Spitfire formula four

[Mbrimson88]

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i normally skate 54mm classics.  i just ordered 54mm radial FULLS, but i didnt realize they were the fulls i thought just standard radial.  are these things going to be noticeably larger than a 54mm classic?

[close]

You're going from Spitfires narrowest regular production wheel to their widest. They're going to be way different. Radial fulls are rrrrreally big.

I had the opportunity to get some Radial Full wheels, first in 58 mm size, which were awesome but stupidly big and wide, which found a new home even before I had a roll on them really, but the next set I got was the 54 mm version and they are way more normal for me, given I used to ride a lot of the bigger wider round shaped wheels, which when worn down were about this shape, which I had a session on today.

They are still a bit more wheel than I would usually ride now, but I can definitely see how they would be good for a number of people who want the bigger and wider wheel feel but in a more normal diameter.

[rocklobster]

Taking the plunge and got myself a set of 55mm Classics F4, biggest I've ever ridden were 54mm, been on 52 - 53mm mostly. I'm hoping the narrow profile will compensate to make the wheel feel less clunky.

[rikki]

Taking the plunge and got myself a set of 55mm Classics F4, biggest I've ever ridden were 54mm, been on 52 - 53mm mostly. I'm hoping the narrow profile will compensate to make the wheel feel less clunky.

You'll love 'em. I've gone up to 56mm on F4 Classics and they don't feel at all clunky.

[switchfakie]

can somebody confirm to me that the classic 99 formula slides better than f4 101s? tried an old pair of mines today and was slipping everywhere. powerslides were effortless to the point of doing them by accident (i skate f4 101s 99% of the time)

also can you confirm that f4 99s slide better than f4 101s?

[Murge]

Taking the plunge and got myself a set of 55mm Classics F4, biggest I've ever ridden were 54mm, been on 52 - 53mm mostly. I'm hoping the narrow profile will compensate to make the wheel feel less clunky.

Loved 55 classics. Especially when they wear down some

[camel filters]

can somebody confirm to me that the classic 99 formula slides better than f4 101s? tried an old pair of mines today and was slipping everywhere. powerslides were effortless to the point of doing them by accident (i skate f4 101s 99% of the time)

also can you confirm that f4 99s slide better than f4 101s?

I remember the classic formulas feeling harder by comparison to f4 in general even when the duros are the same so you may be on to something. You'd have to wear away the ridges first on a new classic formula wheel tho.

[switchfakie]

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can somebody confirm to me that the classic 99 formula slides better than f4 101s? tried an old pair of mines today and was slipping everywhere. powerslides were effortless to the point of doing them by accident (i skate f4 101s 99% of the time)

also can you confirm that f4 99s slide better than f4 101s?

[close]

I remember the classic formulas feeling harder by comparison to f4 in general even when the duros are the same so you may be on to something. You'd have to wear away the ridges first on a new classic formula wheel tho.

Thank you dude, I thought I was going nuts. I think imma jump ship back to the classic formula, I’m really enjoying slipping and sliding around. Gonna see how my blunt slides change with them. Maybe I won’t have to wax as much or at all

[SupremePizza]

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Taking the plunge and got myself a set of 55mm Classics F4, biggest I've ever ridden were 54mm, been on 52 - 53mm mostly. I'm hoping the narrow profile will compensate to make the wheel feel less clunky.

[close]

Loved 55 classics. Especially when they wear down some

56mm classics worn down feels so good and keeps getting better

[camel filters]

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can somebody confirm to me that the classic 99 formula slides better than f4 101s? tried an old pair of mines today and was slipping everywhere. powerslides were effortless to the point of doing them by accident (i skate f4 101s 99% of the time)

also can you confirm that f4 99s slide better than f4 101s?

[close]

I remember the classic formulas feeling harder by comparison to f4 in general even when the duros are the same so you may be on to something. You'd have to wear away the ridges first on a new classic formula wheel tho.

