Maintaining Your Equipment
Roller skiing is a great way to work out, whether you are trying to stay in shape for the winter ski season or just looking to get outside and get your heart pumping. It can, however, can be a dangerous sport. It’s important to pay attention to suggested weight limits, wear safety gear, be aware of your surroundings, and maintain your equipment properly to avoid unnecessary, premature failures.
Basic Maintenance
Check your roller skis for visible damage before and after every ski session. Poor technique or risky jumps can damage skis and cause premature fatigue failure. Scrapes and gouges can cause weak spots, which will lead to breakage. Check for small cracks in the shaft or fork or along welded areas. Moving bindings and adding extra holes can also weaken a shaft and cause failures. Be sure to keep at least 1/2″ between old and new holes, and fill old holes with epoxy.
Keep your skis clean! Rinse dirt and salt off with a hose or in a shower and allow the skis to dry completely before storing. Store inside a house or other climate controlled building rather than in a basement or garage. Dampness can cause some of the parts to rust.
Wheels
Check lock nuts on your wheels. The free wheels should be tightened so they are firm, but not too tight. The clutch wheel, however, requires a tremendous amount of torque in order for the clutch to engage properly. Put a small amount of grease on the nut (we love STAR bike grease) and tighten with a torque wrench to 120-140 inch-pounds (15 newton meters). If the clutch wheel is slipping, STOP SKIING and tighten the wheel.
When using pneumatic wheels, be sure to check the air pressure frequently. The tubes are quite small so it is difficult to maintain steady air pressure over time. Use a gauge or our shock pump to read air pressure. The wheels may feel firm when in fact they are holding only 50% of the air needed for a safe ride. Riding on low air pressure will cause tube and tire failure. The 150mm wheels hold air better than the 125mm wheels. We suggest re-inflating the W125 every time you ski. Long sessions may require reinflation partway through the session. Keep an eye on tire treads and check for cracks in the tires.
We suggest using AQUASEAL (available through Jenex) on Aero tubes. Painting AquaSeal around the valve stem will help maintain longer tube life and is a good repair material for punctures.
Our bearings are sealed with a water-resistant grease inside. Use of cleaners such as WD40 can dissolve the grease and reduce the life of the bearing. Use caution when cleaning your skis or wheels.
Rotating your roller skis from left side to right side and vice-versa will help the wheels to wear evenly. If you cannot rotate your skis, rotate your wheels every few months.
Speed reducers and brakes
As with roller skis and with wheels, it is important to tighten any loose screws on your brake and speed reducers before each ski session. Road vibration can cause parts to loosen. A wayward screw or spring can get caught in a wheel. Loose screws cause a larger part like a brake cuff to fall off and get run over or get caught in or under a ski, causing a fall. Grease any metal-on-metal parts, such as the studs that engage the roller arms on the speed reducer. The grease will reduce wear, extending the life of your reducers.
Crashes
If you are involved in a crash, inspect your skis thoroughly for scratches, dents, bent components, etc that could compromise the integrity of the of the roller skis.
Proper care and maintenance will increase the life of your roller skis.
V2/Jenex, Inc 172 South Street Milford, NH 03055 603-672-2600 www.jenex.com