Spitfire formula four

[roba]

anybody know if spitfire is going to keep making 97 classics? i didn't see them in the last 2 catalogs and i really liked them, sure they wore down a little quicker but they felt like cruiser wheels that slid

[nitro89]

anybody know if spitfire is going to keep making 97 classics? i didn't see them in the last 2 catalogs and i really liked them, sure they wore down a little quicker but they felt like cruiser wheels that slid

http://www.spitfirewheels.com/fall21/sf-fl21-d1-97s-09.jpg

97 classics

[listentoaheartbeat]

Speaking of 97A Classics, after exclusively skating them at the indoor skatepark I tried the concrete bowl and some flat (rough asphalt) again. Didn’t like them there in the summer, way too sticky, but now with temperatures between 0-5 °C they felt pretty good. More forgiving than 99A and with a controlled slide even on humid patches. I am using them on the Heroin Symmetrical Egg, feels like a great setup for mellow sessions when speed is not a priority.

[roba]

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anybody know if spitfire is going to keep making 97 classics? i didn't see them in the last 2 catalogs and i really liked them, sure they wore down a little quicker but they felt like cruiser wheels that slid

[close]

http://www.spitfirewheels.com/fall21/sf-fl21-d1-97s-09.jpg

97 classics

sick, thanks. if they're staying in the range i hope they're going to make 58mm 97 classics in the future. i bought my 56s on the 1st of september and they went down to 48-49 in 5 months. it took a whole year for my 58 99 classics to wear down to 50

[Space Cowboy]

Over summer 21' I started skating the OG Classic shaped F4's, I prefer it over the conical full as they are more of the square shape i look for while having a large riding surface

[Frank and Fred]

Anyone got a review of the Radial Fulls yet? Specifically, the 60mm?

Want a wheel for big rugged parks... Think giant Oregon coast parks like Lincoln City....

[switchfrontshuv]

Over summer 21' I started skating the OG Classic shaped F4's, I prefer it over the conical full as they are more of the square shape i look for while having a large riding surface

yeah same but Im kinda gonna ditch square wheels might as well skate classics and hold crooks better and grind faster

[Mbrimson88]

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anybody know if spitfire is going to keep making 97 classics? i didn't see them in the last 2 catalogs and i really liked them, sure they wore down a little quicker but they felt like cruiser wheels that slid

[close]

http://www.spitfirewheels.com/fall21/sf-fl21-d1-97s-09.jpg

97 classics

[close]

sick, thanks. if they're staying in the range i hope they're going to make 58mm 97 classics in the future. i bought my 56s on the 1st of september and they went down to 48-49 in 5 months. it took a whole year for my 58 99 classics to wear down to 50

Wow, that is interesting to hear, so they wore out in half the time.

I usually find my softer wheels last so much longer than my normal 99 duro wheels, but maybe I am not doing as much on them.

Anything in particular where you were skating, or how you were skating that might have influenced how quickly they wore down?



And re 97 duro wheels, I think there is an even bigger market than they first thought, so there are lots more coming out in the coming deliveries, more so in the Conical Full shape - 58mm and 60mm next drop as others have already said, but Classics are the primary shape, so I can't see them being stopped any time soon, but who knows about the bigger sizes.

I haven't skated my 97 duros half as much as I thought I might, but there haven't really been the situations where I wanted or needed more grip or slightly softer duro wheels a whole lot here, but I got a couple of sets of the 56 Classics and a couple of sets of the 54 Conical Full wheels just to have them if I needed them.

[Mbrimson88]

Anyone got a review of the Radial Fulls yet? Specifically, the 60mm?

Want a wheel for big rugged parks... Think giant Oregon coast parks like Lincoln City....

From seeing some of those places and knowing how the 60mm Spitfires skate, I would say "Get them!" as I think they would work really well.

Anything with a decent width truck and good size board and those things would just work so well.

