How do I disassemble the wheel?

Disassembly will depend on the generation of wheel that you have.

Gen 1 Wheels:

These wheels do not come apart easily, and are prone to breaking if you attempt it. If at all possible, we recommend avoiding disassembling them. If you absolutely need to take it apart, please follow the disassembly instructions for the Gen 2-4 wheels below.

For Gen 2-4 Wheels:

Disassembling the older wheels is possible but it is more difficult, and parts may scuff or chip in the process (take care when disassembling to avoid having any parts snap or crack). Keep in mind that we do not sell replacement parts for these generations any longer, so if a part suffers significant damage you may not be able to reassemble the wheel. You can disassemble the wheel in the following steps:

Remove the traction pads. You can technically do this later, but it is easiest to get it out of the way first. Pads most likely will not restick once they have been removed, so you will probably need to get a replacement set if you have not already done so. If the adhesive on the back does still feel nicely sticky, set the pads aside carefully and do not let the sticky back get dirty so that you can try to reapply them once the wheel is assembled again.
Take the main hub off the base and lay it on its side.
Take a flat-head screwdriver (or some other object with a flat metal head) and use it to push the small tab heads of the side rim off the center track pieces in the middle. You can work on the topmost side ring first or the bottom, but it is usually easiest to get a good angle on the bottom ring so it's recommended to start there. These plastic tabs can be delicate and may snap under pressure; it is not unusual to lose a couple during this process. It won't affect reassembly as long as each part still retains one or two tabs.
As you push the tabs away from the center track panels, pull up on the wheel to make sure that the tabs do not snap right back into place. You will have to disengage a few side tracks before you'll be able to start pulling the side tracks fully away from the rest of the wheel.
Do not push down or set any weight on the wheel at this time. It will make the wheel click back into place and re-engage all loosened clips, undoing whatever progress you've made.
If the wheel starts to slip back into place on its own, flip it over and continue the process on the rim when it is on the top. If you've managed to loosen all clips successfully, you can pull the entire ring off once you've flipped it over.
From there, you can remove the center tracks one by one by pressing on the little tabs of the remaining side ring pieces and pulling up the disengaged center tracks one at a time. This will leave you with the center tracks loose and the side rings left over.
Side rings can be taken apart with a rubber mallet. Focus on a part of the wheel where two side track pieces connect. Look at the underside to confirm which side the male end is inserted. Take the mallet and tap the area so that the male end is knocked down and out from the female socket of the adjacent piece. Repeat this along the entire ring until all parts have been separated, and then repeat for the second ring. Take care not to hit too hard with the mallet; this is where it is easiest to crack or snap a part.
If you need to break down the base as well, simply unscrew the t-screws from the base panels and remove the bar. You do not need to remove the rollerblade wheels from the base. Make sure you do not lose the rubber feet at the bottom of the base panels when moving the parts; they can sometimes fall out and we do not carry spares.

For Gen 5 Wheels:

The 5th gen wheel is the easiest to disassemble and it will probably be rather straightforward for you once you get the process started. For the fifth gen, disassembly should proceed as follows:

Remove all traction pads from the wheel. If you take care to keep the backs from getting dirty or sticking to one another, they can be reused when the wheel is put back together.
Take the wheel off the base and lay it on its side on the floor.
Starting with the top side rim, locate one of the sidetracks forming the rim and find where the button heads of the clips connecting the rim to the center panels are exposed.
Press in the two buttons on the sidetrack and gently wiggle the sidetrack up just enough that the button heads cannot snap back into place. Leave the piece that way for now, as you cannot take it off completely until the rest of the side rim is loosened first.
Move to the next sidetrack piece and repeat the process, pressing in the button heads and wriggling the part up. Continue until the side rim is completely disconnected from the center tracks.
Pull off the side rim now, being careful not to press it down anywhere (which will re-engage it with the rest of the wheel). If you flip the ring over so that you can see the interior, you will see the button heads for the clips that keep the sidetracks connected to one another in the ring.
Press in the button head on one of the sidetraks and pull it free from its neighbor. The first one can be the hardest to get free, but once it is out the others can be pulled apart from one another easily by pressing in the button heads and sliding them apart.
To remove the eight center tracks from the second side rim, press in the button heads of the clips holding each part in place and tug them free, one by one.
Once the center tracks are removed all that remains is the second side rim, which can be broken down using the same procedure described in step 7. Once you've broken down the second ring the wheel is fully disassembled (the base can be broken down by unscrewing the bar and popping it out of the panels, but make sure not to lose the t-screws if you do this!).

For Gen 6/7 Wheels:

The 6th and 7th Gen wheels are similar in design to the Gen 4, in the sense that we removed the clips and went back to using tabs to connect the parts. The ABS plastic is a bit more forgiving than the polypropylene of the older generation wheels, so it is less prone to breakage, but care should still be taken when detaching parts since they can still crack.

Remove the traction pads. Unlike Gen 2-4 wheels, you must remove the pads completely, since they cover both the side tracks and center tracks. Pads most likely will not restick once they have been removed, so you will probably need to get a replacement set if you have not already done so. If the adhesive on the back does still feel nicely sticky, set the pads aside carefully and do not let the sticky back get dirty so that you can try to reapply them once the wheel is assembled again.
Take the main hub off the base and lay it on its side.
Take a flat-head screwdriver (or some other object with a flat metal head) and use it to push the small tab heads of the side rim off the center track pieces in the middle. You can work on the topmost side ring first or the bottom, but it is usually easiest to get a good angle on the bottom ring so it's recommended to start there.
As you push the tabs away from the center track panels, pull up on the wheel to make sure that the tabs do not snap right back into place. You will have to disengage a few side tracks before you'll be able to start pulling the side tracks fully away from the rest of the wheel.
Do not push down or set any weight on the wheel at this time. It will make the wheel click back into place and re-engage all loosened clips, undoing whatever progress you've made.
If the wheel starts to slip back into place on its own, flip it over and continue the process on the rim when it is on the top. If you've managed to loosen all clips successfully, you can pull the entire ring off once you've flipped it over.
From there, you can remove the center tracks one by one by pressing on the little tabs of the remaining side ring pieces and pulling up the disengaged center tracks one at a time. This will leave you with the center tracks loose and the side rings left over.
Side rings can be taken apart by tapping the area where the male end of one track piece inserts into the female end of its neighbor so that the male end is knocked down and out from the female socket. You should be able to manage this by hand, but can also use a rubber mallet if needed. Repeat this along the entire ring until all parts have been separated, and then repeat for the second ring.
If you need to break down the base as well, simply unscrew and remove the bar from the base panels. If you need to remove the rollerblade wheels as well, use the allen wrench to loosen those until they slide free (Gen 6) or simply push the pins out from the wheel centers and pop each wheel out of the base (Gen 7). Take care not to lose any of the hardware if you plan on reassembling.

How do I disassemble the wheel?Updated 3 months ago