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Roll your own rollerskis



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 26th 13, 05:21 PM posted to uk.d-i-y,rec.skiing.nordic
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Posts: 7
Default Roll your own rollerskis


I would like to try rollerskiing, but absolutely cannot handle the
off-the-shelf ones. For various reasons, I need ones a couple of
metres long, with ratchet wheels on the front and a REAR braking
system operated by moving my calves. There doesn't seem to be
any easy way of getting components (affordably) to build my own.
I would probably use wood for the bearing member, or possibly
aluminium section - very light weight and elegance aren't needed.

Has anyone done this, or got any useful information?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
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  #2  
Old April 26th 13, 10:44 PM posted to uk.d-i-y,rec.skiing.nordic
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Posts: 572
Default Roll your own rollerskis

I doubt that a couple of meters will be workable. It will be very
long and bulky. Remember, this is ski boots with only a binding pin or
two for connection. You're talking nearly three times longer than the
existing classical rollerskis, two and a half for the longest (Marwe
combi with wire wheel extension). Even the old ones back in the 1980s
were not more than about half that, as I recall from photos. You're not
going to be skiing but walking, if you're lucky. Think this needs
serious rethinking.

As for materials, I don't think wheels, including ratcheted wheels and
bindings should be a problem getting. Use wood or an old ski section or
shape some metal. Check online for instructions, as I recall seeing
them somewhere. Perhaps one of the Jenex braking systems would work
for you, or it could be modified.

Gene


On Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:21:18 +0100 (BST)
wrote:


I would like to try rollerskiing, but absolutely cannot handle the
off-the-shelf ones. For various reasons, I need ones a couple of
metres long, with ratchet wheels on the front and a REAR braking
system operated by moving my calves. There doesn't seem to be
any easy way of getting components (affordably) to build my own.
I would probably use wood for the bearing member, or possibly
aluminium section - very light weight and elegance aren't needed.

Has anyone done this, or got any useful information?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

  #3  
Old April 27th 13, 07:22 AM posted to uk.d-i-y,rec.skiing.nordic
[email protected]
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Posts: 7
Default Roll your own rollerskis

In article ,
wrote:

I doubt that a couple of meters will be workable. It will be very
long and bulky. Remember, this is ski boots with only a binding pin or
two for connection. You're talking nearly three times longer than the
existing classical rollerskis, two and a half for the longest (Marwe
combi with wire wheel extension). Even the old ones back in the 1980s
were not more than about half that, as I recall from photos. You're not
going to be skiing but walking, if you're lucky. Think this needs
serious rethinking.


On the other hand, it is no longer than my cross-country skis
(shorter, in fact), which have the original Nordic Norm bindings,
and no bulkier than the even earlier ones (which used Telemark
bindings, admittedly). And I really do mean that I really, but
REALLY, need that length and those properties. There is just
no chance of me handling things as short as even a metre.

As for materials, I don't think wheels, including ratcheted wheels and
bindings should be a problem getting. Use wood or an old ski section or
shape some metal. Check online for instructions, as I recall seeing
them somewhere. Perhaps one of the Jenex braking systems would work
for you, or it could be modified.


That's what I thought, but I failed to get much further. I did
check online and failed to find anything very useful, but the
problem nowadays is fighting one's way through the jungle of
marketing bull**** and plain irrelevance.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
  #4  
Old April 27th 13, 01:43 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
Terje Mathisen[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 173
Default Roll your own rollerskis

wrote:
In article ,
wrote:

I doubt that a couple of meters will be workable. It will be very
long and bulky. Remember, this is ski boots with only a binding pin or
two for connection. You're talking nearly three times longer than the
existing classical rollerskis, two and a half for the longest (Marwe
combi with wire wheel extension). Even the old ones back in the 1980s
were not more than about half that, as I recall from photos. You're not
going to be skiing but walking, if you're lucky. Think this needs
serious rethinking.


On the other hand, it is no longer than my cross-country skis
(shorter, in fact), which have the original Nordic Norm bindings,
and no bulkier than the even earlier ones (which used Telemark
bindings, admittedly). And I really do mean that I really, but
REALLY, need that length and those properties. There is just
no chance of me handling things as short as even a metre.


Hello Nick, fancy seeing you here! :-)

With my ~53 years (I'm 56) of xc skiing behind me, I have to agree
completely with Gene:

You do not understand what you are asking for!

The fact is that a 205 cm xc ski has an effective length (for stability
purposes) which is just a fraction of that: It is designed to bend in
order to absorb bumps and to distribute your weight over a large area in
various (soft/hard) snow conditions, but it is really only the central
meter or so which provides you with stability.

