On Friday, April 26, 2013 1:21:18 PM UTC-4, 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.

When I was a kid, I remember seeing a manual on how to put wheels on regular cross-country skis. That was in a Russian DIY magazine in the mid 80-s, so back then "regular" length was 2m. You can get old-school wood skis for this for free from someone's garage. I don't see why one can't use skateboard wheels, or smth.

A google search in Russian produced the publication with a surprising ease. Not sure this is exactly what you want though, they don't use poles.

http://zhurnalko.net/=sam/junyj-tehnik/1986-08--num72