Spitfire formula four

[Xen]

I've been so satisfied with F4s since they came out I have zero temptation to try anything else. Madness cured on that front.

Soft wheels are another matter though...

Stepping on non-proprietary urethane is an instant disappointment; crazy how bones/spit have had a stranglehold on the market for so long (STF was king over F1, then F4 took and holds the crown).

imagine if a brand like SNOT had access to Spit or Bones urethane

If any brand should succeed / have better than average 'thane it should be snot - but that R&D is a serious investment, and no one is licensing their formulas.

[Frank and Fred]

For me it was SC speedwheels through the mid 80s to 90s. Untouchable. Loved the feel of a 95a/ 97a Speedwheel.
--Small wheel era was super awkward until the mid 90s. Everything wore out quick.
-Then it was Spitfire until the early 2000s. Again amazing feeling wheels that really lasted... I had set of 58mms I kept going for over a year of daily skateboarding. There was one interlude with Golden State Wheels which were also amazing. A set of clear blue 99a (felt way harder) 58s.
-Then things went way south with Spitfire.... This may have been an EPA thing but the urethane went to absolute shit. I messed around with Ricta, Pi, Autobahn (Pretty decent actually) until I landed on SPF/ STF.
-STF/SPF were super impressive, fast and durable but I could never get used to the feel. SPF felt like shit outside the skatepark and STF were too unpredictable in the skatepark (I'm talking big smooth concrete bowls)
-Finally F4 hit and solved all my fucking problems. All of them. Now I can I die happy. Sure they are slower than SPFs in big smooth parks but the slip to grip ratio and the feel makes 99a F4 is super versatile. I'll occasionally use 97s in the winter (slippery indoor spots and cold rugged outdoor spots) and 101s in the summer but I could live with 99s all the time. If F4s cease to be... I'll go down with the ship.

[BALARGUE]

Hey @Mbrimson88

before i browse through all the catalogs.
Do you remember when the og classics F4 (natural) are supposed to be back?
From the top of my head, Spring D2 has the solid color ones

I thought they were supposed to be back in the rotation

[Sedition]

-Finally F4 hit and solved all my fucking problems. All of them. Now I can I die happy. Sure they are slower than SPFs in big smooth parks but the slip to grip ratio and the feel makes 99a F4 is super versatile. I'll occasionally use 97s in the winter (slippery indoor spots and cold rugged outdoor spots) and 101s in the summer but I could live with 99s all the time. If F4s cease to be... I'll go down with the ship.

Every. Fucking. Word.

[ggrimmedd]

For me it was SC speedwheels through the mid 80s to 90s. Untouchable. Loved the feel of a 95a/ 97a Speedwheel.
--Small wheel era was super awkward until the mid 90s. Everything wore out quick.
-Then it was Spitfire until the early 2000s. Again amazing feeling wheels that really lasted... I had set of 58mms I kept going for over a year of daily skateboarding. There was one interlude with Golden State Wheels which were also amazing. A set of clear blue 99a (felt way harder) 58s.
-Then things went way south with Spitfire.... This may have been an EPA thing but the urethane went to absolute shit. I messed around with Ricta, Pi, Autobahn (Pretty decent actually) until I landed on SPF/ STF.
-STF/SPF were super impressive, fast and durable but I could never get used to the feel. SPF felt like shit outside the skatepark and STF were too unpredictable in the skatepark (I'm talking big smooth concrete bowls)
-Finally F4 hit and solved all my fucking problems. All of them. Now I can I die happy. Sure they are slower than SPFs in big smooth parks but the slip to grip ratio and the feel makes 99a F4 is super versatile. I'll occasionally use 97s in the winter (slippery indoor spots and cold rugged outdoor spots) and 101s in the summer but I could live with 99s all the time. If F4s cease to be... I'll go down with the ship.

