Tomasz - 2-8-2012 at 05:25 PM
OK, let me start off with acknowledging that I am a total dork (referring to the post title).
A little background: My very first set of skates were Crosskates. High tech, with a high price tag... That was my first introduction into a single
rail design. Great skates for cruising, but completely worthless for jumps. The first time I launched myself on them the axle bolts snapped. Since
the company was defunct by that time they never saw the light of day again.
The first set I built was more or less the doomwheel design. Personally, the dual rails seemed clunky to me & I didn't feel I had good enough
ankle support with rollerblade boots. Since then I've been building various versions of a single rail design with ski boots attached. I've been
getting bolder with my jumps as I've progressed; 15ft high jumps for me are now fairly common. Problem is that the rails have a tendancy to bend on
the landings. This has been the case with both the single & dual rail design.
So this is my latest attempt. It's actually version 3.0 of a shock based design; the first two seemed promising, but didn't quite perform as planned.
I've tried this version twice now & am extremely happy with the result. The ride is so much smoother than before. Not sure if the shocks will
absorb all of the impact of big jumps, but I think they'll go a long way compared to before. The first 2 designs I tried had the boot platform
mounting bolts going through the skate rail, which compromised the structual integrity of the rail. With this set I mounted tubes for the bolts to
the outside of the rail. I also am moving away from mounting my ski boots directly to the skate & opted for the non-release bindings instead.
That way I can use the same boots across multiple devices. Here's some pics of the new design:
Bladerunner - 2-8-2012 at 05:36 PM
I really like your style ! DIY and Y not ! 
Please DO get out on those water skis and tell us all how it goes . I have a feeling that if anybody can take to it , you can ! There are a number on
here who are curious.
Tomasz - 2-8-2012 at 05:44 PM
Man, I gotta update my signature... I have tried water skis about 3 times now, they're what I would categorize as a novelty. Kinda fun, can't upwind
for s#@t though. Takes more wind to get moving as well. And when you have more wind, the natural tendency it to grab a kiteboard & tear it up,
instead of piddling around on the skis. Still, thy're fun at kite festivals when you want your peers to do a double take & go WTF?
erratic winds - 2-8-2012 at 05:50 PM
I know a fella who kitesurfs with water-skis, Jon McCabe..... /end veer
COOL looking setup Tomaz, how are the axle bolts holding up? I would expect them to be a larger failure point...
Tomasz - 2-8-2012 at 10:24 PM
The axle bolts are pretty stout, they've never been a problem. In fact those are the same bolts & wheels I've been using for about 3 years now.
I just keep transferring them from rail to rail. Gone through about 7 or 8 sets of rails now, at least.