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classics are just the best for doing the largest variety of tricks in general imo, the wide shapes are only good for a smaller set of specific tricks i would say. like if you are just 5050ing a rail it really doesnt even matter, so you can just ride whatever complete square shape. the overarching benefit of those type of wheels imo is you handle the terrain on the roll up a little better so your feet dont vibrate out of place as easily. its more of a nice toward" absolute street" or "advanced user" wheel in that sense. if you are just skating at perfect spots / plaza skateparks all the time, then you should 100% be riding classics. i think maybe some park skaters use the fatter tread wheels, i actually now am really curious what gear Tom Schaar, Jimmy Wilkins, Cory Juneau, Pedro Barros etc. use
Even on smooth, perfect plaza skate parks stuff, classics kinda suck (to me) because if something is too waxed, you just slip out of every grind you try to lock in on. The squarer shaped wheels offset that noticeably and lock in better.
Classics seem like they're only good if you only do flip tricks and simple Slappies. If you do any ATV kind of skating, Classics begin to under perform in all those areas, imo. At the larger sizes 54 + I'd say they suck less.
Granted, I'm kind of a Classic shape hater from all brands that offer this shape because they just look.... wrong. They've also never felt reliable to me in the past when skating them
It is a funny thing, but I had some almost brand new OG Classics that someone tried and didn't want, so I put them on a board and had a session today. They just felt too skinny, too sharp on the edge and nothing seemed to work for me.
I put back on some older Conical Full wheels I had rounded off quite a bit and they just felt like home, as did some Classics that I had taken down a few mm, which I tried after that. Both wider and had a good surface area to sit on, but also still had some nicely rounded edges on them, compared to the OG Classics.
Then tried some new Classics, untouched and they felt pretty good but as you said, they were just a little slippery feeling and sometimes were almost too quick getting on and off things, so it is interesting to try all those different options in one session on the same stuff and see how different they all felt.
These were all 55 mm in (original) size too, so I don't know if that also changes how things will feel or go. I had previously tested almost all the shapes in 52 mm sizes, from new or at least in the same original size and shape, even if they were not new, with much the same results - a wider and semi round wheel skated way better for me than an asymmetrical wheel, a sharp edge wheel or a very round wheel.
From new (and unchanged) it was Radial all day for me, then everything else after that. It is just one of those things - some people love Classics and nothing else, others ride Tablets, others ride Conical, etc. Some will be a little more open to everything, or not really have one shape they will always stick with.
I would be rounding down Classics into slightly smaller, wider and still round profile wheels more than anything else though, at least 55 mm on 8.38 boards, but also 56 mm feel pretty good to me on 8.5 sized boards, then bigger again on larger boards, as I like wheels that match the size of the boards.
* This could probably also go in the Madness thread, but I think there is enough going on in there right now.
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