[close]

Thank you dude, I thought I was going nuts. I think imma jump ship back to the classic formula, I’m really enjoying slipping and sliding around. Gonna see how my blunt slides change with them. Maybe I won’t have to wax as much or at all

They also flatspot way faster too but good luck. I do wonder if they've improved at all. They still release them regularly so they must be loved by some people.

[Mbrimson88]

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can somebody confirm to me that the classic 99 formula slides better than f4 101s? tried an old pair of mines today and was slipping everywhere. powerslides were effortless to the point of doing them by accident (i skate f4 101s 99% of the time)

also can you confirm that f4 99s slide better than f4 101s?

[close]

I remember the classic formulas feeling harder by comparison to f4 in general even when the duros are the same so you may be on to something. You'd have to wear away the ridges first on a new classic formula wheel tho.

[close]

Thank you dude, I thought I was going nuts. I think imma jump ship back to the classic formula, I’m really enjoying slipping and sliding around. Gonna see how my blunt slides change with them. Maybe I won’t have to wax as much or at all

[close]

They also flatspot way faster too but good luck. I do wonder if they've improved at all. They still release them regularly so they must be loved by some people.

The original or classic formula were great once they had aged some, whereas the brand new fresh ones felt softer, flatspotted way more easily and seemed to wear down way faster as well, from the team riders and others who always got new sets each month.  I ended up with a lot of mix and match wheels from those guys back in the old days, some flatspotted, others worn down to 50 mm on one wheel and still 54 or 56 mm on others in the same sets.

On my travels round AU, I would often buy the old yellowed looking ones that were either old stock or on clearance that others didn't like the look of but they skated way better than the newer bright white looking ones, from my own experience.


That seems similar to your experience too, older classic formula being really good wheels, so just a word of caution with getting a brand new set and thinking they will perform the same, although there are still lots of people who swear by the classic formula and prefer the colour and the performance to Formula Four or any other wheel on the market.

Any which way, I feel like Formula Four perform the same from day one til they are done in the 99 duro - they just skate so well on (almost) everything for me, whereas the 101s were a little here and there, some being super slippery, others being very grippy and just had different properties between what would have been two of the same formula wheels.

That's why I go more with the Formula Four 99 duro, but everyone has their preferences.

[switchfakie]

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can somebody confirm to me that the classic 99 formula slides better than f4 101s? tried an old pair of mines today and was slipping everywhere. powerslides were effortless to the point of doing them by accident (i skate f4 101s 99% of the time)

also can you confirm that f4 99s slide better than f4 101s?

[close]

I remember the classic formulas feeling harder by comparison to f4 in general even when the duros are the same so you may be on to something. You'd have to wear away the ridges first on a new classic formula wheel tho.

[close]

Thank you dude, I thought I was going nuts. I think imma jump ship back to the classic formula, I’m really enjoying slipping and sliding around. Gonna see how my blunt slides change with them. Maybe I won’t have to wax as much or at all

[close]

They also flatspot way faster too but good luck. I do wonder if they've improved at all. They still release them regularly so they must be loved by some people.

[close]

The original or classic formula were great once they had aged some, whereas the brand new fresh ones felt softer, flatspotted way more easily and seemed to wear down way faster as well, from the team riders and others who always got new sets each month.  I ended up with a lot of mix and match wheels from those guys back in the old days, some flatspotted, others worn down to 50 mm on one wheel and still 54 or 56 mm on others in the same sets.

On my travels round AU, I would often buy the old yellowed looking ones that were either old stock or on clearance that others didn't like the look of but they skated way better than the newer bright white looking ones, from my own experience.


That seems similar to your experience too, older classic formula being really good wheels, so just a word of caution with getting a brand new set and thinking they will perform the same, although there are still lots of people who swear by the classic formula and prefer the colour and the performance to Formula Four or any other wheel on the market.

