Wheels Thread

[FuzzGNU]

I finally got around to watching this video... trying to figure out which duro he is skating. He said the wheels are quiet so I don't think its the harder ones.

The 97a (with core) were the loudest wheels I've ever skated... actually a bit too loud, but it was fun for slides. The 95a (with core) were fairly loud, but in a good way... reminded me of Bones 103a with a typical "Bones bark".

The 93a are a bit quieter and sound similar to a F4 99a in volume. Not too quiet, just a standard wheel volume. Meanwhile the 90a are almost silent when sliding, which threw me off.

He also said you can feel with your fingers that they are a bit softer... The 93a its softer to the touch but in a subtle way, the 90a is very obviously soft to the touch.

Those two factors are making me lean towards he is possibly skating the 90a (which feel like a cruiser wheel to me) in this video but its hard to tell.

I think the 90a are a bit overkill for street skating, and would just recommend 93a. However, the 90a wheels could probably unlock some absolutely unskateable spots. As he said in the video, it would have to be another wheel "in your quiver" because you probably don't want to skate the 90a normally. However, the 93a is absolutely an "every day" wheel. They work well for park, street, transport and feel unmistakably like a harder wheel.

The one thing I haven't gotten to try is grinds. The fact that he didn't have any problems with grinds (possibly even on the 90a which slide worse than the 93a!) is crazy. If that's true, these things are going to be a bigger leap forward for wheels than the STF/F4 were by a mile.

The thing he said that I don't know if I've underscored enough... these things slide well AND grip well. It seems like that is contradictory, but its true. I haven't slipped out a single time on the 93a and I've been skating these things hardcore for about 3 weeks now. I also haven't gotten bucked by a rock a single time either. He said the wheels turned a really slippery park into a normal slightly slippery park. I had the exact same experience with these turning a really slick blacktop parking lot into just a normal easy to slide parking lot.

I'm starting to feel like a broken record but seriously, these 93a are like a dream wheel to me.

[theloniousmonk]

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I finally got around to watching this video... trying to figure out which duro he is skating. He said the wheels are quiet so I don't think its the harder ones.

The 97a (with core) were the loudest wheels I've ever skated... actually a bit too loud, but it was fun for slides. The 95a (with core) were fairly loud, but in a good way... reminded me of Bones 103a with a typical "Bones bark".

The 93a are a bit quieter and sound similar to a F4 99a in volume. Not too quiet, just a standard wheel volume. Meanwhile the 90a are almost silent when sliding, which threw me off.

He also said you can feel with your fingers that they are a bit softer... The 93a its softer to the touch but in a subtle way, the 90a is very obviously soft to the touch.

Those two factors are making me lean towards he is possibly skating the 90a (which feel like a cruiser wheel to me) in this video but its hard to tell.

I think the 90a are a bit overkill for street skating, and would just recommend 93a. However, the 90a wheels could probably unlock some absolutely unskateable spots. As he said in the video, it would have to be another wheel "in your quiver" because you probably don't want to skate the 90a normally. However, the 93a is absolutely an "every day" wheel. They work well for park, street, transport and feel unmistakably like a harder wheel.

The one thing I haven't gotten to try is grinds. The fact that he didn't have any problems with grinds (possibly even on the 90a which slide worse than the 93a!) is crazy. If that's true, these things are going to be a bigger leap forward for wheels than the STF/F4 were by a mile.

The thing he said that I don't know if I've underscored enough... these things slide well AND grip well. It seems like that is contradictory, but its true. I haven't slipped out a single time on the 93a and I've been skating these things hardcore for about 3 weeks now. I also haven't gotten bucked by a rock a single time either. He said the wheels turned a really slippery park into a normal slightly slippery park. I had the exact same experience with these turning a really slick blacktop parking lot into just a normal easy to slide parking lot.

I'm starting to feel like a broken record but seriously, these 93a are like a dream wheel to me.

You have sold me on the 93a. It’s crazy how long these have been in development for. The George Poulos video is from 2018, so at lease since then and probably longer.
Where did you get them from? I skated a rougher street spot yesterday and am really hyped to get a set of the 93s!

