As soon as 76mm wheels came out, I jumped on them. There was a lot of resistance from Dutch racers to move up, and the frequently cited arguments were more difficult balance and acceleration.
No sooner had these supposed drawbacks been disproved by race performances of "unknown" foreign racers like myself than we were on to even HUGER 80mm wheels! Again, the same arguments surfaced.
90mm wheels never really caught on because the mad engineers were already toying with the concept of 3 100's with a 76 or 80mm wheel under the ball of the foot to stay lower. "Enough," was the familiar refrain. "Too tall" everybody said. But when I wore a 100mm setup at the NYC marathon and won against big names like Chad Hedrick, people took notice.
The jump to 110 was easy since it was incremental and decks and boots were altered to minimize the height increase. It seemed as if the apogee of wheel development had been reached.
And then the 125mm bomb was dropped.
A few years ago two professional Powerslide skaters debuted the 125's at the NorthShore Marathon. Felix kept floating off the front with slower tempo powerful pushes and looked like he was going to carry the day. Scott stayed with the leaders with apparent ease and appeared to be able to waltz off at any moment.
I had the perfect perspective of someone just struggling to stay in the draft. As Duluth started approaching in the distance, I noticed some flaws coming to the fore (we all start "breaking up" as we get tired). Felix's right skate was collapsing heavily on every set-down. Scott's form was fading too. Even professional skaters can hit the proverbial "wall" in a marathon on equipment they haven't yet mastered.
Are big wheels for you or not for you? That is the question.
If you want to become an early adopter of 125 mm technology, my advice is to work on your weak side balance and give it the due diligence it deserves until you can skate in your sleep (or at least without pronation while tired).
Next week I will give you specific drills to work on in order to improve your balance in time to make an educated choice of what sized wheels to use for the NorthShore Inline Marathon.
Until then, I hope you continue to have fun putting as many "junk" miles in your "trunk" as you can!