Newbie ... skates tend to turn inward

lacogada

Bought pair of skates off ebay in good condition. Using them outdoors on my concrete driveway.

Have not skated in a very long time .... but these skates tend to turn inwards.

Read a little about the bases may not be set correctly from an internet search. From looking at the bottom of the skates, it seems the alignment of the two bases are not the same. Will try to attach image below.

Just come here asking advice .... thanks for looking.

BboyHeathen

I've been doing a lot of reading on plate mounting. [Diving into the threads of years past on http://www.skatelogforum.com/forums/.] This piques my interest a little. XD

A full photo of the bottom would help show this a little better. The front tops you posted will have to do[for now]. I'm curious to know if the plates look very well centered or if they appear to point inwards slightly or outwards slightly with respect to the boot. Take off the wheels and toestops when assessing how centered it is.

In the meantime, you can skate backwards easily maybe? Skating forwards, your feet are in a v-like shape. \/ skating backwards, your feet are in an upside-down-v-like shape /\

That aside, you shouldn't have to fight your skates to do what you want. I hope DocSk8 sees this. He has probably come across this in the years he's put into quad skate maintenance.

lacogada

Thanks for the reply ... I'll add another image.

BboyHeathen

I'm no expert but it looks like the right skate's plate is pointing inward more than the left one. The difference between the two is pretty small but wheel rotations add up; even a small deviation from the "proper place" throws off the line.

You might be able to get by with looser trucks; this would help you can initiate the turning action more easily. Put the skate back together and instead of bolting the kingpin down super tight, leave it a bit looser. That might be able to help you counter some of the "natural" inward pitch your skates have. I'm pretty bad at describing truck action so here's a link to a someone's explanation. https://youtu.be/jgp8L2TCOZo The looser your trucks, the more easily they will turn. Essentially, you should have more direct control of where your skates go. Your weight plays a role in how easy it is to initiate turn on trucks of any tight/looseness. Don't go too so loose that you hear rattling; it would be... unpleasant if your skates literally fell apart when you were cruising. 😅

You might feel the inclination for your feet to come together more when you have both on the ground at the same time. Striding (skating with one foot on the surface at a time (for slightly extended periods of time)) could help alleviate the feeling but that doesn't solve the underlying issue.

If rolling with looser trucks mostly solves the issue, that's great. I should stress that you shouldn't have to change your style to accommodate the skate. Especially as a newer skater, that can make you develop bad [and/or unsafe] habits. I have a feeling the person sold this pair because of that very problem. 🤔

lacogada

Thanks for the advice.

scorpNZ

This is most likely why & should solve it. Basically your plates are mounted wrong , not by much tho

https://roller.sk8.berlin/place-the-plates/

I'd also be inclined to have the plates farther forward .In my case 10mm from center of original mount holes to centre of where i wanted them. I may need to go farther however it worked ok for now. These skates were mounted from new from i assume riedel ,however what i found was when on a corner & crossing my left foot while it went under my right it felt like it wanted to fall forward too soon & basically as tho i was tripping over. It was weird as i had never experienced that before from years ago that i remember (only took up skating again after a more than 30 year hiatus). Back in the 80's i was told to mount the plate forward more & i did (boens). As it so happened doing so last year worked & made a noticeable improvement to the riedel's

lacogada

Thanks for the info and link.

I cannot get the plates off ... the screw head inside the boot must take a special tool.

Looks like a small rectangle that is indented slightly. Tried with a flat head screw driver but could not exert enough force to keep it from spinning while turning the outer nut.

scorpNZ

Never heard or seen that one. I have similar to what you describe ,however the indentations are on both sides to form a shallow valley on each side. These types of weird fastenings piss me off. I assume it's anti kiddie or to annoy people like me who like to take things apart when they break down lol