I do recall seeing some more F4 Classics in 60 mm out again now too, which are 39mm wide and start with a decent contact patch for a classic, 21.5 mm if a slightly more rounded wheel was preferred, but those Kader wheels are huge all round, so I think they would definitely work well on Oregon crust.


The last set I recall seeing:

My spare/novelty/shaped setup is quickly becoming a great cruiser and gnar/ditch board I think...



Found a home for the 60mm Kaders and trying my first set of deck rails since my Staab c. 1987, lol.

[roba]

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anybody know if spitfire is going to keep making 97 classics? i didn't see them in the last 2 catalogs and i really liked them, sure they wore down a little quicker but they felt like cruiser wheels that slid

[close]

http://www.spitfirewheels.com/fall21/sf-fl21-d1-97s-09.jpg

97 classics

[close]

sick, thanks. if they're staying in the range i hope they're going to make 58mm 97 classics in the future. i bought my 56s on the 1st of september and they went down to 48-49 in 5 months. it took a whole year for my 58 99 classics to wear down to 50

[close]

Wow, that is interesting to hear, so they wore out in half the time.

I usually find my softer wheels last so much longer than my normal 99 duro wheels, but maybe I am not doing as much on them.

Anything in particular where you were skating, or how you were skating that might have influenced how quickly they wore down?



And re 97 duro wheels, I think there is an even bigger market than they first thought, so there are lots more coming out in the coming deliveries, more so in the Conical Full shape - 58mm and 60mm next drop as others have already said, but Classics are the primary shape, so I can't see them being stopped any time soon, but who knows about the bigger sizes.

I haven't skated my 97 duros half as much as I thought I might, but there haven't really been the situations where I wanted or needed more grip or slightly softer duro wheels a whole lot here, but I got a couple of sets of the 56 Classics and a couple of sets of the 54 Conical Full wheels just to have them if I needed them.

first of all i skate a lot when the weather's right, i try to catch at least an hour of skating after work everyday

with the 97s i bombed some crustier hills that i wouldn't try on the 99s but it's not like i did that a lot, i rode down maybe 3 different hills once. other than that i did the same shit on the 97s as i would on the 99s and most of my skating went down at skatepark. and i don't want to downplay them - the 97s were more durable than dialtones i had before them, those went from 54 to 45 in 5 months so there's that. still a great wheel and to be fair f4s never outlasted for example stfs but they just feel much better to me.

i can't imagine having 2 different setups because i need a lot of time to adjust to a .25 longer wheelbase so owning two different boards with different trucks and trying to skate them both would be a nightmare to me but i'm thinking about having two sets of wheels (97s and 99s) and switching them depending on the spot. the 97s really are the only street wheels i had the opportunity to try out that slid well while actually feeling noticeably softer. i read that some people on here felt like they were pretty much the same as 99s but i have no fucking idea how somebody could come to that conclusion, they don't even feel the same at concrete skateparks where most wheels are at least ok. 

[Space Cowboy]

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Over summer 21' I started skating the OG Classic shaped F4's, I prefer it over the conical full as they are more of the square shape i look for while having a large riding surface

[close]

yeah same but Im kinda gonna ditch square wheels might as well skate classics and hold crooks better and grind faster

Im on square wheels because they feel like a more secure/consistent lock in for rails, like crooks, 5-0, and 50s feel much more more stable with square wheels, maybe its a mental thing for me but the classic shape feels like its gonna slip out of the lock-in on round handrails with crooks, 50s, ect.

[switchfrontshuv]

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Over summer 21' I started skating the OG Classic shaped F4's, I prefer it over the conical full as they are more of the square shape i look for while having a large riding surface

[close]

yeah same but Im kinda gonna ditch square wheels might as well skate classics and hold crooks better and grind faster

[close]

Im on square wheels because they feel like a more secure/consistent lock in for rails, like crooks, 5-0, and 50s feel much more more stable with square wheels, maybe its a mental thing for me but the classic shape feels like its gonna slip out of the lock-in on round handrails with crooks, 50s, ect.

