What's the biggest functional wheel size in your opinion?

[Suangi]

I recently went from a 58mm to a 56mm and am struggling with rough ground skating to spots. It makes me wonder what are the biggest size wheels you could do most of your tricks on without too much of an affect on the way you do your tricks.

People seem to be skating bigger and bigger wheels these days. While it's harder to flip a bigger wheel is the downside really that bad when it makes cruising around so much easier.

[counter spell]

60mm is the best street wheel, rolls over crap, you go slightly faster, more meat to lock into grinds/slides...

the lower limit for me is 52, anything smaller and it's a less than 50% chance i will lock in to grinds/slides, and greater than 50% chance i will hit a small twig and fall, slow down a lot faster, have to try harder for transition

[dstrytruitt]

Tranny skater here. I like 55/56 for mini-ramps with 54 being as small as I'll go. 60s for big transition parks for the speed. Just a lot of carving and slashing for me. Old guy, pads on, roll fast like a pinball.

[Easy Slider]

Anything above 53 mm feels like monster truck wheels to me. Part of my BPSW heritage I guess.

[fakiefs180]

For me it is 52 to 53mm. Preferably regular Spitfire conicals. I kinda wanna try some 53 Classics again but they wouldn't handle crusty spots as well as the 52mm Conicals I think? I have those 80HD Spits for crusing in 56mm but the pop and board feel is a bit strange for tricks. Just my thoughts on that.

[ferguu]

60mm for a street wheel?! How rough are your streets man goddamn.

Maybe it's just me but wheels wear out too quickly to worry about size that much. Pretty much the first time you skate them theyre gonna drop a millimetre, so I try not to worry about specifics. Anything below 54 is acceptable for me, currently skating some 2ish year old wheels, they must be ~40mm haha.

[The real veganshawn]

I ride 60 mm on my cruiser, 56mm on my bowl board and 54mm for my all around board

[minilogoflow]

Right now I'm on 60mm 93a dragon bomber shape and for my skating (curbs, manny pads, flat ground and transportation) the bigger wheels lock in better and roll over shitty ground. I'm mostly skating some chewed up parking lots and streets but when I was skating parks I rode 56mm x99's. Durometer has more of an effect on wheel functionality than wheel size imo.

[rawbertson.]

60mm ON ACES NO RISERS, MAGIC CARPETING ON A 10"
GONNA BE SOME CUSTOM WHEEL WELLS UP IN THIS

[Spacecase]

I find around 54-56mm to be my sweet spot.

[counter spell]

60mm for a street wheel?! How rough are your streets man goddamn.

Maybe it's just me but wheels wear out too quickly to worry about size that much. Pretty much the first time you skate them theyre gonna drop a millimetre, so I try not to worry about specifics. Anything below 54 is acceptable for me, currently skating some 2ish year old wheels, they must be ~40mm haha.

theyre about 50% cobblestone and brick.

[TwisT]

I think 54 is the perfect all-around size. My preference is 53, which they seem to make less of so I just skate 52s. But I'll recommend 54 - 56

[Fire Air Walk with Me]

58/60 for streets is golden

[BeachChicken]

Overall it seems 52 has been the median size for ~20 years or so. I feel 54 is functionally great for faster/bigger stuff, crust, etc. before wheelbite matters. The bigger sizes reserved more for crust and tons of hillbombing. Some of the GX dudes go through a 56 in like 2 weeks from powersliding so much. But in terms of pro setups its 51-53 99% of the time.

[Reese Bruno]

Ive never regretted buying larger wheels ever as long as theyre f4 or xformula. I've only gone as high as 58s but I think 60s would be just fine. Momentum is definitely noticeable as you sz up

[gaunting]

I’ve skated 52-53mm (usually spitfire classic shape) since I started around 99’.

tried to be a cool guy and get 55mm radial fulls about a year ago.

it was like skating with ankle weights.

kickflips, and hard flips became instantly non existent.

[manuduncan]

can crook/slappy curbs just fine on big ass wheels, more about duro than size at that point

i ride 56, i have loose trucks and will wheelbite too often if i go larger than that and am too lazy to put on risers

[Crailslideyoface]

54 is preferred, but could go 53 or 55 if I really needed new wheels and didn't have 54mm spits in stock

[IusedToSkateMore]

i like 56 but i cant flip em. 54 f4 og classic is a great wheel

[Crabby_Bastard]

58 - 60mm wheel guys how are your crooked grinds (not slappy)?

