Spitfire formula four

[pinkeye fieri]

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Ok so you still don't get that the market Spitfire cares about likely isn't you? That the number of people who cannot possibly skate a spot without super wide 60mm wheels is nowhere close to the number of people that mostly putter around skateparks and parking lots?

Sure the PNW has some gross pavement due to weather, but there's leagues of skaters up there that have done fine for decades on what's available and prob don't want to deal with the obvious downsides of wheels that big

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You are saying true stuff that we are on the same page about.

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Big change of tone from the previous page where you say spitfire keeps being outpaced, is regressive, is not forward thinking, and not using their noggins, and is making mistakes all just coz they're not catering to your tastes lmao

no it is not inconsistent. Beach Chicken's post is describing the way things currently are. I am suggesting that things could be different, as per my personal views and opinions about street skating. am i on trial? lol. i get it, the army of dudes has spoken

[tzhangdox]

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Ok so you still don't get that the market Spitfire cares about likely isn't you? That the number of people who cannot possibly skate a spot without super wide 60mm wheels is nowhere close to the number of people that mostly putter around skateparks and parking lots?

Sure the PNW has some gross pavement due to weather, but there's leagues of skaters up there that have done fine for decades on what's available and prob don't want to deal with the obvious downsides of wheels that big

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You are saying true stuff that we are on the same page about.

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Big change of tone from the previous page where you say spitfire keeps being outpaced, is regressive, is not forward thinking, and not using their noggins, and is making mistakes all just coz they're not catering to your tastes lmao

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no it is not inconsistent. Beach Chicken's post is describing the way things currently are. I am suggesting that things could be different, as per my personal views and opinions about street skating. am i on trial? lol. i get it, the army of dudes has spoken

This is slap lmao its literally always just been an army of mostly dudes speaking, and now about how your opinion — that Spitfire is blowing it by not making a niche wheel that maybe ten people at most would buy, over tried n true shapes n sizes — is fried

[Fifty8mm]

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Ok so you still don't get that the market Spitfire cares about likely isn't you? That the number of people who cannot possibly skate a spot without super wide 60mm wheels is nowhere close to the number of people that mostly putter around skateparks and parking lots?

Sure the PNW has some gross pavement due to weather, but there's leagues of skaters up there that have done fine for decades on what's available and prob don't want to deal with the obvious downsides of wheels that big

[close]

You are saying true stuff that we are on the same page about.

[close]

Big change of tone from the previous page where you say spitfire keeps being outpaced, is regressive, is not forward thinking, and not using their noggins, and is making mistakes all just coz they're not catering to your tastes lmao

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no it is not inconsistent. Beach Chicken's post is describing the way things currently are. I am suggesting that things could be different, as per my personal views and opinions about street skating. am i on trial? lol. i get it, the army of dudes has spoken

I agree with you on skateparks. I skate one park maybe twice a year.

 I'm usually skating street spots by myself. I would love to skate bigger wheels but i skate venture lows and im fat. With this being said there is rough spots here but none that require anything too big or wide, maybe softer wheels. I also agree with the other poster here, spitfire has a large amount of choices to choose from. Honestly i would be hyped skating something other than spits all the time (i love loopholes image and videos). So just be hyped on your bones. Always liked how those rat and g bones looked.

[Mbrimson88]

im on 93a 60mm rat bones now, and suddenly i can skate any surface in town, which is crazy where i live in washingon state. half of the paved surfaces are beat to shit due to climate conditions. this morning i was skating a decrepid asphalt hip outside a cafe, with huge chunks of asphalt scraped out from cars backing into it. pebbles everywhere, the street texture is edging on gravel. i had my eye on this spot for years and tried several times on different wheels, but it was unskateable until now. its just one of many spots in my town that were simply unskateable before, and i am having a blast. i would prefer to ride spitfires, but there is no indication that they plan to release a formula/shape combo that can hold a candle in that environment. maybe they will in 2026?

Regardless of whatever else is going on in the forum here, I would be pretty interested in seeing your setup, or any video of the spots or whatever you skate.

This is purely from a tech / product perspective, nothing more, so from looking back over your previous posts, there is some very interesting stuff in there.


On another note, I definitely have had "too much to say" in the past on the internet and ended up in some not so nice situations, which looking back now, I really should have just turned the computer off and walked away, not even so much in the way of arguments, or issues with anyone or anything, but at times, I feel like it is better not to respond and take a little time before replying and think things through.

