How to "lock" skate wheels for child.

[Twingirlz]

I am not sure if this is the right place or not to ask this. I have a
10 year old with special needs. She loves to skate indoors but needs
her wheels "locked", because her tone and balance is poor. Our local
rink does not lock wheels on their skates past a certain shoe size, so
I bought her her own pair on-line at Christmas this year.

I cannot figure out how they get the rear wheels tightened so they
barely spin, like at the rink. I bought Chicago brand skates and the
nuts on the wheels look like they have nylon inside them. Tightening
those nuts doesn't seem to do anything, Have I purchased the wrong
type of skates to do this to?

I have done many Googles on this and have come up empty. The closest I
can figure out is that I may have to insert a washer, but I am not
sure.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[Franklin's UsenetSpamTrap]

Hi,

Post by Twingirlz
I am not sure if this is the right place or not to ask this. I have a
10 year old with special needs. She loves to skate indoors but needs
her wheels "locked", because her tone and balance is poor. Our local

Try a large flat washer just under the nut? You want one with the
correct size hole to fit the axle, but large enough in diameter to cover
the outer race/circle of the ball bearing. Such washers are often used
with threaded rod. Tightening the nut should force the washer against
the outer race and the friction should brake the wheel.

Take a skate with you and look in a hardware store or in someone's well
assorted garage... :-)

The nylon inside the nuts is just a locking ring on the outside so the
don't fall off, they have normal metal threads. Usually if the spacer
(plastic or aluminium bit between the ball bearings on each wheel) is
nylon one can overtighten a nut to compress the nylon spacer to brake
the wheel, it's more difficult if it is aluminium.

I suppose if you dismantled the wheels you could take the spacer and
file one side down a teeny bit, just scrape it across some concrete fast
and it might be enough, but then you need a new space when she wants to
go faster. I like the washer better.

Have you tried ice skating with her? I saw a program on Swedish tv about
teaching 5-6-7 year olds with motoric difficulties and ice skating had a
large impact in their happiness/balance/walking and helped straighten
out their gait in daily life. Blades on ice seemed to easily force
attention to direction in a fun way. The kids pushed plastic crates
around on the ice for initial balance work.

What was nice was that the kids got to participate in the annual play at
the end of the season, so they got to dress up and did a routine with
the other skaters on the ice.

I wondered if inlines could be used the same way, and it's interesting
you are using quads? How long has she been skating and which
improvements do you see? Are there worse and better periods? Your child
or do you work with special needs kids? Any other related experiences?

Just interested as I had an inlines class of 12 year olds last year and
I would prefer everybody in class to be able to participate as the
question might arise. You may answer privately if you wish, the address
is valid.

br Franklin

www.rollers.no
Oslo, Norway

[IV]

Post by Twingirlz
Tightening
those nuts doesn't seem to do anything, Have I purchased the wrong
type of skates to do this to?

I shouldn't do anything. Those nuts tighten against a part of the bearing
which does not spin. This will be the same with any skates you buy. I would
recommend getting a rubber washer to put in between the bearing and the frame.
Another alternative is to get some cheap bearing and run them under some
water for a few minutes before thoroughly drying them. Then they won't turn
well at all. The problem would be making sure that you didn't overdo it so
that they don't turn at all.

[B Fuhrmann]

"Twingirlz" wrote ...

Post by Twingirlz
I am not sure if this is the right place or not to ask this. I have a
10 year old with special needs. She loves to skate indoors but needs
her wheels "locked", because her tone and balance is poor. Our local
rink does not lock wheels on their skates past a certain shoe size, so
I bought her her own pair on-line at Christmas this year.
I cannot figure out how they get the rear wheels tightened so they
barely spin, like at the rink. I bought Chicago brand skates and the
nuts on the wheels look like they have nylon inside them. Tightening
those nuts doesn't seem to do anything, Have I purchased the wrong
type of skates to do this to?

I would suggest talking with the rink first. They may not lock the wheels
on their skates past a certain size but they may be willing to do it for
you.

From your comments, I am assuming that you are not mechanically inclined
and/or have never seen (or want to see) the wheels and bearings apart.
If the rink is not willing to help you, then one of the other adult skaters
may be able to help you. If they are reasonably competent, it shouldn't
matter if they skate on inlines or quads.

The nylon ring in the nut is to prevent the nut from falling off the axle is
the nut becomes slightly loose.

How tightly do the wheels get locked? I did something similar for a friend
(brain injury from an auto accident left her with balance problems) by
buying some really bad bearings that were packed solid with heavy grease.
The grease made the wheels real sluggish. Someone who knows what they are
doing could stuff grease in the bearings for you.