Any which way, I feel like Formula Four perform the same from day one til they are done in the 99 duro - they just skate so well on (almost) everything for me, whereas the 101s were a little here and there, some being super slippery, others being very grippy and just had different properties between what would have been two of the same formula wheels.

That's why I go more with the Formula Four 99 duro, but everyone has their preferences.

i swear every time i interact with you randomly on slap, i learn some new & extremely useful shit

im gonna go ahead and buy a pair and put them on my windowsill for a year or two as an experiment (the ones i skated were 3 years old)

thank you for this my g, i appreciate you a lot

[logjammin]

I've been on two sets of newer batches of F4 lately, 54mm radials then just got some 58mm classics, both 99a. They feel grippier than I remember, I swear other sets I've bought in recent years in the same duro were still like ice with a lot of slipouts. I must say, these 58mm classic shapes are bad ass, I plan on skating them all the way til indoor park season.

[Xen]

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can somebody confirm to me that the classic 99 formula slides better than f4 101s? tried an old pair of mines today and was slipping everywhere. powerslides were effortless to the point of doing them by accident (i skate f4 101s 99% of the time)

also can you confirm that f4 99s slide better than f4 101s?

[close]

I remember the classic formulas feeling harder by comparison to f4 in general even when the duros are the same so you may be on to something. You'd have to wear away the ridges first on a new classic formula wheel tho.

They were for sure harder, they chirped sooo loud; F1s were my fav wheel back then.

Does anyone skate that .sml wheel that's supposed to be like old spits? What about those Acid wheels. I miss that hard slidey wheel sometimes (flatspots be damned).

I find most hard wheels these days so grippy...even the 101s, Elites, spits, snots, STFs are soft feeling, even 103s...Ricta 101s are probably the hardest/least grippy feeling wheel I've tried (they just wear down super fast).

[LebowskisRug]

I have had some friends skate the Acid formulas and they've all ended up back on F4. Not sure they necessarily wanted harder wheels but tried the 101 and found them really good, but not great in any respect and really loud. I guess if you want the loudness then they're the pick otherwise even local shops can't move them and they're "from here"

[rocklobster]

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can somebody confirm to me that the classic 99 formula slides better than f4 101s? tried an old pair of mines today and was slipping everywhere. powerslides were effortless to the point of doing them by accident (i skate f4 101s 99% of the time)

also can you confirm that f4 99s slide better than f4 101s?

[close]

I remember the classic formulas feeling harder by comparison to f4 in general even when the duros are the same so you may be on to something. You'd have to wear away the ridges first on a new classic formula wheel tho.

[close]

Does anyone skate that .sml wheel that's supposed to be like old spits? What about those Acid wheels. I miss that hard slidey wheel sometimes (flatspots be damned).

I've ridden the AG (Austyn Gillette, 99a) formula and the OG (101a). AG feel closer to Classic formula, great all purpose wheel for street.

Currently on the OG 52mm formula and they are really hard and street needs a couple more pushes, better as a park wheel. Really slick on the right ledge and managed to get some healthy slides at my usual spot. Rode mine for 3 weeks and I still got threads on them, if that means anything.

I'd stick to the AG formula if you're dealing with some crust, OG if you're skating smooth parks.

Rode Acid wheels that I got on discount, painfully hard and I gave up on them after 2 sessions.

[bombsaway86]

I've been on two sets of newer batches of F4 lately, 54mm radials then just got some 58mm classics, both 99a. They feel grippier than I remember, I swear other sets I've bought in recent years in the same duro were still like ice with a lot of slipouts. I must say, these 58mm classic shapes are bad ass, I plan on skating them all the way til indoor park season.

https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=68020.msg4028135#msg4028135

I did a comparison a little while back. I definitely thought they were grippier than the more natural colored ones. The nicest thing is that a few months later the bearings haven’t back out once

[Frank and Fred]

I spent the last 4 months on some Conical full 53mm 101a. I swear the 101s are underrated. Granted I've been using them at a smooth asphalt perfectly painted red paint curb spot but they were super nice. I know the trend is toward slightly softer wheels but don't sleep on the 101s, they seem especially fast and durable in a wider profile.