Even now, I almost didn't post, but then I am interested in your board setup, as said, so that is why I am posting now.

More than anything, I try to keep to information, facts, specs, etc and leave out my opinion, preference, likes or dislikes, especially if I end up being more negative than anything else about a certain product, or brand, or situation, but clearly people get on here for all sorts of things, least of all entertainment too, so sometimes things can go downhill fast with no coming back...

[Xen]

I've got multiple days/sessions on the reformulated 97a, they are the goat. They slide so damn well (I don't BS powerslide all that much to complain)...with road jizz and wax, I slipped out a number of times today, had to be careful..also, big wheel, go fast.

[nurkdurk]

I've got multiple days/sessions on the reformualted 97a, they are the goat. They slide so damn well (I don't BS powerslide all that much to complain)...with road jizz and wax, I slipped out a number of times today, had to be careful..also, big wheel, go fast.

You had a set of 93 soft sliders at some point also right? You feel like the new 97s actually slide more than them?

I just skated a bit at a newish school and was flat out amazed how easy, long and controlled power slides were on asphalt. I swear my f99 did not slide that well

[Xen]

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I've got multiple days/sessions on the reformualted 97a, they are the goat. They slide so damn well (I don't BS powerslide all that much to complain)...with road jizz and wax, I slipped out a number of times today, had to be careful..also, big wheel, go fast.

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You had a set of 93 soft sliders at some point also right? You feel like the new 97s actually slide more than them?

I just skated a bit at a newish school and was flat out amazed how easy, long and controlled power slides were on asphalt. I swear my f99 did not slide that well

I feel like the 97s are less grippy than the 93s (very much in the way the x formulas feel x93 vs x97/99); they just feel, sound and slide like a 'normal' wheel, they don't give off (to me) that softslider/dragons/x formula feeling at all...it's almost like they just made a 'true' 97a formula that actually slides (unlike the old 97a); I also find I like the slide better than the 99a classics I was riding.

[rikki]

Just to chime in that in my experience the X99 slides incredibly well on rough-ish asphalt. They seem to get better and better the more I ride them, plus the wear out factor is really tolerable.

Anyway, I think in general both Bones and Spitfire are doing incredible stuff these days. I for myself (and I'm sure many peeps here) have a positive problem with regards to what novel wheel to choose for their preferred riding. I'm loving the X99 in the V5 shape -- I mean, if push came to shove, I could ride them everywhere for eternity.

BUT I'm also f*cking stoked on the 93 Radial, which complements my options amazingly. I mean, I was already pretty happy with my experience with Dragons and X97s, but the X99 and Spitfire 93 have taken the whole experience of skating variable terrain to new levels. How can you complain in this situation? We are too blessed.

Thank you Bones, thank you Spitifre, thank you skateboarding, thank you Slap pals for your opinions and experiences. Skateboarding is the f*cking shit and I think Bones and Spitfire do still realize this amazingly well.

[JimmyFive]

Just to chime in that in my experience the X99 slides incredibly well on rough-ish asphalt. They seem to get better and better the more I ride them, plus the wear out factor is really tolerable.

Anyway, I think in general both Bones and Spitfire are doing incredible stuff these days. I for myself (and I'm sure many peeps here) have a positive problem with regards to what novel wheel to choose for their preferred riding. I'm loving the X99 in the V5 shape -- I mean, if push came to shove, I could ride them everywhere for eternity.

BUT I'm also f*cking stoked on the 93 Radial, which complements my options amazingly. I mean, I was already pretty happy with my experience with Dragons and X97s, but the X99 and Spitfire 93 have taken the whole experience of skating variable terrain to new levels. How can you complain in this situation? We are too blessed.

Thank you Bones, thank you Spitifre, thank you skateboarding, thank you Slap pals for your opinions and experiences. Skateboarding is the f*cking shit and I think Bones and Spitfire do still realize this amazingly well.

Love the gratitude!

I'm still jonesing to try Spitfire's F4 versions with the "new tech". I really dig the X97's and X99's (esp X99). Feel lively, consistent and they last. Dynamite for imperfect surfaces and they ease 40+ y/o knees. But I was previously on F4 - if Spitfire have incorporated the best things about the Bones formula while still feeling like a F4 wheel that would be amazing.
Living in New Zealand is like being at the arse-end of the universe - product takes so long to reach us. Maybe I can order from Aus.

[Mbrimson88]

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Just to chime in that in my experience the X99 slides incredibly well on rough-ish asphalt. They seem to get better and better the more I ride them, plus the wear out factor is really tolerable.