[PuffinMuffin]

These 93a Bones sound absolutely perfect for the crustiness of where I live, any idea when they'll be for sale? Can't wait to get my hands on them. 

[FuzzGNU]

These 93a Bones sound absolutely perfect for the crustiness of where I live, any idea when they'll be for sale? Can't wait to get my hands on them. 

It sounds like the final products are actually being produced now, so I would guess this summer? But I don't know.

In the video recently posted here, the wheels actually had a graphic on them (unlike mine) so that tells me those are probably the final product and it's just a matter of them having enough stock produced for a full release.

[skateviewer]

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These 93a Bones sound absolutely perfect for the crustiness of where I live, any idea when they'll be for sale? Can't wait to get my hands on them. 

[close]

It sounds like the final products are actually being produced now, so I would guess this summer? But I don't know.

In the video recently posted here, the wheels actually had a graphic on them (unlike mine) so that tells me those are probably the final product and it's just a matter of them having enough stock produced for a full release.

how heavy are they? the 97a spitfires were noticeably heavier than the 99s

[FuzzGNU]

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These 93a Bones sound absolutely perfect for the crustiness of where I live, any idea when they'll be for sale? Can't wait to get my hands on them. 

[close]

It sounds like the final products are actually being produced now, so I would guess this summer? But I don't know.

In the video recently posted here, the wheels actually had a graphic on them (unlike mine) so that tells me those are probably the final product and it's just a matter of them having enough stock produced for a full release.

[close]

how heavy are they? the 97a spitfires were noticeably heavier than the 99s

The 56 93a V6 are about 10% lighter than 56mm F4 99a Conical Full. I don't know if F4 97a were actually heavier or just "felt" heavier. I don't think a small durometer change really affects mass from the side by side measurements I've taken recently.

[LebowskisRug]

I'm thinking of building up a mini Beach Bum when they drop next week- it's 8, 13.5, 30 or so. Any recs for wheels? Thinking something a tad softer than normal, preferably colored, maybe a nice radial-ish shape.

[Murge]

Legit putting off buying new spits to try these new bones.

I’m hoping bones releases like an intended use for each hardness. Cause 93 sounds good but maybe 95 with out the core would be better idk. I’m so curious

[manysnakes]

I'm thinking of building up a mini Beach Bum when they drop next week- it's 8, 13.5, 30 or so. Any recs for wheels? Thinking something a tad softer than normal, preferably colored, maybe a nice radial-ish shape.

Probably softer than you're looking for, but I picked up some of the OJ Mini Juice wheels the other week and I can't believe how much fun I am having ripping around on the neighborhood on them. If you only want something in the ~90 range in colors, Mini Logo made some 90a wheels in fun colors. They discontinued them, but you might still be able to find them out there.

[thanksgiving]

spitfire lock-ins are back in shops. 97 radial fulls on the way

[GardenSkater77]

@FuzzGNU

Excellent work above.

I have been skating Bones Rough Riders on my Dane 1 for a month now and recently I switched to Spitfire Classics 60mm F4 and they felt dry and slow. I think at this stage in my skating I am over 99a wheels.

The Rough Riders are the best wheels for cruising I ever had but they are a little too soft and clunky for a true old skool set-up. I am interested in the 90a or 93a wheels. The only issue is I like a wide contact patch. If you have the chance could you please measure the contact patch? Thanks ahead of time…

Also, for all of y’all, the sml succulent dream is a fantastic wheel and I might wind up buying a set of 56mm if the Bones wheels have a more narrow contact patch. The sml wheels are cut like Classic Fulls for comparison.

https://www.tactics.com/sml/succulent-cruisers-skateboard-wheels/sun-up-92a

I would buy the 95a Slimballs but I don’t trust OJ products anymore.

Any other 90a-95a wide wheels that people swear by?

[FuzzGNU]

@FuzzGNU

Excellent work above.

