The Anatomy of a Skate Wheel: Hyper Cannibals VS Atom Poisons
Flat track roller derby is a grass roots revolution. Leagues are popping up all across the world at a rapid pace. These leagues are formed with any resource founders can scrounge, and often times they have to compete with other local sports teams for playing space and practice time. While leagues do play under uniform rulesets, the skating surface they play on is variable. This surface can range from super slick polished concrete, to bumpy portable sport court tiles. In an attempt to maintain some consistency in their gameplay, skaters often switch out their wheel sets, depending on the surface they are getting set to play on. If you don't play derby, and you’re not a skater, you might think that there's not a lot involved in …show more content…
If a wheel has too much grip, it can feel like trudging through mud, and it can slow the skater down. In addition to affecting a skater's speed, this can also affect their stopping power. Atom Poisons are a hybrid wheel. The designation of hybrid, means that the wheel would work well on both indoor and outdoor skating surfaces. Poison's have a durometer of 84a, which is very soft, with a lot of gripping ability. The extra grip can be a comfort in slick situations, but it will also shave points off the skater's lap time. The soft sticky durometer of the Poisons make stopping more effective, but because of a lack of give, it also puts a strain on the skater's ankles and makes the maneuver of stopping a lot less smooth. Hyper Cannibals have a durometer of 95a. In the summer, when the track is slightly warmer, Cannibals maintain the perfect combination of grip and slide. "Risky Business" style moves like power slides and hockey stops can be executed with ease. The harder durometer allows for just enough push and creates little to no drag to slow the skater