This is very preliminary, but just wanted to tease. Working with a few Cubs that like to test stuff. What we have is a Lowes mirror with different substrates stuck on the smooth glass back. We are just starting, and the first round of tests is to study friction on a raw wheel that has not been polished or waxed or anything. We are measuring the friction between the polystyrene wheel and the different materials it might rub against. I do not have a plain wood strip in the test yet. I use a ruler and later calculate the actual friction. All the Cubs do is slowly lift up the edge of the mirror with a few wheels on different strips, and the wheel that moves first is the winner. So a Cub can quickly test and see which things reduce friction. This needs to be repeated and continued with a bunch of other things still to do to make a complete story, but I will tell you the top green line is what you get from rubbing the aluminum track instead of rolling on it. The purple line is the stainless steel result and both the aluminum and the stainless steel numbers are right in line with published data, so I feel good about where this will all lead.