Anyway, I think in general both Bones and Spitfire are doing incredible stuff these days. I for myself (and I'm sure many peeps here) have a positive problem with regards to what novel wheel to choose for their preferred riding. I'm loving the X99 in the V5 shape -- I mean, if push came to shove, I could ride them everywhere for eternity.

BUT I'm also f*cking stoked on the 93 Radial, which complements my options amazingly. I mean, I was already pretty happy with my experience with Dragons and X97s, but the X99 and Spitfire 93 have taken the whole experience of skating variable terrain to new levels. How can you complain in this situation? We are too blessed.

Thank you Bones, thank you Spitifre, thank you skateboarding, thank you Slap pals for your opinions and experiences. Skateboarding is the f*cking shit and I think Bones and Spitfire do still realize this amazingly well.

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Love the gratitude!

I'm still jonesing to try Spitfire's F4 versions with the "new tech". I really dig the X97's and X99's (esp X99). Feel lively, consistent and they last. Dynamite for imperfect surfaces and they ease 40+ y/o knees. But I was previously on F4 - if Spitfire have incorporated the best things about the Bones formula while still feeling like a F4 wheel that would be amazing.
Living in New Zealand is like being at the arse-end of the universe - product takes so long to reach us. Maybe I can order from Aus.

We got the 93 duro wheels, all sold out in a flash, still waiting on the new 97s - should be here November or December I think, actually in AU skate shops.

Funny thing is I think some of the DLX products actually made it to NZ sooner than to here, depending on distribution channels or sea vs air or whatever, at least that is what it looked like from the local distro social media I saw - IRROM Dist if you check.

Any which way, yeah things do take a while to get here, but at least by keeping up on these forums, you know a lot more about things by the time they do get to a local shop.  That has helped a few times with this and that, where I might have been keen, or others had been asking about some things, to which I could help with answers for people here who heard about a product but knew nothing at all besides the marketing blurb that the brand or company had put out.

Worth the wait though, on the 93 and 97 new formula, from what I am seeing.

[boofactory]

Set up a pair of the new 97 formulas in 57mm earlier today and seshed them for a few hours after I got off work at the skatepark.

First thoughts, they slide wayyy better than the OG 97 formula fours from the past few years. I skated those for a few years so I’m pretty comfortable saying they the slide wasn’t on par with FF99’s and they could feel sluggish depending on the terrain.

 Based off the first roll around on the new formula today I’d say it seems like they fixed those 2 issues.

That being said, the new formula 97 sounds and feels like they spliced in whatever made the 93’s slide so nice into the newer formula 97’s.

The 93’s durability was my only gripe on the soft sliders. I skated a pair from April 27th - August 27th (5 months) and my pair of 93s went from 56mm to 48-47mm. Skated great the whole time but definitely got smaller quickly and that effected the speed of the roll.

If the new 97’s are even slightly more durable and wear less quickly than the 93’s, I’d consider these wheels the perfect wheels for me from
Spitfire.

[camel filters]

The 93’s durability was my only gripe on the soft sliders. I skated a pair from April 27th - August 27th (5 months) and my pair of 93s went from 56mm to 48-47mm.

If you can, can you post a photo? Curious what a 56 radial skated down to that size looks like.

[boofactory]

Side by side compared to a brand new set of 56mm 93's

[camel filters]

Side by side compared to a brand new set of 56mm 93's

Thanks! Can you do the contact patch angle? No worries if too annoying.

[boofactory]

I can upload one after work

[rawbertson.]

I try to just use my soft sliders when I absolutely need them cause of the fast wear. I have really started reducing the amount of spots I feel like I "Need" them on... I think back and I handled some of them with 54mm conical fulls a few years ago and thought it felt totally fine.

i havnet really needed to use soft sliders much since i got 58mm radial full - i understand this is not for everyone lol "make the trucks feel like dumbells". but i hope they keep making this wheel, it is very good value for money and it goes really fast. 56mm is fine too in Radial or Conical Full (little more practical) I imagine these will stay in rotation for the foreseeable future 

[Gunot]

I agree with you guys.
Great wheels and performance, but they wear down hella fast. I skated them for like two months and I don‘t skate that often.
And for some reason they wore down uneven. Like all of a sudden one wheel was so much smaller than the other wheels.

