Spitfire formula four

[bombsaway86]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

As someone who prefers fat wide wheels, it doesn't get any better than radial fulls. No diminished performance due to both sides being rounded edges. I love my dogtowns for their softer durometer but that 80s type shape with the outside being a sharp straight cut makes my fs slappies harder to get into. 92a-95a in a radial full would be the holy grail wheel for me.

[close]

What kind of skating are you doing mainly?
And also anyone else riding super fat wheels. What are you doing with these? I totally get big wheels in the sense of large diameter, but why the giant width? Rip to all the truck space covered by fullies

[close]

This

[close]

Less hanger space is actually one big reason why I use Radial Fulls on wider trucks. As much as I like wide boards, sometimes I feel like 159/169s are too much truck and the coping/ledge has so much room to move around on the hanger which means locking in is a bit harder. Combing Radial Fulls and wide trucks gives me the best of both worlds.

This makes sense. I usually ride 169s/AF1 66, but I feel like I would enjoy some fulls on a set of 215s.

Also @yourbreakfsat your YouTube videos are great, definitely one of the better channels out there

[yourbreakfsat]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

As someone who prefers fat wide wheels, it doesn't get any better than radial fulls. No diminished performance due to both sides being rounded edges. I love my dogtowns for their softer durometer but that 80s type shape with the outside being a sharp straight cut makes my fs slappies harder to get into. 92a-95a in a radial full would be the holy grail wheel for me.

[close]

What kind of skating are you doing mainly?
And also anyone else riding super fat wheels. What are you doing with these? I totally get big wheels in the sense of large diameter, but why the giant width? Rip to all the truck space covered by fullies

[close]

This

[close]

Less hanger space is actually one big reason why I use Radial Fulls on wider trucks. As much as I like wide boards, sometimes I feel like 159/169s are too much truck and the coping/ledge has so much room to move around on the hanger which means locking in is a bit harder. Combing Radial Fulls and wide trucks gives me the best of both worlds.

[close]

This makes sense. I usually ride 169s/AF1 66, but I feel like I would enjoy some fulls on a set of 215s.

Also @yourbreakfsat your YouTube videos are great, definitely one of the better channels out there

Thank you!

[rikki]

Just wanted to say that after being off the Classics for a while and now being back on them: the best wheel ever?

Pop feels so light after a some heavy ass fat conical wheels and the flip factor has just sparked back up. No chance I'm going to try something like Lock-In fulls. Seems like putting a lot of unnecessary weight and bulk to one's setup.

Even on bigger transition I prefer something narrower than the needless fat wheel trend offers these days. The control is just crispier with "normal" wheels. I mean, the Bones 58mm SPFs on my big pool setup have a 16.5mm contact patch and they are just perfect.

[rawbertson.]

Just wanted to say that after being off the Classics for a while and now being back on them: the best wheel ever?

I am really happy with them. just got my first set 51mm 99a. Also with my first set of Thunders. I am very glad I got classics with these trucks because thunders dont turn as much as i am used to and it feels like the shape kinda helps make up for that.

I was also worried about drag on noseslides with these trucks, but since a lot less of the wheel is touching the wall, it doesn't feel like i am really losing any speed on the noseslide compared to any other brand truck.

Final thing I am very happy about the way that it pinches for feeble - finally learned this frickin trick! took me forever! I learned it on a full soft wheel with rails and then when i brought it to this setup with no rails it felt great still.


I would say i guess if i were to list downsides, it feels like these wheels can kinda wear a little more un-evenly than a full. It felt like i had a flat spot but i just rode it out for awhile and then it seemed to go back to normal... it just looked like the wheel wore a little more on one of the corners for a moment but it quickly rode out.

i suppose the wheels wont last as long in general compared to a full due to less material. I just wanted to get back to a tiny wheel as quickly as possible and this one is perfect for me. will probably feel really amazing once its worn down to 49mm.

[sionarancsle]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Bones bearings are falling out of my formula fours. Anyone had this experience? Like the inner rins is not tight anymore and so the bearings just fall out. Did i do something wrong? They are around 1 years old.

[close]

Something doesn't add up with this one, F4's are tight AF to get bearings in and out of compared to other wheels.

[close]

f4's moved to Mexico recently so there right have been a couple hiccups right out of the gate..