[schralp pal]

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can somebody confirm to me that the classic 99 formula slides better than f4 101s? tried an old pair of mines today and was slipping everywhere. powerslides were effortless to the point of doing them by accident (i skate f4 101s 99% of the time)

also can you confirm that f4 99s slide better than f4 101s?

[close]

I remember the classic formulas feeling harder by comparison to f4 in general even when the duros are the same so you may be on to something. You'd have to wear away the ridges first on a new classic formula wheel tho.

[close]

Does anyone skate that .sml wheel that's supposed to be like old spits? What about those Acid wheels. I miss that hard slidey wheel sometimes (flatspots be damned).

[close]

I've ridden the AG (Austyn Gillette, 99a) formula and the OG (101a). AG feel closer to Classic formula, great all purpose wheel for street.

Currently on the OG 52mm formula and they are really hard and street needs a couple more pushes, better as a park wheel. Really slick on the right ledge and managed to get some healthy slides at my usual spot. Rode mine for 3 weeks and I still got threads on them, if that means anything.

I'd stick to the AG formula if you're dealing with some crust, OG if you're skating smooth parks.

Rode Acid wheels that I got on discount, painfully hard and I gave up on them after 2 sessions.

I’m on the AG formula right now and I absolutely love them for park and street. Really versatile, I feel like they are longer lasting than f4s too

[Gandito405]

I was wondering which is better for skating transition/bowls. 57 lock in fulls in 99a or the 57 lock ins in 99a. I've been riding 58 conical fulls since started skating, they have a pretty big riding surface compared to regular lock ins. but the lockin fulls are really fucking wide so im not sure about rotating them on my ace 66s.

[Samsquantch]

I was wondering which is better for skating transition/bowls. 57 lock in fulls in 99a or the 57 lock ins in 99a. I've been riding 58 conical fulls since started skating, they have a pretty big riding surface compared to regular lock ins. but the lockin fulls are really fucking wide so im not sure about rotating them on my ace 66s.

I picked up some 57mm Lock in fulls a few weeks ago after skating 56mm conical fulls since spring.

They are really, really wide, quite heavy, and I ended up pulling them off after a couple sessions. They were fine for transition,
but anything to do with getting the board off the ground... I'm just not macho enough for them, too much work. Best powerslide wheel I've ever tried though...

[Mbrimson88]

.

To echo what some others had said about the newer Spitfire Formula Four wheels being a lot lighter in colour, I just got a few sets including some normal Radials and they definitely seem a lighter colour than some of the other Formula Four wheels that I bought last month.

I know they are the newest product so that would explain some of the older wheels looking darker, but overall I would imagine that they will still skate the same and feel the same.  Any which way, I am not about to open a new set just yet and have others to get through first, but the colour difference is interesting to see in person.

[Samsquantch]

.

To echo what some others had said about the newer Spitfire Formula Four wheels being a lot lighter in colour, I just got a few sets including some normal Radials and they definitely seem a lighter colour than some of the other Formula Four wheels that I bought last month.

I know they are the newest product so that would explain some of the older wheels looking darker, but overall I would imagine that they will still skate the same and feel the same.  Any which way, I am not about to open a new set just yet and have others to get through first, but the colour difference is interesting to see in person.

They still potato pretty fast, here's a conical full that's a few months old next to a few week old lock in full. The conical fulls were super white when new.

[Mbrimson88]

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.

To echo what some others had said about the newer Spitfire Formula Four wheels being a lot lighter in colour, I just got a few sets including some normal Radials and they definitely seem a lighter colour than some of the other Formula Four wheels that I bought last month.

I know they are the newest product so that would explain some of the older wheels looking darker, but overall I would imagine that they will still skate the same and feel the same.  Any which way, I am not about to open a new set just yet and have others to get through first, but the colour difference is interesting to see in person.

