.

This is what I heard mind you...
Any wheels need to cure for a number of hours or [more commonly] days in the mold, and out of it. Rumor has it, that many of the rink rat wheels were rushed out to pro shops who HAD to have them for a tournament weekend, with the advisory that they not be sold/used until a certain date. Many of the wheels were sold on the day they came in, used too soon, and consequently came apart.

I guess it could happen, Maybe one of the RR boys could shed some light on this.

Gary LaBelle
President
JMU Roller Hockey

[rinkrat15]

Heres the scoop, We did rush wheels out the door to get to certain events. But thats not the proshop's fault,that was our's All wheels needa certain amount of cure time before players use them, but here's the reason why we had so many wheels chunk in so many different places around the country about 4 months ago.....

During our pad printing process, we used 3 different colored Inks to overlap each other to give us a great look..
The employee that was in charge of that pad printing made and error that caused the wheels to chunk and delam..

What happened was this, when ever the ink doesn't print on the wheel correctly, smudging ext ext we are supposed to wash the wheel with a high pressured water to remove the smudged ink so we can re print the wheel...well the employee in charge used a chemical called asitone to wash the wheels instead of water, this chemical made it impossible for the outer layer to have any bond with the inner layer, thus when you skated on the wheel the wheel had no bond, so it either chunked or simply delammed. Thats why you see one or 2 wheels here and there explode, because it wasnt every wheel just the ones where the printing was messed up....

It was a problem that was recognized almost right away, but unfortunatly a ton of wheels made it on the market.

Any person that had a problem like this and let me know about it had the wheels replaced, Have you noticed it hasn't hardly happened at all the last 4 months, thats because the problem has been corrected...

Weight has nothing to do with our wheels chunking at all, 4 of our main wheel testers are 6-3 240 lbs and over the course of a year have "NEVER" had a wheel do this....And I have personally tested over 200 hours of testing and I have never had a wheel explode or delam. You have to understand the art of testing wheels....I just dont test wheels that are new and perfect everytime, I test wheels with underpour, holes, major bubbles, bad bonding anything you can think of bad with a wheel I have tested extensivly, and I have never had a wheel explode on me and most of you know I'm 6,1 210 lbs.

So in saying all this the point is this, wheels from all companies have the chance of coming apart once in awhile, millions and millions of wheels are made and once in awhile 1 or 2 have a problem, fixing the problem is the important thing, Rink Rat fixed the problem and haven't had 1 since, not only that we have our full line of wheels out on the market, Hornet Pro Model, Hotshot Platinum Model"mid priced"
World Cup Outdoor wheel, and the worlds best goalie wheel The CrossBar....Look for them at stores near you....If you have any other questions please email me at [email protected]

TAke care and Happy Thanksgiving

National Inline manager for Rink Rat wheels.

[Defense1st]

Mike,

Thank you for taking the time out of your Thanksgiving Day to explain that to the public. Most people are not as educated about wheels as you are obviuosly, but I think you did a very good job of explaining in layman's terms what caused the problem. Can you explain the wheel hub problem that people still seem to have with some of the Hornet and Hot Shot wheels. I bought a set of Hornets for my son at Junior Olympicws in US Blades and I cannot get the wheels to spin on any set up I've tried. My son really likes the wheels, but I have had to back out the axle and bond the screw into the axle part; releasing all the pressure on the bearing that is normally caused by the frame being tightened down properly.

My son is about ready for a new set of wheels and I was hoping that this problem was fixed also.

Can you shed some knowledge on this subject and also let me know if this problem has been fixed.

By the way I live in the Metro NYC area and was hoping you could tell me where to buy The Outdoor Wheels and the Mid Priced wheels.

Thank you.

[rinkrat15]

The hub problem was also corrected, In the beginning we had hubs that for whatever reason were 4000th of an inch to small, Lamans terms....Couldnt get your bearing in all the way, which means your wheels dont spin...Another corrected problem that wont happen again...Were working hard to change the way the game is played, our wheels are the industries best and were working hard to make sure minor problems dont become big ones, I'm glad the hockey community is asking questions about wheels, And I'm glad to answwer them anytime, take care guys...Mike

Wheels will be availble in New York retailers in a week or so....Mike

National Inline manager for Rink Rat wheels.

[-venom-]

*thumbs up* for mike, really stands behind his product. most companies ignore the consumers concerns, and dont deal with them directly.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Irish,

As you may have noticed, there have been a lot of clicks on your message. With IHC's Message Board software, I can see who clicks on what messages.

Hey Rink Rat guys, knock it off! lol

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[rinkrat15]

Thats their choice, A bad one I might add, but their choice.
I think the thing to remember here is that labeda sponsors CJ and CJ is the General Manager of Marple...I'm not a rocket scientist but there may be a connection there, haha

On a serious note ask a few of the Star Marple Gladiators that wear Rink Rat and ask them what they think about the wheels, or ask any player thats ever wore them, Everybody pretty much knows the score here, Stores can boycott us because of there loyalties, but where are they going to be when 90% of the players come in and ask for the best wheel in the world and they dont carry them,

If they dont carry them anymore We can tell you where to go in that area to buy Rink Rat. No worries

Mike


National Inline manager for Rink Rat wheels.

[teamhystyk]

Hey Mike, this is Dan Tremblay from West Bloomfield, Michigan. I sent you a box of rink rat wheels right after NARCH in July and I never got new wheels back. Since then I have a couple chunked rink rat wheels and I am holding on to them since I never got the other ones I sent back. The box was relatively big and was to attn: Michael Hunt. Please let me know what to do from here.