Besides, a roller ski is end-weighted (due to the wheels) while a xc ski
is strongly center-weighted, so the roller ski needs to be much shorter
in order to be steerable at all.

Terje

--
- Terje.Mathisen at tmsw.no
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"
  #6  
Old April 28th 13, 11:57 AM posted to uk.d-i-y,rec.skiing.nordic
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Posts: 7
Default Roll your own rollerskis

In article ,
dardruba wrote:

For various reasons, I need ones a couple of
metres long, with ratchet wheels on the front and a REAR braking
system operated by moving my calves.


Hi Nick, you seem reluctant to tell us why you Really Really need this
item, who would be using it and on what terrain.


Not really, but I was trying to keep it simple :-(

If you could give us some clues as to its potential usage I'm sure the
skiers on here could help.


I doubt it :-)

I believe that length will not get you round any of the sharp corners on
the tracks used for our roller ski events and as for going up inclines
you will need those forward roll wheels to stop you from glissading
backwards.


I have a strong negative interest in such tracks.

As for the long road in Hyde Park or on Blackpool Promenade you will not
have the ability to skip around the gawpers who stop in front of you as
we do on roller blades or roller skis.


I have a Very, Very Strong negative interest in such locations.


Now, as to why:

I am 65 (and hence vulnerable to crashes) with no vestibular
(semi-circular canal) balance at all. None whatsoever. I balance
almost entirely by touch, and have done for almost all of my life,
so I can ride a stable bicycle and ski (to some extent). In
particular:

I want to be able to use this to get fit for real cross-country
skiing (which I might take up again, after 40+ years), and am
talking about travelling at 10-15 MPH. I need to be able to stop
in an emergency, and therefore need brakes.

If I catch my feet when leaning forward, I WILL crash onto
my face. That was why I couldn't learn to skate in my youth,
because they required us to use figure-skating skates. Therefore
I must have rear brakes.

Short rollerskis and (effectively) a J-stop WILL cause me to
crash. I can do that on snow, because I can (just) control the
side-slip. That is not available with wheels.

Work that lot through, and you will see that I have two options:
to abandon this altogether, and to take the approach I am planning.
If you think that you have another approach that might work, you
are 99% certain to have misunderstood the constraints caused by
my balance.

On that matter, it is a myth that balance is controlled by one
sense. 70% of the semi-circular canal data controls eye tracking
(which I don't do - I predict), and it is the primary balancing
method in people with no handicaps. But is disappears as they
get older, and needs to be replaced by touch, which is why old
people need sticks and to hold onto things - it's NOT primarily
for support.

Vision is the third method, but is useful only to tell you which
way is up, because it is too slow (a 0.2 second delay in the
visual cortex). So I am back to solely touch. That is slower
than vestibular (tolerably so), but its real gotcha is that any
uncertainty in sensations through the feet takes nearly half
a second to reequilibrate. Oops. CRASH!

So I need to be able to stop in an emergency without having any
functioning organ of balance. With long skis and rear brakes,
it would be feasible (just) - I am not going to explain how I
know, but it's experience with similar activities. With short
rollerskis, no chance.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
  #7  
Old April 28th 13, 07:02 PM posted to uk.d-i-y,rec.skiing.nordic
dardruba[_2_]
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Posts: 60
Default Roll your own rollerskis

Wow, such an interesting response. Thank You. I wish you well in your
enterprise.

I have one final question, should things work out for you and you get
that build up of skills and the opportunity to ski on snow, where would
you aim for and what sort of terrain would offer you fulfillment?
Since you have knowledge of skiing would you like to be out along the
canal towpath, around the city park or on machine prepared forest trails?

  #8  
Old April 28th 13, 07:45 PM posted to uk.d-i-y,rec.skiing.nordic
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Posts: 7
Default Roll your own rollerskis

In article ,
dardruba wrote:

Wow, such an interesting response. Thank You. I wish you well in your
enterprise.


No problem.

I have one final question, should things work out for you and you get
that build up of skills and the opportunity to ski on snow, where would
you aim for and what sort of terrain would offer you fulfillment?
Since you have knowledge of skiing would you like to be out along the
canal towpath, around the city park or on machine prepared forest trails?


Probably none of those :-) 35 years ago, I used to be a fairly
good cross-country skier by UK standards of the time (i.e. dire),
and did up to 30 km a day on the Hardangervidda. I would like
to do some of that again, though probably less vigorous, and
probably elsewhere.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
  #9  
Old April 29th 13, 05:47 AM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
Terje Mathisen[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 173
Default Roll your own rollerskis

wrote:
In article ,
dardruba wrote:

Wow, such an interesting response. Thank You. I wish you well in your
enterprise.


