An Introduction to Flat Track Roller Derby

Paul D. Piche has put together a video with the Hammer City Roller Girls giving you a run through of flat track roller derby in 2 minutes including the different roles, times, scoring points and more. If you are new to the sport, this is one of the clearest explanations of it that I've seen!

Roller Derby Leagues in Australia

Find your nearest league and contact details from the list below. Please note, this list may not be current. If you see any league or details that is listed incorrectly or missing altogether, please let us know so we can update it.

What does the hardness rating (eg 85a) on roller skate wheels mean?

The hardness of roller skate wheels is defined by the durometer, measured using Type A, and thus represented by the "A" rating after a number. In essence, the higher the A rating, the harder the wheel will be. Softer wheels (75A – 85A) are generally used for outdoor skating as they will handle bumps, grooves and obstacles better whilst offering better grip on most surfaces. Comparatively harder wheels (85A – 100A) are more commonly used for indoor skating as they handle smoother surfaces better, allowing for higher speeds, at the cost though of less grip. Softer indoor wheels will offer better grip than hard indoor wheels, depending on how you skate you may find softer wheels better for learning and gradually moving to harder wheels as you progress.

For more information, check out the Wikipedia article which goes into all the different types of durometer ratings.

Ryan Williams HIC and Bar Setup Tutorial

Ryan Williams from Madd Gear Pro takes you through removing your MGP scooter bars, clamp and compression system so you can change your forks, check out the video:

Choosing the right size trucks for your skateboard deck

I get asked fairly often by customers how to pick the right size trucks for their deck. There are a few things to consider, but it is in essence pretty straight forward.

Hanger and axle size

This is the most important thing to keep in mind when determining the right size trucks for your skateboard.

In general you will want your axle to be close to the same width as your deck. So on a 7.25" wide deck, you will want an axle around the 7" to 8"  mark for your axle, or around a 5" hanger. Similarly on an 8" deck, you will want something around the 7.75" to 8.5" mark for your truck axle, somewhere around a 5.25" hanger.

Remember though, the hanger width is not the same width as the axle, it is actually shorter.

The hanger is the thick section that the axle runs through as you can see in the photo. The axle then extends out from the hanger.

Truck height

Trucks come in 3 main height profiles - low, standard and high. You should keep this in mind when picking a set of trucks because it will influence the size of the wheels you can use on your deck, and subsequently the type of skating your board will be best suited to.

Low profile skateboard trucks are favoured for tricks as they offer greater stability by lowering your centre of gravity on the board. This gives you a more stable platform to do kicks and flips from. You do need to use smaller wheels though. In general, you want to make sure they are no bigger than 54-55mm.

Standard profile skateboard trucks are good for all round usage, tricks to cruising. If you aren't really sure what you want to do with your skateboard, these are a good choice.

High profile skateboard trucks offer a better platform for cruising and carving on because they can handle bigger wheels, which can get you more speed. Typically you will be looking at anything above 55mm on higher profile trucks.

The other thing to consider is that if you have your heart set on some low profile trucks but want to use bigger wheels, you can use risers to increase the distance between your deck and axle.

What about wheel bite and what is it?

Wheel bite is when the wheels hit the bottom of the board when you turn. This can happen if your kingpin is too loose or if your wheels are too big for your trucks/your trucks are too low for your wheels.

Trucks generally come with the kingpin tightened to a reasonable level for use with the appropriate size wheels for their profile, so if you stick to the suggested wheel sizes above, your kingpin should be set fine, though you may want to make some adjustments to your taste.

As long as you don't get wheels to big for the profile of your trucks, you shouldn't have a problem with wheel bite. If you think you might, try standing on your board and tilting from side to side as far as you can, like you would in a turn. If the wheels touch your deck than you will need to get smaller wheels, higher profile trucks, or some risers (this is probably your cheapest option).

Swap the hanger on your Penny Skateboard for another one

Need to swap the hanger over on your Penny skateboard? Here's how (with lots of pictures)!

1. This is what your truck should look like before doing anything to it. The kingpin is the large bolt that runs through the centre and protrudes out the bottom, this is the only thing besides the axle nuts that we need to undo to swap the hanger over.

   
    

2. Undo the kingpin bolt using a skate tool, socket wrench or spanner. It is a 9/16” size socket/spanner.

   
    

3. Remove the bolt.

   
    

4. Remove the washer.

   
    

5. Remove the top yellow rubber bushing. Sometimes these can be a little firm, if it seems to be sticking, jiggle the hanger a little and it will loosen up.

   
    

6. Lift the hanger off of the bolt. It may also need a little bit of jiggling to loosen it, but as it hasn’t been ridden yet it should just lift off easily.

   
    

7. The base plate with the hanger removed.

   
    

8. What the hanger looks like immediately after removal, wheels still attached. The black rubber cushion at the pointy end came out of the base plate on the hanger when I removed it. Pull this off and press it back into the base plate.

