pros and cons of wheel shapes you’ve tried. what’re their pros n cons? what sorta tricks are they best for?
General principles for the three main shapes (I'm biased towards CF/V6).
Conical Full/V6: Sharp edge. Very controlled, very stable, and very predictable. Grip well. Has a clearer differentiation between the wheel tipping or not... hard to tip over. Many say harder to flip. A more "snappy" flip, rather than a smoother easier flip. Locks into stuff more definitively, but can be harder to get out of locks. Good for rough ground. I love how secure they feel while powersliding. Conical cut takes away a bit of the extra weight from the wheel, but are still wider/heavier wheels than classics. What I would trust when bombing a hill. Great for all types of real street skating (but not the most tech wheel) and general park skating (might hang-up a bit more in transition). Great for always feeling in stable and in control.
Radial/V4: Radial edge. More effective at skating weird geometry/transitions, and ride over random obstacles. Grip well. Climbs sideways/diagonally better, and gets into coping grinds easier (but also slip out of grinds easier). More gradual to tip which can be better for flip tricks for some people. More smooth/easy flips. Tend to be a heavier shape as they bulge out to the sides. Pretty stable. Great for park/transition/bowls, are versatile but wide/heavier and less tech. Great at riding over coping and tackling transition.
Classic/V1: Thin, lightweight, with rounded edge. More nimble but less stable. Quicker easy flips. More space between trucks. Struggles with rougher ground. Share a lot in common with radials, but for street skating rather than transition skating. Great for tech and flip tricks and smooth street skateparks. Great for learning flip tricks.
Something people don't talk about enough is how much more nimble thin wheels are. I've got to tighten my trucks for thin wheels and loosen them for wide wheels. Its a bit of a trip going between the two. Feels like my wheels are balancing on their tiptoes when I try switching back to thinner shapes these days.
A lot of wheel shapes are like a combination of the above three, if you want to be reductive. Tablets/V2 are like a Classic/CF hybrid in a weird way if you think about it. I agree with Xen they are like a tech/ledge wheel. I also think Tablets look really cool, and the people who skate them always put them to good use. Makes me jealous. I've always liked them when I've tried them on others' boards.
Bones/Powell V6 56mm is my favorite wheel shape. Its like a slimmed down and deeply cut version of the Conical Full, without losing the stability/control of a Conical Full. It seems like Spitfire's OG Classic is similar in that respect. I really want to try a 56+mm OG Classic soon. 56mm CF are just too chunky IMO. Once you size up past 54mm, they take a leap in width that's a bit too much for me.