advantages of slim profile/shape wheels?

[tanginacat]

been wondering coz might buy nrg rictas and i tried my friends louie lo model so good but wanna know about slim shapes. and opinions bout f4 shapes too. thankssss

[Dengles]

Slim shaped wheels slide better on blunts and slides.  I skate the F4 101 Conical shape and I love it, slides great despite being massively wide and allows me to rip my way over some really shitty terrain. 

[Bubblegum Tate]

I used to ride these all the time for the simple fact I like thin wheels, looks better to me eye. I don't like full shape wheels.



Now I am riding these (Suciu ones) since they almost look shape-wise to the slims I used to ride. I'll ride any slim wheel.

[tanginacat]

anyone tried the westgate/tom asta/huston shapes of nrg ricta? those are kinda slim.

[BMCsteve]

Lighter, less wheel bite, slide easier.

I started skating slims a few months ago and will never go back to regular profile wheels.

So far for slims I've skated sml, Bones V3, Autobahn Street Slims and Ricta NRG Westgates.  The sml wheels are SLOW.  Bones V3 perform like any other STF formula which are great but the Ricta NRG wheels are my favorite wheel that I've ever had.  They do everything perfect and I love the almost tablet style shape of the Westgates.  


here are some pics

NRG:



Autobahn -

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/steveboston/media/IMG_20150408_074745_zps7qdvppwa.jpg.html?sort=3&o=25


sml vs. NRG profile (NRG is on the right).  The NRG is actually skinnier but looks wider due to the shape

[Noble Experiment]

slide better

Also, I too like the look of slimmer wheels better. It just looks better overall on a finished setup to me compared to a wider looking wheel. I wish they would make a slimmer F4, something similar to the V3 STF shape. It'd probably be all I would ever buy.

[shit_for_brains]

I switched from spitfires to bones V3s, and I love them.

[BMCsteve]

Expand Quote

slide better

[close]

Also, I too like the look of slimmer wheels better. It just looks better overall on a finished setup to me compared to a wider looking wheel. I wish they would make a slimmer F4, something similar to the V3 STF shape. It'd probably be all I would ever buy.

Totally agree here.  It's surprising they haven't released a slim F4 with all the other options they have.  If they ever do, I'll give it a shot

One other note about NRG, they're the only wheel that I've ever had where the center of the wheel is precise enough so that spacers fit perfectly snug and don't rattle around.  Literally never had that on all 4 of any other set of wheels in my life

[tanginacat]

Lighter, less wheel bite, slide easier.

I started skating slims a few months ago and will never go back to regular profile wheels.

So far for slims I've skated sml, Bones V3, Autobahn Street Slims and Ricta NRG Westgates.  The sml wheels are SLOW.  Bones V3 perform like any other STF formula which are great but the Ricta NRG wheels are my favorite wheel that I've ever had.  They do everything perfect and I love the almost tablet style shape of the Westgates.  


here are some pics

NRG:



Autobahn -

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/steveboston/media/IMG_20150408_074745_zps7qdvppwa.jpg.html?sort=3&o=25


sml vs. NRG profile (NRG is on the right).  The NRG is actually skinnier but looks wider due to the shape

dude nrg's for sure gonna buy the westgates today your setups looks so dreammyyyy <3 bones are too slick for me no control i tried my friends louie lo nrgs fell in love at first slide ride and sound<3

[fulfillthedream]

@BMCsteve

damn those are some beautiful looking setups my friend!

[Dengles]

Expand Quote

slide better

[close]

Also, I too like the look of slimmer wheels better. It just looks better overall on a finished setup to me compared to a wider looking wheel. I wish they would make a slimmer F4, something similar to the V3 STF shape. It'd probably be all I would ever buy.

I'm the opposite I think wide wheels look best and feel best for me.  I had a pair of V3 STFs last summer, they were really great but they weren't really my thing so I only skated them for a day and then gave them to a friend who was getting back into skating. 

[heritage]

@BMCsteve

damn those are some beautiful looking setups my friend!

Agreed! Steve - that Magenta with the Autobahns is a beaut. Now I'm trying to set something new up this weekend and can't decide between Magenta or Isle, but I do know I am putting on a fresh set of Autobahn ABX. It's a great shape for anyone that likes thinner cut.

[IanBZHD]

I have a hard time getting into the wide conical shape look of the Spitfire Conicals, but it's growing on me.

I'm interested in what you guys think of Ricta and Bones. I almost always skate Spitfire because I feel that bones/ricta are really plastic-y. I feel like Spitfires are more gummy but still allow a nice slide. Bones I felt like once im sliding it's gonna keep sliding out of a trick, where on Spits I might be able to pull outta a slide and recover.

[Chavo]

The advantage of some of the thinner squarish shapes is less weight and better lock in for grinds. The original idea for beveled wheels (originally called "conical" in the '70s) was to help roll over the thick coping on pools and skateparks of that era. Modern shapes, for some reason, still base their design on old wheels that were 65-70mm tall.

Those Westgate Rictas are some of the nicest wheel shapes I've seen. If you're not rolling over big coping, most of that extra urethane outside the riding surface is dead weight.

[Tracer]

Tech tricks become easier as you don't need the grip. Easier to slide out of tricks and sort of cheat

Disadvantages are going fast, grip, and control. I'd rather ride full size wheels than ride skinnies and slide around at low speeds

[tanginacat]

The advantage of some of the thinner squarish shapes is less weight and better lock in for grinds. The original idea for beveled wheels (originally called "conical" in the '70s) was to help roll over the thick coping on pools and skateparks of that era. Modern shapes, for some reason, still base their design on old wheels that were 65-70mm tall.

Those Westgate Rictas are some of the nicest wheel shapes I've seen. If you're not rolling over big coping, most of that extra urethane outside the riding surface is dead weight.

on point

[Esquivel]

The advantage of some of the thinner squarish shapes is less weight and better lock in for grinds. The original idea for beveled wheels (originally called "conical" in the '70s) was to help roll over the thick coping on pools and skateparks of that era. Modern shapes, for some reason, still base their design on old wheels that were 65-70mm tall.

Those Westgate Rictas are some of the nicest wheel shapes I've seen. If you're not rolling over big coping, most of that extra urethane outside the riding surface is dead weight.

i think skinny wheels tend to loosen up quickly. by loosen up i mean that their tolerances change with heat/pressure and the bearings loose their snug fit in the wheel resulting in squeaky noises  (especially during turns) and an overall slower wheel. i have been noticing this the last 10-15 years and it has gone really bad with bones stf v3. these will last me a couple of sessions before the wheel becomes so loose that i can remove the bearings by just shaking a wheel and letting them drop off. i feel like that extra rubber on the sides helps for extra support for the bearings. i dont want to be persistent on this and would like someone elses opinion on the matter. I have been using spitfire f4 since september and have no complaints. i would normally keep a set of wheels for 3 months max until they reduced to rubber bands but these spitfires have lasted quite a bit. similar to what wheels used to be back in the day. i also dont get what everyone says about bones sliding a lot. i find them THE stickiest wheels out. Rictas slide like crazy and spitfires (the red/hard ones, not the blue/shitty, sticky soft ones) slide a lot too but bones feel really sticky. oh and i have flatspotted a couple of sets by landing a bs 180 90deg on very smooth flat. i know i might sound like from another planet but after a lot of years of skating bones my impression is completely different to what i read on the internet. i now got a set of v5's and will see how these will go but i doubt they will last longer than a month