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I find them a little more durable than the old 97s, a lot more than the 93s, but not quite as durable as the 99s.
@Too Frank To Fred seems to have had different experiences though, so ymmv.
Yeah, its strange. I'd typically argue the softer ones 'should' wear down quicker. However, these 93s I have (56mm Radials) are crazy durable... maybe a freak set... I've been skating them all winter and they are still over 54mm. I only skated the 97s a handful of times (55mm radials) and wore them down to 52 pretty quick. Could be the terrain? Not sure but 99s are still my favorite, followed by 93s (for super slick or super rough terrain), then 97s and then 101s. I just put some 101 little Smokies on a BPSW set up and they don't feel great but I still need to break them in....
Haven't tried the new 97 but totally the same order of duro preference..
People who prefer 101 F4, why?
On the "right" type of surface, 101 are definitely faster, so that might be the main thing with them, more than anything else. I notice that on my own ramp more than any other surface though - just regular ply with basic fence paint on it. Maybe some other super smooth and clean surfaces too, come to think of it.
That or the fact that some people I know still associate anything under 101 with soft wheels, even though 99 duro seems to be the standard / the duro A scale only goes up to 100, but logic and reason aside, the harder and faster compound is one that some people love.
On the other hand, I have always found 101 to be a little here and there, sometimes sliding well, other times grippy and doesn't slide, or just generally inconsistent, whereas I have always found the 99 duro options to be very much the same across the board / from a lot of different wheels in the Formula Four variety, the one exception being the new 99 duro Lock In Full wheels which were very hard, very slippery and very white, not just in my own set but a few other people too. That is pretty much the list of properties I would associate with 101s but yet they come as 99 so I don't know what is going on there.
Any which way, at least there are the options of 101, 99, old and new 97 and 93 so I am set for everything really, with those options, although 99 is my main wheel and the 97s are a second for slippery / rougher stuff. The 101 and 93 I am just not quite so sure about, but I still have some on boards for when I want to try something else.
* The new 97s are amazing, for both the slide and overall performance on the two sets / two boards I have skated, slide so well on bitumen / road surface, skate well over crust, as well as feeling comfortable on brand new slippery skatepark / ramp surfaces, but I haven't spent a lot of time on them and they haven't worn down at all, so I guess I would need to put in some more time for a decent review of them.
Topic: Spitfire formula four (Read 1059560 times)