Viktor Thorup shows off the Rollerblade Hydrogen Pro wheels
Viktor Thorup makes a lot of Youtube and Instagram videos and his latest one dropped today. We took a look and found it a little lacking in substance. Let’s take a look:
Check out Viktors Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/thorupviktor/
Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thorupviktor
Let’s unpack this video. Viktor claims that the Hydrogen Pro wheels are much faster than the Hydrogen wheels. He’ll do this by skating 5 kilometers on his own, once. This isn’t a very scientific test, as it only involves one person who is promoting the wheels skating 5 kilometers once. However, we all know that the Hydrogen Pro wheel is going to be faster than the Hydrogen because the Hydrogen Pro is the same MPC wheel that were made famous by the MPC Black Magic and Bont Red Magic. The standard Hydrogen, on the other hand, is a very average wheel made in Thailand by Bravo Corp. There are really no surprises here.
The video gets interesting when Viktor explains why this wheel is so fast. He says that the spokes in the standard wheel are straight, while the spokes in the Pro wheel are twisted. He goes on to say that the twisted spokes offer a spring-like effect. He then says that the Pro wheel has more grip in the rubber. More grip in the rubber?
Let’s discuss all the things that are wrong with this. First of all, they’re not made of rubber, they’re made of urethane. Second, a wheel with more grip is slower over 5 kilometers than one with less grip. Wheels that grip more are faster in the turns but he is not skating on a banked track, he is skating on the road. He fails to mention that this wheel has an internal band that gives more rebound and that the urethane is in a whole different league to the standard Hydrogen wheel. These last two points are actually what make the wheel faster. Finally, if the twisted spokes are what are making this wheel so fast, then why is MPC (the maker of the Hydrogen Pro wheel) making their next-generation wheel, the Enigma, with less twist in the spokes? We like Viktor’s posts, but we’d like to see more accuracy from him in the future.