I've been using SPFs for 6 months and still can't get the hang of em, slide is too weird and unpredictable like STFs, can't complain about speed but I'd rather use a bigger F4

[Ok]

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-Finally F4 hit and solved all my fucking problems. All of them. Now I can I die happy. Sure they are slower than SPFs in big smooth parks but the slip to grip ratio and the feel makes 99a F4 is super versatile. I'll occasionally use 97s in the winter (slippery indoor spots and cold rugged outdoor spots) and 101s in the summer but I could live with 99s all the time. If F4s cease to be... I'll go down with the ship.

[close]

Every. Fucking. Word.

i keep looking at the bones x stuff, maybe their softer formula would allow me to ride a 52 that could get over some crap ground, i could go back to my preferred venture lo’s.

but i know they are going to piss me off: f4s feel how i want the wheels to feel.

[Yossi]

I solely skated the Conical full 99 53s since they came out, but the shop was out, so I settled on some Radials in the same size and duro. Right away, many tricks felt easier. Fast despite using old bearings. I think Conical fulls look cooler and my board looks a little foreign to me still, but these are an excellent, versatile wheel. Any news on a Radial full 99 53?

[Mbrimson88]

Hey @Mbrimson88

before i browse through all the catalogs.
Do you remember when the og classics F4 (natural) are supposed to be back?
From the top of my head, Spring D2 has the solid color ones

I thought they were supposed to be back in the rotation

Yeah I had thought they are supposed to be out around now or maybe next delivery / drop, but maybe they have been pushed back a bit more to mid year or later.

Checking now anyway...


Anyone in USA got more OG Classics in stock, or were they old stock wheels that people had bought or had seen?


For AU, Hemley shop has a few sets of the Formula Four 60 mm OG Classics in stock still.

https://hemleyskateboarding.com.au/products/formulafour-99d-ogclassics?variant=42353340776599


They do seem quite hard to come by right now.

[DERBY]

anyone find that conical fulls crap out faster than radials or classics?

[Xen]

I drove/called all over my area today, after two surf/skate shops, two core shops, a mall shop, two Van's stores and two different zumiez I gave up looking local for F4 101 classics, 52mm. All they had were 99a classics and 54mm+ and nothing in 52; loads of tablets, OG classics. One Van's employee said people ask but we never carry them same for one of the core shops; one shop had 101a classics in 56mm. I would have settled for 101s in 51/53mm, hell I would have bought 103 STFs V1/V5 if they had any, just to get a hard wheels.

You know what they did have? MOUNTAINS of X99s waaaaaay more than their respective spit 99a supply, I was kinda suprised. One shop had some new V3 STF 103s tho.

The two core shops pretty much said the same thing tho 'there are too many shapes/duro combinations/it's too confusing for us let alone the customer. Both dudes even suggest trying DLX if they have a webstore. These are core shops but don't think the guys ordering are that 'core' to know what to get.

I did see some classic fulls (99a) for the first time in RL, not sure why anyone would skate radials...was tempted but they were black/99a.


Gonna order online as usual.

[Ok]

black wheels can look cool. like the board from the ending skate scene in gleaming the cube.

[rocklobster]

I drove/called all over my area today, after two surf/skate shops, two core shops, a mall shop, two Van's stores and two different zumiez I gave up looking local for F4 101 classics, 52mm. All they had were 99a classics and 54mm+ and nothing in 52; loads of tablets, OG classics. One Van's employee said people ask but we never carry them same for one of the core shops; one shop had 101a classics in 56mm. I would have settled for 101s in 51/53mm, hell I would have bought 103 STFs V1/V5 if they had any, just to get a hard wheels.

You know what they did have? MOUNTAINS of X99s waaaaaay more than their respective spit 99a supply, I was kinda suprised. One shop had some new V3 STF 103s tho.

The two core shops pretty much said the same thing tho 'there are too many shapes/duro combinations/it's too confusing for us let alone the customer. Both dudes even suggest trying DLX if they have a webstore. These are core shops but don't think the guys ordering are that 'core' to know what to get.

I did see some classic fulls (99a) for the first time in RL, not sure why anyone would skate radials...was tempted but they were black/99a.