I don't know the details of quad skates but expect that (other than
dimensions) that the wheel-spacer-bearing assembly is similar.
Since tightening up the nuts tighter, I am guessing that there is a spacer
between the bearings. This protects them from someone over tightening the
nut and causing drag.
If you take a bearing out of the wheel, you may find a loose piece (spacer)
between the two bearings. If you take it out, the bearings will become very
sensitive to how tight the nut is tightened.

[Twingirlz]

Thanks for all the replies. I am not too mechanically inclined, and
was considering asking the rink for some help. Someone asked if this
was my child and it is, She is a twin that was born at 28 weeks, now
10 years old. So her tone and balance issue stem from that.

The main reason I picked quads for her was mainly ignorance. I felt
that inline and even ice skating might be harder on the ankles to keep
upright. When you have ankles that don't have 100% strength, I wasn't
sure how that would go over. Mind you she has strong legs, can run,
climb, jump etc. but the tone in the muscles still comes into play for
finer things.

As I am typing this, I am wondering if inline might have been better.
It seems they'd be easier to maneuver, turn, etc. I thought the quads
would be easier to basically stand and even "walk" skate on.

The rink had the back wheels barely spinning. They'd turn, but you
couldn't roll on them. Almost too slowed down for her. She needs to
be able to roll somewhat, but not so much that they slip out from under
her, which is what happens as soon as she is on the rink.

We have skates for outside that she can use without so much worry about
the slipperyness, but she still "walks" in them. So I am trying to get
her to be able to roll without being afraid of falling.

It's the same with a bike. She still can't ride a 2-wheeler because of
her balance. Now I think she is just afraid because she has fallen so
many times.

I am going to take a wheel off to see if I can figure out what
everything is. If it all looks too scarey, I am taking them to the
rink. Thanks for the suggestions.

Sandy

[B Fuhrmann]

If you were going to try inlines, you would definitely want a lower end one.
They have taller and stiffer cuffs. You would also need to be sure that the
cuffs fit close enough so that they gave her support.

Quads are probably better for her at this time. You may not have known the
details but I think your instincts were right, quads are inherently more
stable at lower speeds.
I am an inline skater, but standing and turning in an indoor rink will be
easier on quads, especially with the poor balance thrown in. This might
even help to improve her balance.

I suspect that the rink will be very happy to help you, they should be
gaining a couple regular customers.
I would recommend describing that you would appreciate knowing how they lock
them up and how to adjust the tension.
--
Bill Fuhrmann

Post by Twingirlz
Thanks for all the replies. I am not too mechanically inclined, and
was considering asking the rink for some help. Someone asked if this
was my child and it is, She is a twin that was born at 28 weeks, now
10 years old. So her tone and balance issue stem from that.
The main reason I picked quads for her was mainly ignorance. I felt
that inline and even ice skating might be harder on the ankles to keep
upright. When you have ankles that don't have 100% strength, I wasn't
sure how that would go over. Mind you she has strong legs, can run,
climb, jump etc. but the tone in the muscles still comes into play for
finer things.
As I am typing this, I am wondering if inline might have been better.
It seems they'd be easier to maneuver, turn, etc. I thought the quads
would be easier to basically stand and even "walk" skate on.
The rink had the back wheels barely spinning. They'd turn, but you
couldn't roll on them. Almost too slowed down for her. She needs to
be able to roll somewhat, but not so much that they slip out from under
her, which is what happens as soon as she is on the rink.
We have skates for outside that she can use without so much worry about
the slipperyness, but she still "walks" in them. So I am trying to get
her to be able to roll without being afraid of falling.
It's the same with a bike. She still can't ride a 2-wheeler because of
her balance. Now I think she is just afraid because she has fallen so
many times.
I am going to take a wheel off to see if I can figure out what
everything is. If it all looks too scarey, I am taking them to the
rink. Thanks for the suggestions.
Sandy

[IV]

Post by B Fuhrmann
If you were going to try inlines, you would definitely want a lower
end one. They have taller and stiffer cuffs. You would also need to
be sure that the cuffs fit close enough so that they gave her support.
Quads are probably better for her at this time. You may not have known the
details but I think your instincts were right, quads are inherently more
stable at lower speeds.

I am going to respectfully disagree with these points. If you go with inlines,
don't necessarily go for "lower-end" ones. Go for recreational ones. These
are less expensive than specialized skates, so some people term them "lower-end",
but this can be a misnomer. Rec skates can be high end. Rec skates have high
ankles, so lots of ankle support. More than any quads I have seen.

As for quads being more stable at lower speeds, I believe that is an offshoot
of training on inlines. When you talk to people who started on inlines, they
say inlines are more stable. When you talk to people who started on quads,
it's quads which are more stable. (Generally, there are a few who think the
opposite)

If your daughter is used to quads, that's fine, but don't feel that you have
to stay with quads for stability reasons. If you do switch her over, it may
take a week or two to readjust.