[close]

There have definitely been known issues with the molds, mainly the bearing seats didn't quite fit or something ended up crooked in some of them, which usually means the bearing will not fit in the wheel how it should, sometimes at all, as per a set I had seen from someone else and returned to the shop for an immediate replacement, or others which you can just feel when you roll the wheel with bearings in it between fingers that it is ovalling rather than rolling straight.  This is most likely what has happened in the set in question, as you could most likely get the bearings in as per usual and the wheel didn't immediately lock up or not fit on the truck with bearings in, but then over time the bearing has widened out the bearing seat and caused the current situation.

What size and shape are the wheels?

Just curious because I have seen it more so on Conical Full but other people said they have had it on the Radial Full and another set I can't remember right now.


Given the time frame, they are well past warranty from a shop perspective, but if you are in USA, reaching out to DLX might help anyway.

conical full 54 mm from last summer.

[roba]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

As someone who prefers fat wide wheels, it doesn't get any better than radial fulls. No diminished performance due to both sides being rounded edges. I love my dogtowns for their softer durometer but that 80s type shape with the outside being a sharp straight cut makes my fs slappies harder to get into. 92a-95a in a radial full would be the holy grail wheel for me.

[close]

What kind of skating are you doing mainly?
And also anyone else riding super fat wheels. What are you doing with these? I totally get big wheels in the sense of large diameter, but why the giant width? Rip to all the truck space covered by fullies

[close]

This

[close]

I'll skate any terrain: Pools, ramp, ditches, street, park, whatever; have ridden STF V3s (thinnest you can get) to Radial Fulls and so many in between and quite honestly, I don't find any performance benefits when it comes to width, only downsides.

Can someone provide some science (and not 'cuz they feel good) to help up plebs understand why sacrificing hanger room for grinds and increasing board weight (which does apply to speed given equal friction) for a wider/chunky wheel is better, as it's been argued (and proven) that width of an object is not impacting it's ability to grip or slide.

Skateboards don't go fast enough (on Mega, maybe) for things like drag or rolling (width) resistance to come into play.

These aren't fucking drag racing tires pushed by 1000hp

my favorite shape is the classic (58mm, but still), but the wider wheels are so much better on crusty spots and shitty ground. where i live there’s these bricks everywhere and it’s so much easier to skate on that with wider wheels. all the full shapes make it harder to flip the board around though.

[Firebert]

My philosophy is that a wider wheel distributes forces applied over a larger surface area, thus creating less pressure on a specific point, allowing the wheels to begin to slide more easily.

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Bones bearings are falling out of my formula fours. Anyone had this experience? Like the inner rins is not tight anymore and so the bearings just fall out. Did i do something wrong? They are around 1 years old.

[close]

Something doesn't add up with this one, F4's are tight AF to get bearings in and out of compared to other wheels.

[close]

f4's moved to Mexico recently so there right have been a couple hiccups right out of the gate..

[close]

There have definitely been known issues with the molds, mainly the bearing seats didn't quite fit or something ended up crooked in some of them, which usually means the bearing will not fit in the wheel how it should, sometimes at all, as per a set I had seen from someone else and returned to the shop for an immediate replacement, or others which you can just feel when you roll the wheel with bearings in it between fingers that it is ovalling rather than rolling straight.  This is most likely what has happened in the set in question, as you could most likely get the bearings in as per usual and the wheel didn't immediately lock up or not fit on the truck with bearings in, but then over time the bearing has widened out the bearing seat and caused the current situation.

What size and shape are the wheels?

Just curious because I have seen it more so on Conical Full but other people said they have had it on the Radial Full and another set I can't remember right now.


Given the time frame, they are well past warranty from a shop perspective, but if you are in USA, reaching out to DLX might help anyway.

[close]

conical full 54 mm from last summer.

Not to read too much into it as a few different wheels have had issues, but that is the exact same wheel I saw with issues.

Definitely check out DLXSF.COM and ask about them.

[BALARGUE]

My philosophy is that a wider wheel distributes forces applied over a larger surface area, thus creating less pressure on a specific point, allowing the wheels to begin to slide more easily.

yes
another consequence is it makes them better at handling rough ground (ie more comfortable)

[Sedition]

My philosophy is that a wider wheel distributes forces applied over a larger surface area, thus creating less pressure on a specific point, allowing the wheels to begin to slide more easily.