[rinkrat15]

Hi Dan, please email me at [email protected], I will try to find out what happened.


Mike

National Inline manager for Rink Rat wheels.

[inline_mba]

Sorry to say ? in my opinion NO.

I bought my son a set of Rink Rat Hornets (green) at US Blades in Detroit, MI, during this past summer?s Junior Olympics for $84.00. Previously he?d been skating Labeda Dynasty?s for a while. But, after all I was hearing (message board chatter), I thought he could give them a try, even though they cost more, but they were touted to last longer and therefore should be more cost effective.

Here?s the low down ? he?s 15, 5?8? and about 135lbs. He skates: 3 adult house leagues, 1 youth house league, tournaments, and ref?s Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons when not playing in tournaments ? ALL ON SPORT COURT SURFACES. I purchased the wheels on August the 7th. After 3 games last night, (approx. 4 months since I bought the Rink Rat Wheels) my son tells me that the Rink Rat wheels are starting to split, on the verge of ?chunking? and he?s going to need new wheels ?toot-sweet?.

OPINIONS:

- Rink Rat Wheels lasted no longer, or no less, than Labeda Dynastys

- Rink Rat Wheels seemed to have a negligible to slight edge, performance wise, over Labeda Dynastys

- Based on my son?s size, Rink Rat Wheels did not live up to their claims

CONCLUSION:

- Rink Rat Wheels are not worth the extra $$$

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions,

Steve Inge
[email protected]

[-venom-]

Hey man, if you read the other posts, you'd have seen that the first batch or so of Rink Rats was *known* to have durability issues.... I've been on them since February, and up until about 2 months ago, I had quite a few split or even explode on me. I'm 6' 190lbs, so I wear through wheels a little faster then your son I'm sure, but honestly, I've no complaints since I've purchased my new set about 2 months ago....... Looks like they've got the bugs worked out, don't give up on them yet.

[rinkrat15]

Exactly right, we had lots of issues in the early months of the wheels release, and as said on many occasions on this and many boards, the mark of a great company is to correct the problems, All have been corrected. Furthermore, the comment on how Rink Rat is slightly better the the other brand you mentioned is your opinion, but let me tell you this, there's nothing slight about it, we have the best performing wheel and longest lasting wheel on the planet and 2nd place isn't even close, 700 testimonials and counting, second, we just released our entire line of wheels,including a mid priced wheel that is better then "ANY" other competitors "HIGH" end wheel. So not only do we have the best pro wheel but now we have the best mid line wheel that is 50.00-60.00 a set and it performs better then the competitors high end wheels.

Alot of people just refuse to try Rink Rat because of their brand loyalty to other companies, thats fine...But your sure missing out on using the best products the game has to offer.
For the person who came on here and said they aren't
worth the money, I'll do this, send me your address and I will send you a set of my Mid Range wheels for Free..And guess what, they will last you along time and they will be the best wheels your son has ever used. simple as that.

Take care

National Inline manager for Rink Rat wheels.

[inline_mba]

Mike - I just sent you an email. Thanks for your offer. I'll follow up and let everyone know how my son makes out with the new wheels.

Steve Inge
aka NJRH - http://www.eteams.com/njrh

[SpeedDemon]

I am 175 lbs defenseman. I say they are worth the money. Been wearing them for over a year, haven't needed more than 4 sets, I play twice a week year round.

[Superstar9]

Hey,

I've been on the same set of rats since august and I havent had a single problem. I skate 7 days a week for hours on end in my facility. I actually get 2 sets of rats a month through my employer and because they last so long, I have 9 sets I havent touched because I havent needed them yet. That grip and stopping is unmatched, the durability is ridiculous. If your not on rats, you'll spend your game behind the play. If you dont know what to do with your labedas and hypers... they make good doorstops for me!! lol!!

[Falcons77]

Then send me a few sets Street!!! Hoep all is well....

Billy

[inline_mba]

OK - I promised to post a follow-up to my previous posts, so here I go:

My son played with a brand new set of Rink Rat "Hotshot" Wheels (courtesy of Mike Hunt from Rink Rat - THANK YOU Mike) in the TORHS Winter Cup Finals this past weekend and all my son and I can say is WOW!!!

First off, I can't say enough about how much I was impressed by Mike?s offer to send my son a new set of wheels to replace the Rink Rat wheels my son wasn't happy with. I, like many, many other parents out there, have invested a lot of money in equipment in hopes that the equipment will allow my son to perform at his best when he plays roller hockey. Never, I mean never, has an equipment manufacturer stepped up to the plate like Rink Rat did. Many times I've purchased equipment for him that unfortunately failed, and it was live and learn. The Pro-Shop?s hands are tied, buying online saves money - but good luck trying to return something, and manufacturers usually head for the hills and blame it on customer ?abuse? or consider it ?non-warrantyable?. Rink Rat put their money where their mouth is and let the consumer testify, on a public message board, to the results of an equipment?s trial by fire.

The results ? OUTSTANDING!
- No wheel break-in time
- Absolutely no slippage in turns or stopping
- Maximum speed & performance
- And, he liked the color (No big deal to me ? But style counts to kids, I guess)

So, goodbye Labeda Dynasty ? HELLO RINK RAT!

Who knows, maybe now we?ll even start rooting for the Rink Rat Pro Team instead of the Tour Mudcats. But, one step at a time.

Steve Inge