Historically the term "banana rocker" has referred to a specific 2 mm rocker of the 1st and 4th wheels preferred by slalom skaters for increased maneuverability. The banana rocker is aptly named because the front and rear wheels are raised up relative to the ground and the resultant geometry resembles the curve of a banana. However, the amount of rocker of the 1st and 4th wheels can be any amount greater than zero, and does not need to be symmetrical.
Therefore, in a general sense, any rocker design where the 1st and 4th wheels don't touch the ground is a variation of the classic banana rocker. In some internet circles there exists the idea of a "3rd wheel down" rocker or "V-shaped" assymetric rocker where the 3rd wheel is the lowest, the 2nd and 4th wheels are raised up relative to the 3rd, and the 1st wheel is raised up relative to the 2nd.
While a frame designer can certainly create rockers relative to the bottom edge of the frame, when the polyurethane hits the road literally , the theoretical invention must ultimately confront reality. In use, the geometry of this kind of 4-wheel frame delivers a version of banana rocker as we will demonstrate below. The diagram below presents a ficticious 4-wheel frame design where the wheels are raised rockered progressively from the 3rd wheel — the "3rd wheel down" rocker.
Frequently the wheel sizes are smaller than indicated here I sometimes use which provides a little bit more control and less speed, which is not an issue here. This setup is only used in aggressive skating. If used for rolling then this setup is very similar to a flat setup, but with higher wear on the two rolling wheels. This is the anti-rocker configuration … and it comes standard on aggressive skates.
Most of the inline skates produced by the big companies — Rollerblade, K2, etc. All the wheels are either the same size or, if not, positioned on the frame so that they are all flat with the ground.
It used to be that many skates could easily be rockered by flipping frame bolts or adjusting plastic inserts. That said, a few companies do make rockered skates.
Seba sells a freestyle skate with an arched frame the Igor Pro And several companies make rockered skates for artistic skaters. On the rockered Pic skate, skilled inline skaters can perform one-footed scratch spins — a trick formerly possible only for ice figure skaters.
I feel sorry for skaters who never experience a rockered setup. Rockering heightens your experience of skating. Rockering should be the icing on the cake which then makes everything flow, but if your technique is dodgy with a rocker, the rocker wont solve everything! If you experience instability moments with a Banana rocker then it may be an indication that your weight is not on the correct part of your foot.
See if you can bend your knees until you feel your weight on the balls of the feet in each movement. This will increase your stability and stop those backwards wobbles.
I think skaters who spend a lot of time slaloming are absolutely correct to rocker their skates and they should.
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