that makes sense cuz I only skate ledges and it seems to be the opposite for those hahaha. Cool findings

I think best bet for you would be a square wheel yeah whereas for ledges I'd say based on what we've discussed a round-sided, but tall (55-56mm) wheel would work best because that would somewhat add to lock in

[Mbrimson88]

Spitfire Spring 2022 Drop 1 is up


https://www.spitfirewheels.com/


Quite a few good ones, a couple of different options (the custom Yuto pro graphics looking cool for @rocklobster but sorry no Radial Slims) but the coloured options of the Skate Like A Girl are pretty cool, as are the Radial Full wheels in smaller sizes - smaller than 60mm that is.

[rocklobster]

Spitfire Spring 2022 Drop 1 is up


https://www.spitfirewheels.com/


Quite a few good ones, a couple of different options (the custom Yuto pro graphics looking cool for @rocklobster but sorry no Radial Slims) but the coloured options of the Skate Like A Girl are pretty cool, as are the Radial Full wheels in smaller sizes - smaller than 60mm that is.

Another drop, another season without Radial Slims.

Also noticed that Conical (Yellow / Green), Radials and 101a Tablets (red) are missing. 101a Tablets have been really hard to come by over the last few drops, I wonder if they are phasing those out too.

[Murge]

Not a lot of 101a options but most skate 99a. But I got some 101a wheels ordered just to switch shit up. I’ll prob quickly be reminded why I skate 99a.

[DERBY]

alright i think it’s time to slow down with the 57mms

[rocklobster]

Has me wondering if Spitfire is stripping down their range to just the most popular sizes (Classics, Conical Full) to account for material shortages around the world. Read a business piece last week that even mega corporation Vans is having production delays stemming from COVID and material shortage.

Keep the SKUs limited to allocate all available urethane to the best selling shapes.

[left knee cap]

is there any reason why they rarely do radials/radial slims smaller than 55mm? wanna try these out but worried about size, unless if that’s the purpose of the shape?

[rocklobster]

is there any reason why they rarely do radials/radial slims smaller than 55mm? wanna try these out but worried about size, unless if that’s the purpose of the shape?

A couple of online retailers still carry Radial Slims 99a in 52/54mm if you do some digging. But like I mentioned above, probably streamlining the catalog to keep raw materials for the most popular shapes. Most of the recent pro / 1-off wheels have been Classics (Mason Silva, Louie Lopez, Yuto, Burnside).

[Mbrimson88]

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is there any reason why they rarely do radials/radial slims smaller than 55mm? wanna try these out but worried about size, unless if that’s the purpose of the shape?

[close]

A couple of online retailers still carry Radial Slims 99a in 52/54mm if you do some digging. But like I mentioned above, probably streamlining the catalog to keep raw materials for the most popular shapes. Most of the recent pro / 1-off wheels have been Classics (Mason Silva, Louie Lopez, Yuto, Burnside).

I definitely think they are having issues, as someone else either said on here or to me something about getting whatever wheels you want sooner rather than later cause when that shortage hits, things are going to be a struggle for anything but the basics.

Seems about right, as per the article you read too.


As far as sizes and all the different shapes and all that, there are still more often than not some around, even more just coming in via the local distro, but they are snapped up very quickly so if you don't know which shop got the specific ones you are after and they don't put them up on ebay or whatever, you would never know that they were even around this year.

I follow way too many shop accounts and see so many different shapes, sizes and consistent drops of new stock, so it is almost surprising some times how much comes and is sold quickly or already on order for the usual locals at any given place.  With that, I thought it would be too over the top to post every new drop of Formula Four wheels on here, but as per many people who check in here, if you are after something specific in a given country, someone might be able to point you in the right direction too.


When it comes to different shapes, I know this is a broad statement, but if there were only two types of wheel available - Classics and Conical Full wheels - the majority of skateboarders could still skate either well enough.  Not saying they would particularly like them, but they could skate them.