Gonna order online as usual.

Same story here, Dragons / X97 / X99 just doesn't have the marketing and brand recognition of Spitfire despite having a comparable or superior product to F4. Of the guys I usually skate with the only ones who bothered with Bones / PP are those with gear madness, everyone else goes with the Formula (4) trusted for generations.

[Sedition]

I drove/called all over my area today, after two surf/skate shops, two core shops, a mall shop, two Van's stores and two different zumiez I gave up looking local for F4 101 classics, 52mm. All they had were 99a classics...

The two core shops pretty much said the same thing tho 'there are too many shapes/duro combinations/it's too confusing for us let alone the customer.

99a Classics are my jam. But I sometimes run 101a in the summer, or when skating a lot of transition (101 is just faster). That said, 101a has always been spotty for me to find in person. I almost always have to order those on-line, so, your experience is 100% consistent with mine.

And last, I have always maintained that Spitfire makes way, way, way too many wheels. Only the hawdkoah Spitfire nerds (e.g. us) can keep track of them. I worked at shop for 6 years back in the day, and man, I'd hate to be a shop employee in 2024 trying to (a) keep tabs of all the product out there, and (b) explain to customers the "differences" in 1/8th inch of wheelbase, or 1mm of riding surface, or sidecut difference between Tablets vs. OG Classics, etc.---they would rightly think I was insane. 

[Xen]

black wheels can look cool. like the board from the ending skate scene in gleaming the cube.

If they had been 101a I would have picked them up.

[rocklobster]

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I drove/called all over my area today, after two surf/skate shops, two core shops, a mall shop, two Van's stores and two different zumiez I gave up looking local for F4 101 classics, 52mm. All they had were 99a classics...

The two core shops pretty much said the same thing tho 'there are too many shapes/duro combinations/it's too confusing for us let alone the customer.

[close]

99a Classics are my jam. But I sometimes run 101a in the summer, or when skating a lot of transition (101 is just faster). That said, 101a has always been spotty for me to find in person. I almost always have to order those on-line, so, your experience is 100% consistent with mine.

And last, I have always maintained that Spitfire makes way, way, way too many wheels. Only the hawdkoah Spitfire nerds (e.g. us) can keep track of them. I worked at shop for 6 years back in the day, and man, I'd hate to be a shop employee in 2024 trying to (a) keep tabs of all the product out there, and (b) explain to customers the "differences" in 1/8th inch of wheelbase, or 1mm of riding surface, or sidecut difference between Tablets vs. OG Classics, etc.---they would rightly think I was insane.

I'd make an enlarged laminated copy of the Spitfire cardboard insert and push it over the counter if they ever asked.

[Mbrimson88]

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I drove/called all over my area today, after two surf/skate shops, two core shops, a mall shop, two Van's stores and two different zumiez I gave up looking local for F4 101 classics, 52mm. All they had were 99a classics...

The two core shops pretty much said the same thing tho 'there are too many shapes/duro combinations/it's too confusing for us let alone the customer.

[close]

99a Classics are my jam. But I sometimes run 101a in the summer, or when skating a lot of transition (101 is just faster). That said, 101a has always been spotty for me to find in person. I almost always have to order those on-line, so, your experience is 100% consistent with mine.

And last, I have always maintained that Spitfire makes way, way, way too many wheels. Only the hawdkoah Spitfire nerds (e.g. us) can keep track of them. I worked at shop for 6 years back in the day, and man, I'd hate to be a shop employee in 2024 trying to (a) keep tabs of all the product out there, and (b) explain to customers the "differences" in 1/8th inch of wheelbase, or 1mm of riding surface, or sidecut difference between Tablets vs. OG Classics, etc.---they would rightly think I was insane.

[close]

I'd make an enlarged laminated copy of the Spitfire cardboard insert and push it over the counter if they ever asked.

There is a nice info card out with the more recent Radial Full wheels for shop people to put on the counter or where ever they wish, as well as other shop related info on shapes and sizes that DLX provides to distributors to provide to shop accounts too, so they do all the hard work for you.