I'm not a physics guy, but everything about my Classics slides better than my Conicals.

[rawbertson.]

i have 51 classics with thunders
and 54 conical full with aces
they seem to slide about the same to me (both 99a)
probably because the Thunders drag a bit more and the Aces are a bit more slippery. So that would lead me to believe the classics noseslide a lot better.

[WelcomeToHell]

Random question for the Spitfire historians here in the chat. When were Tablets introduced (2019?)? Was there a Tablet-like Spitfire wheel in the 90s? I swear at one point I rode Tablets for a while but maybe they were a different blocky Spitfire wheel.

[Frank and Fred]

This ad was from 1991.

[BL0B]

This ad was from 1991.

was he on Dogtown back then? Dogtown K9's, believe it or not were pretty great back then. IIRCC, they would've just been going out of style as they where 57mm-ish. spitfire's kinda sucked and were thought to flatspot easily.

awesome photo!

[Mbrimson88]

Random question for the Spitfire historians here in the chat. When were Tablets introduced (2019?)? Was there a Tablet-like Spitfire wheel in the 90s? I swear at one point I rode Tablets for a while but maybe they were a different blocky Spitfire wheel.

That ad / pic is always such a rad one to see, but wheels from back then were all very squared off, for the most part, so even from the late 80s, early 90s the shape was significantly different now to what it used to be.

When Spitfire first brought out the Formula Four in 2013, they had four options, Classic 99 duro, Full 99, Classic 101 and Tablet 101, again not quite the same shape as is now, but very similar, in that it was flat sided with minimal curved corners.


I don't have any 80s Spitfire wheels, but I have seen pics and people have had them on ebay a fair bit over the years, so the easiest to find and look at similar type of wheel is the old Powell or OJs reissues or even the still current original urethane Spitfire 60mm Classic wheel, the really big square one with the red swirl graphic.  Note NOT the Formula Four Classic, which is rounded.


Also in looking through things, this was the only reasonable (but tiny) pic with Spitfire wheels from 1988 or so - very much the similar shape to what is now the OG Classic shape, the one from the ad in 60 mm 95 duro, which was fairly common middle ground back then for a wheel.


https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/679621400009863958/

[Mbrimson88]

.

I found another listing, almost by accident, but this one has really good pics too:


https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-spitfire-rubber-duck-eez-3762315909


https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images2/1/0920/25/vintage-spitfire-rubber-duck-eez_1_17bf2e0325076e18569fe00781414824.jpg

[Ok]

Expand Quote

This ad was from 1991.

[close]

oh sick, a nice photo from when skating was cool


was he on Dogtown back then? Dogtown K9's, believe it or not were pretty great back then. IIRCC, they would've just been going out of style as they where 57mm-ish. spitfire's kinda sucked and were thought to flatspot easily.

awesome photo!

[WelcomeToHell]

This ad was from 1991.

Ok so I'm not completely crazy. Did they discontinue them at some point and then bring them back in 2019? Appreciate everyone's help! My memory is an absolute sieve.

[Frank and Fred]

Correct. Here's a glimpse of the 90s tablets.

[BL0B]

Expand Quote

This ad was from 1991.

[close]

Ok so I'm not completely crazy. Did they discontinue them at some point and then bring them back in 2019? Appreciate everyone's help! My memory is an absolute sieve.

they went away really quick iircc, wheels were just about to go small & pants big! the 55mm is/was a good wheel, the 53mm back then flat spotted easily, narrow wheels in general across brands flat spotted much easier back then.

[switchfakie]

yo i dont remember who told me this, but somebody said that 99s slide better than the 101s

i tried an old pair on my cruiser the other day and it actually seemed like its true, does anybody have any imput on this?

why the fuck am i skating 101s if the 99s slide better ? id have no reason to

[moonordie]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

This ad was from 1991.

[close]

Ok so I'm not completely crazy. Did they discontinue them at some point and then bring them back in 2019? Appreciate everyone's help! My memory is an absolute sieve.

[close]

they went away really quick iircc, wheels were just about to go small & pants big! the 55mm is/was a good wheel, the 53mm back then flat spotted easily, narrow wheels in general across brands flat spotted much easier back then.

