Just echoing some thoughts from the Wheels thread:
I've been skating about 2 years and was mostly on PP and Bones wheels (Dragons and X-formulas), with a set of OJs mixed in. Been mostly riding 99A F4 Conical fulls the past couple week or so and am just digging the hell out of them. I can't really articulate it, I just like the way F4 feels. The knock that Bones wheels feel "plastic-y" made sense after trying F4.
In my past few sessions at the skate park and a few neighborhood spots, I'm progressing a fuck ton. I more connected to the board and more confident. Last time something like this happened to me gear-wise, it was switching from cupsoles to vulc... like a hidden handicap suddenly disappeared.
I also seem to like Spitfire shapes better. Just wider contact patches across the board, feels more stable for me.
Anyone curious I picked up a set of those relatively new shiny Sapphires from a local shop:
- Spitfire Sapphires 56A 90A - I picked these up on a lark after liking the F4s, they're a bust. I was hoping for a non-cruiser shaped wheel could skate more quietly around my house after dark without pissing off my neighbors, but they feel / sound pretty hard because of the 101A core-- noticeably harder than the Bones X97s IMO. Roll speed doesn't seem the best and are stickier than Dragons or X-formula in slides. I don't really get the target audience except maybe those who think colored clear wheels are cool?