No problem.


Indeed. I still think you _will_ have to reduce your length though, 2 m
with fixed end-points (wheels) will make steering extremely hard,
besides adding a lot of weight.

I have one final question, should things work out for you and you get
that build up of skills and the opportunity to ski on snow, where would
you aim for and what sort of terrain would offer you fulfillment?
Since you have knowledge of skiing would you like to be out along the
canal towpath, around the city park or on machine prepared forest trails?


Probably none of those :-) 35 years ago, I used to be a fairly
good cross-country skier by UK standards of the time (i.e. dire),
and did up to 30 km a day on the Hardangervidda. I would like
to do some of that again, though probably less vigorous, and
probably elsewhere.


Hmmm, I wonder how close we ever came to meeting at that time:

My family has had (a) mountain cabin(s) near the SE end of
Hardangervidda since 1967, I have done a _lot_ of skiing in these areas. :-)

(The longest single trip was the 8-day/300 km trailbreaking we did just
before the Lillehammer olympics in 1994, where we skied from Morgedal to
Lillehammer via Møsvatn, Kalhovd, Solheimsstulen/Vasstulan, Tunhovd,
Smedsgården (between Nesbyen and Gol), Strandefjorden (near Fagernes)
and Synnhovd.)

Terje
--
- Terje.Mathisen at tmsw.no
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"
  #10  
Old April 29th 13, 01:40 PM posted to uk.d-i-y,rec.skiing.nordic
Ben Kaufman
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Posts: 54
Default Roll your own rollerskis

On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:57:45 +0100 (BST), wrote:

In article ,
dardruba wrote:

For various reasons, I need ones a couple of
metres long, with ratchet wheels on the front and a REAR braking
system operated by moving my calves.


Hi Nick, you seem reluctant to tell us why you Really Really need this
item, who would be using it and on what terrain.


Not really, but I was trying to keep it simple :-(

If you could give us some clues as to its potential usage I'm sure the
skiers on here could help.


I doubt it :-)

I believe that length will not get you round any of the sharp corners on
the tracks used for our roller ski events and as for going up inclines
you will need those forward roll wheels to stop you from glissading
backwards.


I have a strong negative interest in such tracks.

As for the long road in Hyde Park or on Blackpool Promenade you will not
have the ability to skip around the gawpers who stop in front of you as
we do on roller blades or roller skis.


I have a Very, Very Strong negative interest in such locations.


Now, as to why:

I am 65 (and hence vulnerable to crashes) with no vestibular
(semi-circular canal) balance at all. None whatsoever. I balance
almost entirely by touch, and have done for almost all of my life,
so I can ride a stable bicycle and ski (to some extent). In
particular:

I want to be able to use this to get fit for real cross-country
skiing (which I might take up again, after 40+ years), and am
talking about travelling at 10-15 MPH. I need to be able to stop
in an emergency, and therefore need brakes.

If I catch my feet when leaning forward, I WILL crash onto
my face. That was why I couldn't learn to skate in my youth,
because they required us to use figure-skating skates. Therefore
I must have rear brakes.

Short rollerskis and (effectively) a J-stop WILL cause me to
crash. I can do that on snow, because I can (just) control the
side-slip. That is not available with wheels.

Work that lot through, and you will see that I have two options:
to abandon this altogether, and to take the approach I am planning.
If you think that you have another approach that might work, you
are 99% certain to have misunderstood the constraints caused by
my balance.

On that matter, it is a myth that balance is controlled by one
sense. 70% of the semi-circular canal data controls eye tracking
(which I don't do - I predict), and it is the primary balancing
method in people with no handicaps. But is disappears as they
get older, and needs to be replaced by touch, which is why old
people need sticks and to hold onto things - it's NOT primarily
for support.

Vision is the third method, but is useful only to tell you which
way is up, because it is too slow (a 0.2 second delay in the
visual cortex). So I am back to solely touch. That is slower
than vestibular (tolerably so), but its real gotcha is that any
uncertainty in sensations through the feet takes nearly half
a second to reequilibrate. Oops. CRASH!

So I need to be able to stop in an emergency without having any
functioning organ of balance. With long skis and rear brakes,
it would be feasible (just) - I am not going to explain how I
know, but it's experience with similar activities. With short
rollerskis, no chance.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


The rollerskis I've seen with brakes have all been on the rear wheel. However,
based upon your balance issues, I think that getting the best protective gear
is a big issue.

Ben
 




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