[BeachChicken]

Which wheel was that on the board do you remember? I've never seen a single wheel be thaaaat much smaller. My heel side wheels tend to wear differently especially the front, but I also rotate them every week or two

[camel filters]

my front toe wheel usually gets smaller. I guess from pivoting from fakie to regular alot. Or lazing kickturns where I just powerslide the front wheels.

[nurkdurk]

my front toe wheel usually gets smaller. I guess from pivoting from fakie to regular alot. Or lazing kickturns where I just powerslide the front wheels.

I get front toe wheel and coming the worst also. Thought maybe it’s turning while pushing since you have less weight on the board and it’s more likely to slide, really don’t know though

[Too Frank To Fred]

Front toe wheel typically wears down the quickest for most skateboarders. might be something to do with weight distribution.

Haven't tried the 93s yet. I had them on a fresh deck but then caved and put some of the new 97s on instead. The 93s can wait until winter.... when the streets feel rougher and the indoor spots are slick as hell...

[Gunot]

Which wheel was that on the board do you remember? I've never seen a single wheel be thaaaat much smaller.

Back toe wheel.

[rawbertson.]

I have seen it happen on Dragons as well where 1 wheel is that much smaller.
Because they wear so fast if you dont rotate them every like 2-3 weeks this will definitely happen.
I actually am getting coning on the INSIDE of the back heel wheel now because I was spamming feeble grinds all summer. 

[devils acrobat]

Y'alls stories made me re-measure my 93s (54 mm). Have been skating them for around 1.5 months and the front wheels are still 54 while both back wheels are 53. Also re-measured my old f4s 99d and they all are worn down to 52 mm. Interesting to see that the 93s seem to wear less evenly than the 99s. Makes sense though. 

[BALARGUE]

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Which wheel was that on the board do you remember? I've never seen a single wheel be thaaaat much smaller.

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Back toe wheel.

It depends on everyone's habits on the board but this is what i usually see at the shop when changing wheels.
Back toe wheel is the smallest most of the time

[Mbrimson88]

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Which wheel was that on the board do you remember? I've never seen a single wheel be thaaaat much smaller.

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Back toe wheel.

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It depends on everyone's habits on the board but this is what i usually see at the shop when changing wheels.
Back toe wheel is the smallest most of the time

I was going to say something similar.

All those little speed checks, reverts, 180s and whatever else push the back wheels a lot more which for softer wheels, will make them wear down a whole lot more than others.

Also interesting to note, in a carpark on a slope I often skate, which has parking blocks on it, we skate between the parking blocks which are up top so roll down across a dozen or more parking spaces and back up, only gentle angle, but on the 93 duro wheels I was actually feeling like the wheels were going to almost slide out if I came back too sharply, so every lap like that would be putting a lot more pressure on the back wheels as I came around and wear them down more than the front.  I didn't measure the wheels after only one session, but I could easily see how much they might wear in similar situations, with people pushing and then coming in at an angle for a slappy or other tricks.


In general the front heel has the least wear, front toe has the most coning, back heel and back toe the most wear, sometimes some coning but more often flatter wear than others.  Leaving the wheels for too long, people often don't like the feel when rotating them, cause then the front of the board sits lower on the smaller wheels, so it is always good to just eyeball the board and if in doubt rotate wheels as needed.

[Xen]

After skating my 97s for an hour or so a buddy of mine is looking for the 97a/53mm classics - anyone got eyes on them online?

[roba]

they don't exist yet, only the old formula

[back smith]

The old F4 97A formula feels more slippery than F4 99A at my local park. Counterintuitive but it is what it is. Haven't tried the new.

[Mbrimson88]

they don't exist yet, only the old formula

I think all of them have been made (or will be soon as they are all on pre book for the new formula), but DLX is moving all the old stock before shipping out the new stock.  Of course I could be wrong, but I think someone else I follow was showing some with the new sticker in Classic shape, but I didn't really pay enough attention to take note and I can't remember who posted it now.

Overall, I would say they stopped making them as soon as the idea was in the works for an updated formula but I would also say there could be a lot of the old ones still, from shops, through distributors and every warehouse in between.

The old F4 97A formula feels more slippery than F4 99A at my local park. Counterintuitive but it is what it is. Haven't tried the new.

Some formulas and even some different surfaces were hit and miss, take your example, compared to a new park near me and they were just right for that, took the edge off and I wasn't slip sliding all over the place on the 97s like I was on the usual 99 duro options, same shapes too. That concrete sealer / anti graf surface was a bit out there.

On another park, they just felt slow, but I have grown to accept that for softer duro wheels from almost all brands I have tried.