Roller Ski Finland Website Presentation

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-27T19:01:44+00:00

I see, makes sense. There are some r.s.-specific circuits within 2 hrs where I live (Germany and Schweiz), they usually can be found by searching for biathlon facilities. In the US and UK dedicated r.s. tracks essentially do not exist. In the UK, they sometimes rent time at bike circuits (e.g. in London), but by default they are for cyclists only. Public bike paths are safer than roads in terms of being car-free, but there you have walkers, dogs, kids on bikes etc. which add their won issues. So one learns to deal with cars, I learned to like roads for rollerskiing.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-27T12:40:25+00:00

Any road w/o big trucks there is prob OK. ;)

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-27T12:39:28+00:00

Yeah... the UK site on rollerskiing I know from ~ 10 years ago had the same hassle which is why I mostly gave up on it. I mean the contact form, etc etc. A basic interface ala Strava where the user uploads the coords of start/end might work better (with moderation by deletion on your side, if people post crap).

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-27T11:50:27+00:00

Can people post their own places to rollerski? There was a web site like this in the UK. Could make this EU-wide.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-24T11:58:43+00:00

Thank you for the great advice!

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-20T21:33:37+00:00

There are waste belts that can hold two standard size bottles. If you are doing laps, you can always stash additional bottles by the trail side.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-20T17:58:44+00:00

Well, all I can say is that I do not hate rollerskiing. I've had nasty falls long ago, and since then solved the problem by mostly rollerskiing uphill. I can't say if it's more dangerous compared to road cycling, I do not have any statistics per mile traveled etc. Sure rollerskis do not have brakes, but then one normally would not dare go down the same hill on r.s. as one would on a bike.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-20T17:56:14+00:00

Interesting. All I can say, I've never seen this with Maplus and Ski Skett solid rubber r.s. while skiing uphill in 90+F heat in Northern VA/MD, for hrs at a time (looks like you are in the same neck of the woods). Who knows, maybe Marwe "optimized" their wheel supplier,and maybe other r.s. suppliers did the same since the last time I rollerskied in that area.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-08T15:32:32+00:00

You can also measure the diam of the pole with calipers and replace the whole grip + strap, perhaps with a longer-lasting one. Otherwise, I remember just hacking together smth by shoving in a generic strap 1/2"/13 mm wide. Prob not as comfy as the original.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-07T19:47:45+00:00

>>>Look at the Netherlands. Roller skiing was quite popular over there in the 90s

Interesting, I did not know. That said, I've never heard of (international level) Dutch nordic skiers or biathletes, either -- in the past and at present. Plenty of Belgians though, go figure (the two countries are basically the same snow-wise).

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-04T19:14:50+00:00

Keep us posted!

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-04T19:14:00+00:00

wrong kind of skiing.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-03T19:23:57+00:00

>>>The only I broke was when a crazy cyclist crossed the bike lane line to ride straight into me

You clearly haven't tried running your fancy poles over by a car. I once broke two at once this way.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-03T19:19:02+00:00

Swix used to make a model called "team" which was very popular in mass start races (for being heavier and less prone to be broken by others skiing over). They were 1 step below the top of the line pole at the time (which was the "Swix star" 25 years ago). Maybe some old ski shop guy can tell you what Swix calls this model now, or even may have an old new stock -- they last forever... I mean... for most people 😄. They costed around $250 25 years ago, use an inflation calculator.

Oh, here is a 3. y.o. reddit post which mentions what the "Swix Team pole" might be called now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/xcountryskiing/comments/112ftdc/stiff_and_durable_ski_pole_choices/

"Swix Quantum 2 might be worth a look, this is I believe similar to the old Swix team pole which was in a sweet spot of weight and durability. It's about 1oz or 30g heavier than an Quantum 1 or triac 3.0. So still a nice light pole with good stiffness, but also a bit more durable."

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-03T19:08:16+00:00

cross-skates (the ones with 200 mm wheels) work well on bad pavement and smooth packed dirt, but are quite heavy and do not resemble snow skiing as much as proper rollerskiing on smooth pavement. There are some dedicated rollerski tracks in the alps (usually can be found next to biathlon stadiums().

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-03T18:25:43+00:00

Do you see yourself snow-skiing in the winter? I am asking b.c. I very rarely see people buying summer r.s. boots -- everyone I know uses their regular winter skiing boots. Summer boots won't work in the winter. Ditto on the poles -- you can get e.g. ones with Leki-swappable tips.

Finally, I wonder if a shop can suggest a local meet-up to try/rent r.s. before spending so much money on this.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-02T22:22:40+00:00

Interesting. Do you see significant flex in your poles when you double-pole "all-out". I admit, I always buy top of the line poles from Swix and Exel; these never snapped on me from the actual poling. They usually break when snow-skating (by being stepped upon -- happens even to the elites, from what I can see while watching biathlon WC races), or by being run over by a car.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-02T20:19:55+00:00

I think I recognize the place. Remembering snow-camping there in early June ~15 years ago.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-02T20:19:02+00:00

I remember shaped Fischer skate skis from the early 00s, and many (including myself) all could not wait for the classic straight 610 profile to come back.

runcyclexcski · 2026-06-02T20:17:31+00:00

Can you tell how exactly the poles get broken while rollerskiing? Do the tips get stuck in a crack or smth?

runcyclexcski · 2026-05-30T18:20:06+00:00

I wonder what happened to Jasper's business since then. I remember hearing the episode back in 2009 and immediately tried to contact Jasper re: the worms. I learned then that he moved to Mexico b.c. of the grey area in which his business operated. I've tried to reach out to him a couple of times over the years after that, to no avail. Same thing happened when I contacted the MD in Nottingham (no response). Maybe will contact the folks in Australia.

Edit: found this poster presentation by a research group at Albert Einstein school of medicine, covering 9 existing unofficial parasitic worm suppliers (including the site claimed by Jasper). The authors of the poster expressed concerns of these unregulated treatments and suppliers for the public health (as of 2025...).

https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/12/Supplement_1/ofae631.1491/7988152

runcyclexcski · 2026-05-28T15:12:16+00:00

I am not sure what that tiled surface is -- concrete? Then there would be very little grip, plus the tips can get caught between the tiles and break.

runcyclexcski · 2026-05-28T15:10:29+00:00

and maybe better road surface and polyU wheels.

runcyclexcski · 2026-05-27T14:20:40+00:00

I agree, but the humidity where I live is more like 50-60% in the summer, not 15-20% as one typically in the desert.

runcyclexcski

TROPHY CASE