"Hots", wonder how they looked.

[WelcomeToHell]

Correct. Here's a glimpse of the 90s tablets.

Sick. Thanks!

[Xen]

Wasn’t there another run of tablets before the current iteration (not the old school ones, after those)?

[bombsaway86]

Correct. Here's a glimpse of the 90s tablets.

These look sick. It would be cool if they still did the side cut instead of the flat side profile that they do now

[WelcomeToHell]

Wasn’t there another run of tablets before the current iteration (not the old school ones, after those)?

I thought there was another run a well (maybe in the mid '00s?), but again, that's just a foggy, possibly wrong, memory.

[Mbrimson88]

Wasn’t there another run of tablets before the current iteration (not the old school ones, after those)?

I put this in the middle of a whole lot of other info on the last page, most likely got lost as I often type too much and people don't read it all, but yes, in 2013 when the Formula Four first came out.

I still have the marketing blurb from them too, which was cool to see.

Expand Quote

Random question for the Spitfire historians here in the chat. When were Tablets introduced (2019?)? Was there a Tablet-like Spitfire wheel in the 90s? I swear at one point I rode Tablets for a while but maybe they were a different blocky Spitfire wheel.

[close]

When Spitfire first brought out the Formula Four in 2013, they had four options, Classic 99 duro, Full 99, Classic 101 and Tablet 101, again not quite the same shape as is now, but very similar, in that it was flat sided with minimal curved corners.

Found it:

[Xen]

Expand Quote

Wasn’t there another run of tablets before the current iteration (not the old school ones, after those)?

[close]

I put this in the middle of a whole lot of other info on the last page, most likely got lost as I often type too much and people don't read it all, but yes, in 2013 when the Formula Four first came out.

I still have the marketing blurb from them too, which was cool to see.

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Random question for the Spitfire historians here in the chat. When were Tablets introduced (2019?)? Was there a Tablet-like Spitfire wheel in the 90s? I swear at one point I rode Tablets for a while but maybe they were a different blocky Spitfire wheel.

[close]

When Spitfire first brought out the Formula Four in 2013, they had four options, Classic 99 duro, Full 99, Classic 101 and Tablet 101, again not quite the same shape as is now, but very similar, in that it was flat sided with minimal curved corners.

[close]

Found it:

Cool! Thought they were early F4...I remember them being all red for some reason. That run was really short lived.

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

Correct. Here's a glimpse of the 90s tablets.

[close]

These look sick. It would be cool if they still did the side cut instead of the flat side profile that they do now

The thing is the OG Classic appears to be that wheel shape, as in it is a squared off wheel, not wide in profile like some of the others, with a cutaway area like they have with the swirl graphic, so although the name and formula might have changed a bit, the actual shape of the wheel is much the same as per the wheels back then.

Check out some OG Classics if you haven't seen them in person, because that is what they look like.  Comparing their dimensions from the Spitfire site too, they are not that different, between 1 - 2 mm wider in wheel width and riding surface from Tablet to OG Classic, but as you said, without the flat side profile.


https://www.spitfirewheels.com/wheel-shapes/



Those old Thrasher mags they put up in their entirety are amazing to see too!

[switchfakie]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Correct. Here's a glimpse of the 90s tablets.

[close]

These look sick. It would be cool if they still did the side cut instead of the flat side profile that they do now

[close]

The thing is the OG Classic appears to be that wheel shape, as in it is a squared off wheel, not wide in profile like some of the others, with a cutaway area like they have with the swirl graphic, so although the name and formula might have changed a bit, the actual shape of the wheel is much the same as per the wheels back then.

Check out some OG Classics if you haven't seen them in person, because that is what they look like.  Comparing their dimensions from the Spitfire site too, they are not that different, between 1 - 2 mm wider in wheel width and riding surface from Tablet to OG Classic, but as you said, without the flat side profile.


https://www.spitfirewheels.com/wheel-shapes/



Those old Thrasher mags they put up in their entirety are amazing to see too!

On a tangent, dang man, it’s been a sec since I looked at that catalog you linked

I had no idea lock-ins we’re wider than conical fulls

I really wish they made 58-60 mm lock ins, that would be heavenly