I gave Bones a try again but just puled these jawns off and put some Spitfire OG classics on instead
These things were fast enough but felt/sounded dead and messed with my pop (and I'm old so I need all the help I can get).
Yeah, the 99's definitely have a strange deep deadened sound to them. I like the way the rolled, but the slide was awful enough that I just pulled them off my board too.
I've got hopes for Bones/PP's new wheels though.
I'm with some of you folks on this one: I think Bones have the potential to be better than Spits in specific scenarios, but if you're looking for a wheel that does pretty well in basically any setting, Spitfire F4 99s are the way to go.
You CAN'T beat an SPF 84b wheel in a smooth park, super fast and great grip/slip ratio. And the Bones 99a STFs I have found are really good both on super rough ground and where you need some extra grip. Since I tend to ride mostly transition and have the fortune to have 3 pretty new parks in my area I skate regularly, I've been really loving Bones 84b SPFs for a lot of my skating, and rock the 99a STFs for when I skate curbs and stuff.
I've heard so much great stuff about their park wheels.
STF 103a are great, but really situational since they are too hard for streets.
STF 99a have so much potential, but for me they are unrideable due to how awful their slide is. I love how fast they are and how well they tackle rough streets for being 99a. They tackle streets closer to a 97a.
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I gave Bones a try again but just puled these jawns off and put some Spitfire OG classics on instead
These things were fast enough but felt/sounded dead and messed with my pop (and I'm old so I need all the help I can get).
I've been riding 103a STFs and thought they felt a little soft. Picked up a new set (54mm) 103As and they too felt soft, and a little dead..I know it was brought up in a recent thread where the current STF 103s are not what they used to be, I can attest to that they feel like 95...they don't even chirp well anymore; 101a spits/ricta/OJ feel much harder...
That's wild. You sure they are 103a? It sounds like you are describing 99a. STF 103a are unmistakably harder than 101a OJ.
If you are 100% sure you bought 103a, then maybe its a packaging/manufacturing error, because that sounds so off base from the 103a's I've rocked. Though to be fair I haven't ridden any in a couple years now.