That was actually super informative. I read the whole thing start to finish because I've been having trouble deciding whether I want to switch from Autobahn to either Spitfire Street Burners or Bones STF wheels. I've never tried Bones but when I had some Spitfire Cardiel wheels (non street burners), they burned out within 2 weeks and I don't even attempt Blunt slides and I hardly do lipslides. Bones seem appealing because of their no flat spot guarantee but I've also heard stories of people bombing some hills, going to make a turn and end up eating massive amounts of shit from the wheels sliding out beneath them. Idk, my friend has Street Burners and makes them look amazing. He does some of the best backside powerslides when we're bombing hills and I haven't seen them show signs of flattening out.
Yeah, there's some good stuff there for sure, just mixed in with complete bullshit so you gotta bear in mind that you can't take it all as fact. Almost sounds like someone with a limited knowledge of the subject poached a great article and added his own nonsensical opinions.
I like to talk about skateboarding stuff so sorry for the upcoming wall of text, but I'll put the key points in bold in case you don't want to read it all. So, here's my $0.02 about wheels:
Bones are supposedly really good but I don't like them. I personally dislike the feel of STF. I've heard great things about how they last a long time and are hard to flatspot, but they feel weird to me when riding them. Granted I haven't owned any, but I've ridden around on several set-ups with STF's, and they didn't feel like what I'm used to good wheels feeling like if that makes sense. I also don't see slippery as being a good thing, but it's a good way to cheat at some street tricks.
Spitfires are awesome, but stick with white. I've never had major problems with Spitfire original formula but I noticed a long time ago that the colored ones seem to flatspot more, and the article even brought up some reasons why that might happen. I do a lot of stuff that can cause flatspots (blunt slide variations, lipslides on ledges, tailslides, reverts on cement tranny, powerslides, etc.) and the best I've had were spitfire classics, 99a. They're not too hard, don't feel too soft, they slide, and I have never flatspotted them, even when doing long powerslides on the rough street in front of my house. I'm currently riding 56mm F1 Street Cuts and they're rad. I got a tiny flat spot that went away almost immediately. Regardless of the tricks I did, I got this flat spot by popping out of a quarter into a manual and landed a little sideways essentially doing a short powerslide on my back wheels, the wheel under my heel was getting wheel bite and sliding sideways under all of my weight. Its hard to describe but in this case I think pretty much any wheel would flat spot. I only noticed it because I looked for it, couldn't hear it when I rolled and after a couple hours it rode out and isn't noticeable anymore. I would recommend
F1 Park Burners to anyone, even if you primarily skate street, but if you like a hard wheel and like to do "street reverts" to finish rotations, then the Street Burners might work better.
Landshark are surprisingly good. I have a friend who swears by and rides nothing but Landshark. They don't feel too much different than Spitfires, and he says after 3 sets he has never had a flatspot. I have been riding Spitfires forever and have no reason to switch, but I would definitely give these a try. Besides, Bill Danforth rides for them, that alone is reason to buy them. :p
Also
heard great things about Satori on another thread. Have heard good things about the
new OJ's as well.
In the end,
I don't want to ride Bones because they feel like plastic coated in chalk powder. I think that
white Spitfire Park Burners are the best all around wheels on the market with Landshark coming in 2nd. Both last a long time, have a great feel when you ride them, and both companies will replace wheels that flat spot within a reasonable amount of time so if you get a big spot after 2 weeks, just send them in (always keep spare sets around for while you're waiting for replacements).
Don't be afraid to go bigger. 52mm is a pretty standard size for street skating, but you get more riding surface with 54-56 and
wide is good. If you can get ahold of Satori's they're probably worth a shot. Don't mess around with wheels made by board companies, like Plan B or Enjoi wheels, and
stay away from colored urethane, especially multi-colored.
If I was in your position right now I would buy a set of 55mm Landshark HXC Side Cuts. If you can't find them at your local shop then you can get mail order direct from the company. Go to landsharkwheels.com/
Good luck.