Then I guess it is just having whatever size and shape the person wants, especially given the newer chart has all sizes, more often than not some that are not available except in special editions or whatever minimal releases come out, but sometimes NOT having a list of all options can be helpful and just have them look at what is in the wheel cabinet, which is usually good enough for most people with just Classics, Radial, Conical Full, Radial Full shaped wheels.

Knowing what your average customer is into really helps there too, so you don't have a ton of "special wheels" sitting there for a long time, but as said, some shops don't even really know what to order, or are just hoping they will get enough of whatever wheels will sell the most.


Those 52 mm Classic 101s might sell out faster than most, which is why there might not be any / many in stock in places you might go.

That or a lot of shops just go with the 99s to be safe and leave it at that.

[Ok]

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black wheels can look cool. like the board from the ending skate scene in gleaming the cube.

[close]

If they had been 101a I would have picked them up.

looks like you, me and sedition are the only ones occasionally buying f4 101s. shop guys tried to talk me out of them, i was dead set on skating a 52 (or smaller, i was on venture lo’s at the time). so walked out with 52 conical fulls, 101s. first reaction was that i had made a bad mistake, too hard. the wheels broke in a bit and were great. i’m not a conical full person, i like classics, but the wider shape did help the small
wheel roll over some stuff.
blah blah. 101s are real decent

[Xen]

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black wheels can look cool. like the board from the ending skate scene in gleaming the cube.

[close]

If they had been 101a I would have picked them up.

[close]

looks like you, me and sedition are the only ones occasionally buying f4 101s. shop guys tried to talk me out of them, i was dead set on skating a 52 (or smaller, i was on venture lo’s at the time). so walked out with 52 conical fulls, 101s. first reaction was that i had made a bad mistake, too hard. the wheels broke in a bit and were great. i’m not a conical full person, i like classics, but the wider shape did help the small
wheel roll over some stuff.
blah blah. 101s are real decent

I'm just back into bluntslides of late and 99s/x97s anything other than 101 spits or 103a stfs don't work for as well for me..my stfs are 50mm or under (so you know how that is) even spit 101s take a back seat to the stfs for bluntslides but would rather have the f4s for 'everything' else just based on feel; I've some 101a ricta slims on hand but they're grippier than either of the aforementioned wheels.

It was just a bummer that everything was 99a regardless of brand. Might have to just dip back to the one shop that had the STF V3s and give TJ Rogers some support.

[Anxiety]

Call me Borat cause these are very nice

[swellbowed]

Spitfire getting into the denim game 

[FUBAR]

Just dropping in to say I love my F4 conical fulls in 52mm. I wanted to get some Classics but they didn’t have them, so grabbed the conical fulls. I found myself just skating around the park faster than I normally would(but felt comfy), hitting random stuff and kinda carving around. So, somehow, a fatter wheel has made skateboarding a little more fun for me.
Bye now.

[BartHarleyJarvis]

Just dropping in to say I love my F4 conical fulls in 52mm. I wanted to get some Classics but they didn’t have them, so grabbed the conical fulls. I found myself just skating around the park faster than I normally would(but felt comfy), hitting random stuff and kinda carving around. So, somehow, a fatter wheel has made skateboarding a little more fun for me.
Bye now.

The best wheel. It’s all I’ve been riding for a couple years. I flirted with radials and classics but 52 conical full just feels perfect

[Ok]

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Just dropping in to say I love my F4 conical fulls in 52mm. I wanted to get some Classics but they didn’t have them, so grabbed the conical fulls. I found myself just skating around the park faster than I normally would(but felt comfy), hitting random stuff and kinda carving around. So, somehow, a fatter wheel has made skateboarding a little more fun for me.
Bye now.

[close]

The best wheel. It’s all I’ve been riding for a couple years. I flirted with radials and classics but 52 conical full just feels perfect

i loved my 52 conical fulls (101s even).
but. i hated 54 conical fulls.
54 classics, love those.
the narrower shape of classics makes them flip/scoop etc etc better, for me.
something about the larger conical fulls (56 is the biggest i tried), i just couldn’t scoop those for shit.

blah blah blah.
classics are the best for me, but smaller/wider wheels are fun too.

