Small wheels might "feel" harder purely because there's less urethane between the street and your bearing.
Think of it this way. A big thick rug is always going to feel softer to walk on than a thinner one made of the same material, purely because there's more of it between your foot and the floor underneath
A small soft wheel is the worst of all possible worlds. Shit slide, and they'll hit every crack.
Go big or go hard or go home.
I agree with this up to a certain extent...
I think 97a is the happy medium.
And considering I've skated up to 90mm...
To me 54mm is small even 56mm isn't THAT big...
I do believe if I was a better skater, the 56mn 95a mini logo's would be the perfect small hill street shredding wheel.
They have a predictable slide on rough surfaces and are still small enough for basic knee level tricks.
But for smooth park type concrete, I do think I'll stick to 97a either in 53 or 54mm