From having at least one of each shape new or used (as well as all the wheels that have come and gone over the years), often multiples of the different sizes of each shape, there really were so so so so many different options it was almost too much, so it would make sense they scale things back if they are having material shortages.

[Mbrimson88]

is there any reason why they rarely do radials/radial slims smaller than 55mm? wanna try these out but worried about size, unless if that’s the purpose of the shape?

I had meant to say from the previous catalog they had some Radials in 52, 54 and 56 which was the carry over pic from Summer 21.

They are out there, but who knows how many and all that though.


https://www.spitfirewheels.com/holiday-2021/

[BoxStuffer]

Not a lot of 101a options but most skate 99a. But I got some 101a wheels ordered just to switch shit up. I’ll prob quickly be reminded why I skate 99a.

Has anyone seen the Formula Four Classic 58mm or 60mm recently in 101a?  Shoot, even 56s? 

My preferred wheel is the 58mm in 101a but I can't recall the last time I've seen them anywhere. 

[Mbrimson88]

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Not a lot of 101a options but most skate 99a. But I got some 101a wheels ordered just to switch shit up. I’ll prob quickly be reminded why I skate 99a.

[close]

Has anyone seen the Formula Four Classic 58mm or 60mm recently in 101a?  Shoot, even 56s? 

My preferred wheel is the 58mm in 101a but I can't recall the last time I've seen them anywhere.

The Classic 60mm wheels seem only to be in 99 duro.

There are still some Classic 58mm 101s around, depending on where you are in the world, they might be easy to get or harder to get.

It seems like more of the OG Classics came out than Classics in the bigger sizes, but even I am surprised by what I see from some shop posts with new drops and more random options.

[BoxStuffer]

Thanks @Mbrimson88. 

Looks like I might have to just start settling for 99s.   

[Xen]

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is there any reason why they rarely do radials/radial slims smaller than 55mm? wanna try these out but worried about size, unless if that’s the purpose of the shape?

[close]

A couple of online retailers still carry Radial Slims 99a in 52/54mm if you do some digging. But like I mentioned above, probably streamlining the catalog to keep raw materials for the most popular shapes. Most of the recent pro / 1-off wheels have been Classics (Mason Silva, Louie Lopez, Yuto, Burnside).

Radial slims are still super easy to find, just have to buy them online.

I posted a bunch of links many pages back, but start here: https://www.paradeworld.com/skateboards/spitfire-wheels/spitfire-wheels-formula-four-radial-slims/

https://energyskateshop.com/products/spitfire-formula-4-venomous-radial-slim-101a-wheels

[beandemon]

Ohh, those yinyang radial fulls are tempting. Thought about the Kader’s, but I endorse neither weed nor pro wheels. Also, I waited too long.

[camel filters]

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Moving in a month and cleaned out the closet where I store my skate stuff. I've accumulated these wheels over the course of 2 years (not including the sets on my two current set ups). Every one still rideable. All these different shapes, sizes, durometer has done a number on me. I don't know who I need to apologize to but I'm sorry.

[Mbrimson88]

Moving in a month and cleaned out the closet where I store my skate stuff. I've accumulated these wheels over the course of 2 years (not including the sets on my two current set ups). Every one still rideable. All these different shapes, sizes, durometer has done a number on me. I don't know who I need to apologize to but I'm sorry.

I see a whole lot of good times right there.

Can't say anything as I probably have a few more than that, but it is looking like that second hand wheel collection could get you through any shortcomings with production and manufacturing issues for the foreseeable future.

Are they all around 52 mm or so?  Just guessing.

I have almost all of mine on old broken or cut up shoelaces as it was a lot easier to see what was what when they are in single sets, compared to when I had a few 180 cm laces with lots of wheels on each.

[yourbreakfsat]

For those that have emailed Spitfire before about defective products, how long did it take to get a response? I sent an email yesterday and haven't heard back yet.

[swellbowed]

For those that have emailed Spitfire before about defective products, how long did it take to get a response? I sent an email yesterday and haven't heard back yet.

Can take a few days, depending how busy they are