[Xen]

52mm Conicals suffice in lieu of Radial Slims **SHAKES FIST AT THE SKY**

[Sedition]

Holy fuck, you guys. You’re NOT helping my madness right now. For some inane, obtuse, and debilitating reason, I got the equally inane idea that I should try 52mm wheels again this afternoon. I’ve been down this road many times before, and it only ends in despair, disappointment, and frustration. “But no! This time I’ll try something other than a 52mm Classic! That will work, right?!!” Then I log on here and see all this banter about 52mm Full Connies. Great. Just great.  Fuck all y’all right now!

[moonordie]

Holy fuck, you guys. You’re NOT helping my madness right now. For some inane, obtuse, and debilitating reason, I got the equally inane idea that I should try 52mm wheels again this afternoon. I’ve been down this road many times before, and it only ends in despair, disappointment, and frustration. “But no! This time I’ll try something other than a 52mm Classic! That will work, right?!!” Then I log on here and see all this banter about 52mm Full Connies. Great. Just great.  Fuck all y’all right now!

Can't express how much I loved this post.

[Mbrimson88]

Holy fuck, you guys. You’re NOT helping my madness right now. For some inane, obtuse, and debilitating reason, I got the equally inane idea that I should try 52mm wheels again this afternoon. I’ve been down this road many times before, and it only ends in despair, disappointment, and frustration. “But no! This time I’ll try something other than a 52mm Classic! That will work, right?!!” Then I log on here and see all this banter about 52mm Full Connies. Great. Just great.  Fuck all y’all right now!

The 52 mm Conical Ful wheels would work perfectly on the Venture trucks on that other 8.5 deck, wouldn't they???

Sorry that was too easy, but I actually have that combo set up too and two other people swear by that combination.


I like Conical Full shaped wheels in smaller sizes, with the 52 or 53 mm size working nicely on smaller stuff / more tech setups, but I know others swear by them in 54 mm in any situation too.  Anything over 54 mm and they just feel too big and bulky for me, but when I round them down a lot, they work well on the bigger boards with wider trucks and look more proportionate.

Just down to what you are used to and what you want out of a wheel.

Gotta say I still like Classics a lot too, but more so when they have worn down a few mm from bigger sizes, eg 56 down to 53 is perfect for me.

[Sedition]

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Holy fuck, you guys. You’re NOT helping my madness right now. For some inane, obtuse, and debilitating reason, I got the equally inane idea that I should try 52mm wheels again this afternoon. I’ve been down this road many times before, and it only ends in despair, disappointment, and frustration. “But no! This time I’ll try something other than a 52mm Classic! That will work, right?!!” Then I log on here and see all this banter about 52mm Full Connies. Great. Just great.  Fuck all y’all right now!

[close]

The 52 mm Conical Ful wheels would work perfectly on the Venture trucks on that other 8.5 deck, wouldn't they???

Sorry that was too easy, but I actually have that combo set up too and two other people swear by that combination.


I like Conical Full shaped wheels in smaller sizes, with the 52 or 53 mm size working nicely on smaller stuff / more tech setups, but I know others swear by them in 54 mm in any situation too.  Anything over 54 mm and they just feel too big and bulky for me, but when I round them down a lot, they work well on the bigger boards with wider trucks and look more proportionate.

Just down to what you are used to and what you want out of a wheel.

Gotta say I still like Classics a lot too, but more so when they have worn down a few mm from bigger sizes, eg 56 down to 53 is perfect for me.