[close]

They still potato pretty fast, here's a conical full that's a few months old next to a few week old lock in full. The conical fulls were super white when new.

Yeah, I love them when they get to that look and age.  They just hold up so much better too, but that could just be in my head.

I often go back to some of my older completes and they just feel so good, everything nicely worn in without being worn out, dead, etc.

[Samsquantch]

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.

To echo what some others had said about the newer Spitfire Formula Four wheels being a lot lighter in colour, I just got a few sets including some normal Radials and they definitely seem a lighter colour than some of the other Formula Four wheels that I bought last month.

I know they are the newest product so that would explain some of the older wheels looking darker, but overall I would imagine that they will still skate the same and feel the same.  Any which way, I am not about to open a new set just yet and have others to get through first, but the colour difference is interesting to see in person.

[close]

They still potato pretty fast, here's a conical full that's a few months old next to a few week old lock in full. The conical fulls were super white when new.

[close]

Yeah, I love them when they get to that look and age.  They just hold up so much better too, but that could just be in my head.

I often go back to some of my older completes and they just feel so good, everything nicely worn in without being worn out, dead, etc.

You know it's funny you mention that, every set of spits I've gotten get a chip or two the first couple times out, but once they have a few sessions on them they seem to become indestructible,  never to chip again...

[OhioGuy]

See some 58mm Kader Radial Fulls. Think I’ll need risers with my standard Indys?

[rawbertson.]

i rode 58s on indy forged (53.5mm height) and Ace (53mm height) and it wasnt too bad. i tightened the trucks up a bit and its pretty reliable, never had any bad hangup or anything.

 but i noticed liek 55mm wheel is kinda the sweet spot for those trucks where i dont even have to think about it.

you will be slightly higher up at 55mm height of indy standard, so i think you will be good. i would try it without first.

[Mbrimson88]

See some 58mm Kader Radial Fulls. Think I’ll need risers with my standard Indys?

i rode 58s on indy forged (53.5mm height) and Ace (53mm height) and it wasnt too bad. i tightened the trucks up a bit and its pretty reliable, never had any bad hangup or anything.

 but i noticed liek 55mm wheel is kinda the sweet spot for those trucks where i dont even have to think about it.

you will be slightly higher up at 55mm height of indy standard, so i think you will be good. i would try it without first.

It comes down to how tight or loose your trucks are.

Tighter trucks can seemingly get away with a lot more, but looser trucks will often have more wheelbite.

That said, it is also down to the individual, as some people with super loose trucks and big wheels don't seem to have any issues, but others with the slightest board touch are on the riser war path, so to speak.


I would say try them as is first, then if you feel like you are having issues, maybe just try a cut up bike tube or 1 mm something just to see if that makes enough difference, because big wheels and 1/8" or 3 mm risers often just feels too tall to be comfortable if you are used to not having risers on smaller wheels.

[OhioGuy]

I went with the 54mm Kader Radial Fulls. Compared them to the CFs to make sure they were wider. The 59mm ones were insanely large. It seems like Spitfire barely makes this shape in 54mm though.

[iw0]

I went with the 54mm Kader Radial Fulls. Compared them to the CFs to make sure they were wider. The 59mm ones were insanely large. It seems like Spitfire barely makes this shape in 54mm though.

how much wider are they than 54 CFs if you don't mind me asking. not the listed dimensions but if you held both in hand, big difference?

[OhioGuy]

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I went with the 54mm Kader Radial Fulls. Compared them to the CFs to make sure they were wider. The 59mm ones were insanely large. It seems like Spitfire barely makes this shape in 54mm though.

[close]

how much wider are they than 54 CFs if you don't mind me asking. not the listed dimensions but if you held both in hand, big difference?

A little bigger. But I’ll take it 🤤


38mm vs 33mm according to my digital caliper.