   
    

9. The hanger with the rubber cushion removed.

   
    

10. Put the yellow bushing, washer and nut back on the bolt if you aren't putting a new hanger on immediately. This is to ensure they don’t go missing. I’ve also pushed the black cushion back into the base plate here. If it stayed in the base plate when you removed the hanger than you don't need to worry about this.

    
     

11. The front of the hanger with wheels removed. The nut on the axles is a ½” socket or spanner. It is the medium sized socket on most skate tools. There are four washers, one on either side of each wheel, either put them back on the axles and do the nuts up, or keep them somewhere safe.

    
     

12. The underside of the hanger.

    
     

13. The top of the hanger.

    
     

14. To put the hanger back on the base plate, undo the kingpin nut and remove the washer and top bushing. Line the pointy end of the hanger up with the hole in the centre of the black cushion and slide the hole in the truck over the kingpin bolt. It should sit centrally on the bottom yellow bushing.

    
     

15. Side view of the hanger placed back on the base plate.

    
     

16. Put the top bushing back on the kingpin bolt.

    
     

17. Put the washer back on the kingpin and do up the bolt. The bolt should be done up so that a single thread from the kingpin protrudes out the top. Compare it to the other truck for reference. This is actually how you can customise the way the board rides. If it is tighter the board will be more stable while going faster, but it won’t turn quite as easily. If it is looser, it will turn easier but it won’t be as stable while going faster. You should always ensure that the bolt reaches at least the top of the nut so that it is level to ensure it is locked in properly.

    
     

18. Put your wheels back on and it should look like:

    

What can happen if your skateboard gets wet?

You should try and avoid getting your board wet at all, watch out for puddles and don't skate in the rain, but If your skateboard gets wet there are a number of things that it can affect, so you need to dry it out ASAP.

Delamination

When your deck gets wet, it can cause the lamination to peel or bubble, this is what is called delamination. This isn't covered by your warranty as it is not a deck fault, liquids cause this to happen (if it happens without being caused be a liquid than it could well be a warranty issue, it's usually obvious if it has been wet or not).

Warping

Water can cause the wood in your deck to soften which can in turn lead to warping. Even once it's dried out, this will affect the performance of your deck, you will generally find it won't have the same pop that you are used to, and will often bend or break easier.

Rust

Rust affects just about everything besides your deck and wheels. Water can cause your deck bolts to rust, it can also cause your trucks (particularly the axles) to rust, and most notably it can cause your bearings to rust and bring in extra grime.

Rusty bolts and trucks/axles can ultimately lead to breakage, but that can be a slow process and isn't going to be a big worry, especially considering they will generally dry out quick enough that it shouldn't be much of a problem. The more serious issue is the bearings. When water gets inside the shields it can take a long time to dry, which does cause rust. If they get wet, open them up and dry them out ASAP to try and avoid potential rust. If they start to get noisey and feel rough when they spin or don't spin freely, it's possible that they are starting to rust (or are really dirty). You don't want this. If they are just dirty, you can clean them, but if they are starting to rust it's permanent damage. If the rust isn't bad you can try cleaning them with a rust eater, but your bearings will not be as round or smooth as they were, which means they will not perform as well.

The best solution is to avoid water altogether, it will keep you going for longer, and water damage isn't covered by warranties, so keeping your skateboard dry will save you money too.

What makes a skateboard turn to one side all the time?

If your skateboard is constantly turning or leaning towards the left or the right, there are a couple of possible causes. The most likely ones are either the bushings in your trucks, or your hardware.

Bushings

Bushings are the hard, rounded plastic pieces in your trucks that squash down in the direction you are turning. They give varying levels of flexibility (usually measured in hardness such as - hard, medium or soft) to the turning capability of your trucks.

Your bushings could be a bit squashed on one side, this can happen when you are turning in one direction a lot. If this is the case, try and lean on the other side a bit, even if you aren't actually skating. This should even them up a bit. This tends to happen when a set of bushings are still fairly new. It can last for a couple of days up to a couple of weeks, it just depends how much you are skating.

Another possibility is that your bushings could be damaged. If there are cracks in them, it's a good sign that this could be the cause. You will probably need to replace them if this is the case.

Hardware

The hardware I am referring to here is the set of bolts that hold your trucks to the board and your kingpin which runs through your truck and bushing.

It may simply be a case of your kingpin being a bit too loose or not quite set straight, in this case you will either need to tighten it up, or straighten it up.

It is also possible that some of the bolts may not be done up tight enough and the truck is twisting slightly. You should just need to tighten up the loose bolts. Most of the time it will sit straight simply by threading the bolts through the holes in the board and the truck, but sometimes there is a bit of wiggle room that can put them slightly out if the bolts are a little loose.