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#12
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Roll your own rollerskis
P.S. Your estimate of 10-15 mph seems way high, assuming we're
using the same system. Ten mph is a mile every six minutes, which translates to ~3:45/kilometer, if my calculation is correct. At any age, it's unlikely balance is a serious issue at that speed. My hunch is something more in the 7-9 min/mile range, which if you're having balance problems is fast enough to be quite scary at times. Gene On Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:18:57 -0600 wrote: Nick, you're very brave to give this a try again given longstanding balance issues (at 66, I've found my balance is much better than when younger, in good part due to the demands of x-c skiing and rollerskiing). If you pursue this, then I think it's a choice of picking your poison: get the longest commercially available rollerskis (Marwe combi + wirewheel at about 825mm for classic; maybe the longer Jenex for skating?); or you can build something that will be too unwieldy for the physical conditioning you desire. For the first choice especially, I'll suggest Crash Pads (for snowboarders and skaters), lightweight knee and elbow pads and, of course, a helmet. Crash Pads: http://www.crash-pads.com/. I used to use the mesh-underwear style and they're very effective. Once lost my balance going downhill on rollerskis and took a ten foot slide on my hip/butt. No scratches, just shook it off, got up and carried on. Btw, another way to employ rollerskis would be just to use them for double poling. Very effective workout, perhaps the most effective on rollerskis, and much safer; can build up to 1.5 to 2 hour sessions. It could be done on skate rollerskis with longer poles or on something like the long Marwe I suggested above with classical poles. The third choice is to skip it and do lots of other long and short distance exercising (bike, row, hike/run), plus gym work (strength, elliptical machine, etc.). There are people I've known over the years who choose not to rollerski and do just fine racing, getting back what they need at the beginning of snow season. Gene 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. |
#13
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Roll your own rollerskis
In article ,
wrote: Nick, you're very brave to give this a try again given longstanding balance issues (at 66, I've found my balance is much better than when younger, in good part due to the demands of x-c skiing and rollerskiing). Or a complete loon :-) At 64, I decided to try downhill skiing, on the grounds that it was then or never. Half of my friends said I was a total loon, and the other half said "Go for it". Well, 150 hours of practice (and I mean that) later, I can handle blue and the easier red, but I have to concentrate 100% for that, so it's VERY tiring. I am OK on green. That's all parallel turning. If you pursue this, then I think it's a choice of picking your poison: get the longest commercially available rollerskis (Marwe combi + wirewheel at about 825mm for classic; maybe the longer Jenex for skating?); or you can build something that will be too unwieldy for the physical conditioning you desire. ... I am not quite sure about the latter. It's really the muscles at the front of the thigh and hip that I am thinking of, and the length of the ski doesn't matter. I would be using a very long, straightish stretch of tarmac, so turning isn't an issue. I take the points about protective kit on tarmac - I don't mind falling on snow or moorland, but rock and tarmac can break things. The problem about other exercise is that it wouldn't help much for the muscles and ligaments that I remember suffering. It took me a week to be free of pain when I was 30, so only the second week was entirely pleasurable! P.S. Your estimate of 10-15 mph seems way high, assuming we're using the same system. Ten mph is a mile every six minutes, which translates to ~3:45/kilometer, if my calculation is correct. At any age, it's unlikely balance is a serious issue at that speed. My hunch is something more in the 7-9 min/mile range, which if you're having balance problems is fast enough to be quite scary at times. That could well be. I failed to find any reasonable indicative speeds of rollerskis, and was guessing from my cycling and old skiing speeds. 6-10 MPH might be more plausible, but it doesn't really help, as the real damage comes from the falling down from a standing height. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#14
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Roll your own rollerskis
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#15
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Roll your own rollerskis
I would think you could get much of the muscle development you're
looking for with an elliptical machine (arms, legs), the kind where the foot pieces can go forward and back, and the forward position allows being upright or forward leaning. Pedalling backward is really good for the quads and anyone with a bad knee. Forward gives all around legs and conditioning. It's not nearly x-c skiing in aerobic demand, and there won't many long distance like sessions, but it does help a lot. I use one regularly at the gym, such as for getting race pace intervals from 3 to 30 mins on the cheap. Gene On Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:10:06 +0100 (BST) wrote: In article , wrote: Nick, you're very brave to give this a try again given longstanding balance issues (at 66, I've found my balance is much better than when younger, in good part due to the demands of x-c skiing and rollerskiing). Or a complete loon :-) At 64, I decided to try downhill skiing, on the grounds that it was then or never. Half of my friends said I was a total loon, and the other half said "Go for it". Well, 150 hours of practice (and I mean that) later, I can handle blue and the easier red, but I have to concentrate 100% for that, so it's VERY tiring. I am OK on green. That's all parallel turning. If you pursue this, then I think it's a choice of picking your poison: get the longest commercially available rollerskis (Marwe combi + wirewheel at about 825mm for classic; maybe the longer Jenex for skating?); or you can build something that will be too unwieldy for the physical conditioning you desire. ... I am not quite sure about the latter. It's really the muscles at the front of the thigh and hip that I am thinking of, and the length of the ski doesn't matter. I would be using a very long, straightish stretch of tarmac, so turning isn't an issue. I take the points about protective kit on tarmac - I don't mind falling on snow or moorland, but rock and tarmac can break things. The problem about other exercise is that it wouldn't help much for the muscles and ligaments that I remember suffering. It took me a week to be free of pain when I was 30, so only the second week was entirely pleasurable! P.S. Your estimate of 10-15 mph seems way high, assuming we're using the same system. Ten mph is a mile every six minutes, which translates to ~3:45/kilometer, if my calculation is correct. At any age, it's unlikely balance is a serious issue at that speed. My hunch is something more in the 7-9 min/mile range, which if you're having balance problems is fast enough to be quite scary at times. That could well be. I failed to find any reasonable indicative speeds of rollerskis, and was guessing from my cycling and old skiing speeds. 6-10 MPH might be more plausible, but it doesn't really help, as the real damage comes from the falling down from a standing height. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#16
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Roll your own rollerskis
In article ,
Alan Braggins wrote: I noticed there were used skis at Milton recycling centre the last couple of times I've been dropping stuff off. You would have to be slightly cautious they had been thrown out because of surface/edges being beaten up and not structural damage, but would they be any use as the bearing member? Or would they be much too flexible when supported by wheels at the end rather than along their whole length? Too flexible, I am afraid. But spruce or aluminium section (as in pre-monocoque aircraft) should be fine. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#17
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Roll your own rollerskis
In article ,
wrote: I would think you could get much of the muscle development you're looking for with an elliptical machine (arms, legs), the kind where the foot pieces can go forward and back, and the forward position allows being upright or forward leaning. Pedalling backward is really good for the quads and anyone with a bad knee. Forward gives all around legs and conditioning. It's not nearly x-c skiing in aerobic demand, and there won't many long distance like sessions, but it does help a lot. I use one regularly at the gym, such as for getting race pace intervals from 3 to 30 mins on the cheap. Some. I have tried them, but don't like them much for a good many reasons, including having to hold on fairly hard for balance. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#18
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Roll your own rollerskis
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. Nick, I would encourage you to bail on the rollerski project given your constraints. Instead, pick up some ski poles and walk / hike / perhaps run with them.. Your ski fitness will be greatly jacked up for skiing next season. It's far more enjoyable. Rollerskis are hazardous contraptions under optimal circumstances, and are generally a lot less fun after about the first 10 hours maybe less. DT |
#19
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Roll your own rollerskis
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 |
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