Gecko

your local sk8shop doesn't stock speedrings?????? yes it is silly to order them online unless you are buying other stuff....I have a bering sleeve thats about half full of speedrings along with 2 sleeves of steel bering spacers

replacing the one bad bering will save you heartache when the bearing in question disintegrates and leaves you stranded....

most likely the bearing retainer (see picture) has failed/cracked in one of the two bearings in a wheel. that is the reason I keep all my bearing so I can replace one or two as things like this happen

if you are unlucky nothing until you faceplant if you are lucky it sounds lie the bearing seat on your wheel melting away as the wheel starts to disintegrate.

Slide wheels......I have burned up a set of each....my views are as a 43year old skater and may not reflect your skillset or opinions the Sergios are a great wheel for fast slides, I mean really fast they give you control when you want to spin a 360s and you are hauling a55 on a big hill but they are really hard to keep from flat spotting at lower speeds. mine machine gunned pretty quick Slide A's there is a reason they are the industry standard, control, wear, flatspot resistance, nice meaty shape. good performance at lower more human speeds. you can flatspot them I have one wheel with the beginnings of a flatspot right now. but they are much nicer than the alterative. Not sure who pours the Sergios but the SlideA's are poured at Creative Urethane from one of the premium thanes not one of the cheap ones Brian (at earthwing) is constantly tweaking the recipe to get more out of the wheel.

Wheelabrator There are 3 distinct hills the main hill which is a 30-35mph (max) 2 lane fairly straight forward hill, it's a good place to practice your tuck, it's 8/10th of a mile long and rewards a good tuck, it's also fun to draftrain. The Bikepath is just that 1/3rd of a mile winding through the trees you can make 30mph on it though the last 2 turns can be scary at that speed. Then there is the slide hill which has a right and a left turn. Wide enough to slide softwheel or tech. other places vary, the garden is tight techie turns at 25-30max, Greentree is +40mph straight bombing or slopestyle. Those are my main DH spots but lately I've been skating the URI campus which tops out at 20-25 but techie

good question sometime late summer early fall I think....

the fat end with the upturned nose

depends on where you are going....niigata and nagano are hardboot heaven awesome groom not to mention post ride Onsens. now if you are going to Hokkaido pack a powder board

Supercharger is not a speed board just a nice all round board, great for carving....it's the board I ride the most these days

I have assembled it and skated around a basketball court but nothing at speed or in anger yet. I spent most of the day skating with ....and learning

My Lambchop, Gravity Drifters, Indy 215s

Not as stiff as an Axe but solid and well made Mig is a BIG guy so....

this Supercharger is a little over you budget but very worth the price

exactly.....

more Fullbag promotion the Concave is very comfortable the tail kick is subtle nothing like an Axe Mine not mine but a shot of the concave

yeah no problem the whole Idea behind a wheelabrator session to to gather the masses (last one we had people from ME, MA, NH, Vt, RI, Ct, NY, PA, NJ and I think MD....there are 3 hills a big wide nearly mile long DH a tight narrow bikepath and of course the slide hill

the only day a wheelabrator session can be is on a Sunday, the road is waaaay too busy the rest of the week....I will post when we start organizing the next session

My wife has a crackberry but she just bought an Ipad for school so her days of playing on her phone are nearly over....I on the other hand am all about the dinosaur phone

I know the feeling I have a Lambchop I am picking up from the sodafactory on friday but the soonest I can ride it will be Sunday

the Evo is good I just like Soda Factory boards

sadly it's not my spot to invite people to, plus it's probably 4 hours from where you are...there will be a session towards the end of the summer or early fall at Wheelabrator

I can't believe I missed this...if you haven't bought yet you ought to check out the Clutch Deeznutz (yeah that's really the name) Similar to the Evo in basic shape but less extreme and (IMO) better made...plus they are made in Bristol RI

DUH.................I ride my bicycle a lot but only for transportation so I didn't put that for pleasure I skate (all disciplines) and hike with my wife and dog

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the problem is 75mm wheels on a top mounted poolboard....OVERKILL... are you looking for a dual purpose street and park/pool wheel? if so look at something smaller and more turn friendly Mangotangs aren't bad wheels but ill suited at that size to a short WB board....more riser and a 70mm wheel or a 66mm wheel and your existing riser 75mm wheels excel for softwheel sliding on wheelbases in the 28"-34" range on drop, dropthough, double drop and even on the occasional topmount boards