I hate the look of big fat wide wheels. It's full-on Monster Truck absurdity. And clunky, too. I'm actually in the throes of an "episode" of wheel madness right now. Conicals. Radials. Classics. And I hate looking at my board with the Conicals and Radials on it. The wide riding surface does ride a bit smoother, though. Mixed feelings on straighter-cut profiles. Def locks-in better on some things (which I both like and hate), but I don't like the way they just ride, it's like they are the wheel equivalent of tight-trucks (e.g. board feels too "tight" on a side-to-side feel, esp. when any flip trick/revert/slide gets involved). They Radials are a good compromise between Conicals and Classics, but the size is still just a bit clunky to me. Imagine if they made something like a...Radial Slim.

54mm starts to Ghost Pop on my 8.25 (love them on my 8.75, though). 52mm starts to feel too slow and low (only had 52mm Classics, though). 53mm just seems perfect. Also, am I really being that much of a princess over 1mm +/-? Apparently.

[camel filters]

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Holy fuck, you guys. You’re NOT helping my madness right now. For some inane, obtuse, and debilitating reason, I got the equally inane idea that I should try 52mm wheels again this afternoon. I’ve been down this road many times before, and it only ends in despair, disappointment, and frustration. “But no! This time I’ll try something other than a 52mm Classic! That will work, right?!!” Then I log on here and see all this banter about 52mm Full Connies. Great. Just great.  Fuck all y’all right now!

[close]

Gotta say I still like Classics a lot too, but more so when they have worn down a few mm from bigger sizes, eg 56 down to 53 is perfect for me.

I have found regular (non full) radials in your preferred size starts out like a worn down classic of a bigger size, in case you want that feeling from the get go.

[Ok]

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Expand Quote

Holy fuck, you guys. You’re NOT helping my madness right now. For some inane, obtuse, and debilitating reason, I got the equally inane idea that I should try 52mm wheels again this afternoon. I’ve been down this road many times before, and it only ends in despair, disappointment, and frustration. “But no! This time I’ll try something other than a 52mm Classic! That will work, right?!!” Then I log on here and see all this banter about 52mm Full Connies. Great. Just great.  Fuck all y’all right now!

[close]

The 52 mm Conical Ful wheels would work perfectly on the Venture trucks on that other 8.5 deck, wouldn't they???

Sorry that was too easy, but I actually have that combo set up too and two other people swear by that combination.


I like Conical Full shaped wheels in smaller sizes, with the 52 or 53 mm size working nicely on smaller stuff / more tech setups, but I know others swear by them in 54 mm in any situation too.  Anything over 54 mm and they just feel too big and bulky for me, but when I round them down a lot, they work well on the bigger boards with wider trucks and look more proportionate.

Just down to what you are used to and what you want out of a wheel.

Gotta say I still like Classics a lot too, but more so when they have worn down a few mm from bigger sizes, eg 56 down to 53 is perfect for me.

[close]

I hate the look of big fat wide wheels. It's full-on Monster Truck absurdity. And clunky, too. I'm actually in the throes of an "episode" of wheel madness right now. Conicals. Radials. Classics. And I hate looking at my board with the Conicals and Radials on it. The wide riding surface does ride a bit smoother, though. Mixed feelings on straighter-cut profiles. Def locks-in better on some things (which I both like and hate), but I don't like the way they just ride, it's like they are the wheel equivalent of tight-trucks (e.g. board feels too "tight" on a side-to-side feel, esp. when any flip trick/revert/slide gets involved). They Radials are a good compromise between Conicals and Classics, but the size is still just a bit clunky to me. Imagine if they made something like a...Radial Slim.

54mm starts to Ghost Pop on my 8.25 (love them on my 8.75, though). 52mm starts to feel too slow and low (only had 52mm Classics, though). 53mm just seems perfect. Also, am I really being that much of a princess over 1mm +/-? Apparently.

fat wheels look stupid.

classics look cool.
(60mm fat classics….look cool).

ghost pop doesn’t get me (nollie tre fling attempts notwithstanding), until about 56. but i dramatically prefer the flippery on 50s, but i, also dramatically, do not prefer the rolling capacity of a sub 52mm wheel.
none of it matters, i haven’t been landing shit. my wheels could be triangles rn and it wouldn’t change a thing.