I skate 53mm now because I need a lighter board due to injuries, but my crooked grinds were the best I ever had them with 58mm wheels.

[hiljentaa]

My preference is 53/52 Classics.

I have some 59 Radial Fulls and 58 Radials that I have skated relatively normally, but it is a big effort to flip those giant wheels.

[Fifty8mm]

I think it depends what you skate and how strong your legs are.
I could do the same stuff (not much) on all wheels.
But for me its either really big 58 and bigger or really small 51mm and under.
Everything in between i feel like I'm half stepping.

Ima say 58mm on radial shape, not the fulls.
I could sw flip , 360 flip but also ride rough street and they slide well. I don't need a super smooth wheel when riding 58s. I think PNW area mfs might need softer. Shits rough out there.

[pops]

I usually go either 60mm or 56mm for everything I skate.

[Bristol_Palin]

Matt Reason’s pro model physics wheel was 63 mm and he’s my all time favorite so I selected the largest option here.

I‘ve always liked bigger wheels but sometimes there really won’t be any when you walk into a shop. I’ve been stock piling gear since for the last several years so I haven’t had to settle for a smaller wheel for sometime. Since 2021 I’ve consistently skated 58 mm wheels. I was skated several of the spitfire f4 og classics in a row and then when the the f4 93a’s came out I bought a set of the radials in 58mm and then shortly after skating them I picked up another pair to have on ice.

58s have become more readily available so they are my go to wheel for the foreseeable future 8.5 board, 5.8 ventures, 58 mm wheels. Keep the formula.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Matt Reason’s pro model physics wheel was 63 mm and he’s my all time favorite so I selected the largest option here.

I had some of 63mm joints and they were crazy!

***
54mm was my sweet-spot for years, but lately I ride 52mm on my bigger 9" board and 56mm on my smaller 8.5" board (← which is essentially matt reason inspired)

[neonbrown]

I always buy 53-54mm and then skate then until they're in the ~48 range, and I made the mistake of showing up at - of all places - the Nude Bowl with some little worn out Spitfires. That day, I wish I were a 58mm wheel skater.

[counter spell]

58 - 60mm wheel guys how are your crooked grinds (not slappy)?

bigger wheels i feel help my crookeds stay locked in, when i ride smaller wheels they slip into noseslide more often

[rawbertson.]

i think the trend is like;

big wheels in the 80s - cause a lot of ramps, and shittier roads back then kinda too
small wheels in 90s - cause were just focused on flat ground and really good plaza spots
medium wheels 2000s > more of a focus on handrails and gap skating so needed to have the speed +stability
2010 we just went to more slidey, hard wheels
 today> lots of sizes + duros > because some people ONLY skate crust / only skate plaza etc.


the 2000s wheels size still makes sense. you just get the option of homing in on what you want now. if you are a tech skater, skate at perfect skateparks / street spots all the time no real reason to get big wheels, you should have plenty of speed. if you NEVER skate at skateparks or really nice perfect street spots (not a super technical skater), then no need to get small wheels. that 53-56 range is going to be what you would want if you are skating a mix, unless you are a ripping bowl skater who wants the biggies.

[frtzgn95]

I have a theory.

People can’t ride bigger wheels because of truck geometry. Standard trucks are too high, and using bigger wheels causes wheelbite and throws off pop timing. If someone adds risers to prevent wheelbite, it disrupts pop timing even more.

Skaters who want bigger wheels need lower trucks with a geometry that prevents instant wheelbite.

If we had ~45mm trucks with this geometry, we could ride 65+mm wheels.

And if we had longer wheelbases, we could finally be the longboarders we dream of. lol

[Unkle Fleak]

62 is the biggest I can go. I’d be riding that if I wasn’t head over heels for 97a f4. I don’t wanna go back to 99a ever. 56mm is my minimum requirement for used, 54 and I’m getting hung up in cracks. Fuck that shit. 60mm worn down to like 58s is the best shit. Conical full shape 97a.

Smoke the green crack