I have been skating Bones Rough Riders on my Dane 1 for a month now and recently I switched to Spitfire Classics 60mm F4 and they felt dry and slow. I think at this stage in my skating I am over 99a wheels.

The Rough Riders are the best wheels for cruising I ever had but they are a little too soft and clunky for a true old skool set-up. I am interested in the 90a or 93a wheels. The only issue is I like a wide contact patch. If you have the chance could you please measure the contact patch? Thanks ahead of time…

The 93a are just the 56mm V6 Bones shape, 90a are the 54mm V6 Bones shape: https://bones.com/why/shapes/

56mm are 20.5mm to start, but of course will widen as you ride it down. Its the perfect width for me personally since I do street skating rather than cruising, but will definitely be narrower than the rough riders which are listed at 32mm and 33mm.

[iw0]

@FuzzGNU

Excellent work above.

I have been skating Bones Rough Riders on my Dane 1 for a month now and recently I switched to Spitfire Classics 60mm F4 and they felt dry and slow. I think at this stage in my skating I am over 99a wheels.

The Rough Riders are the best wheels for cruising I ever had but they are a little too soft and clunky for a true old skool set-up. I am interested in the 90a or 93a wheels. The only issue is I like a wide contact patch. If you have the chance could you please measure the contact patch? Thanks ahead of time…

Also, for all of y’all, the sml succulent dream is a fantastic wheel and I might wind up buying a set of 56mm if the Bones wheels have a more narrow contact patch. The sml wheels are cut like Classic Fulls for comparison.

https://www.tactics.com/sml/succulent-cruisers-skateboard-wheels/sun-up-92a

I would buy the 95a Slimballs but I don’t trust OJ products anymore.

Any other 90a-95a wide wheels that people swear by?

i'm a broken record about this but nfg 95a are good times, specifically the vee's w/r/t you wanting a wide contact patch. that being said if 92a sml or the 93a bones are already what you are considering, then it might be a bit hard for this case.
it's a nice smooth ride on them though for what durometer they are. i think the contact patch is 26.5mm if you go by their chart & i measured mine with a less than accurate tape measure but it was around that so i imagine it's right.

[GardenSkater77]

Thank you both.

I don’t think 95a is too hard with a wider contact patch. 

I was actually looking at the NFG 95a wheels when I saw the above post.

I think the Spitfire 58a full conical is the perfect wheel shape but I don’t think 97a is a big enough change from 99a to make it worthwhile buying.

I’m sure you guys change out your equipment more than me, but do you notice that F4 wheels get slower over time? Maybe all wheels do. They seem to become more clay like. I know that urethane hardens over time so maybe even though my wheels are still not flat spotted I need to change them every six months or so?

Thoughts?

[cucktard]

If you want old-school, why not Rat-bones?
90a, still soft enough for shit concrete but WAY more durable than Roughriders.

Plus a wide contact patch.

[GardenSkater77]

If you want old-school, why not Rat-bones?
90a, still soft enough for shit concrete but WAY more durable than Roughriders.

Plus a wide contact patch.

That is an idea and I know you are a fan of Rat Bones and probably influenced me to get Rough Riders.

It may sound picky but I don’t like a hard edge on the inside wheel. I don’t like locking into coping or curbs.

I really like the cut on Slimeballs and that was the wheel I rode as a kid but I think their urethane is sub-par.

What about g-slides? They are harder and more narrow than rough riders. And they have that same hard core.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Monopolyman]

Ordered some 57mm oski spitfire radials but 55mm wheels showed up instead.  Should I just run the 55’s, or trade at a shop?  Going through the process of the online return seems like such a hassle

[GardenSkater77]

Ordered some 57mm oski spitfire radials but 55mm wheels showed up instead.  Should I just run the 55’s, or trade at a shop?  Going through the process of the online return seems like such a hassle

Let the shop know you got the wrong size but will keep.

55mm is a good size. I had radials in 52mm and they felt good.

[Monopolyman]

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Ordered some 57mm oski spitfire radials but 55mm wheels showed up instead.  Should I just run the 55’s, or trade at a shop?  Going through the process of the online return seems like such a hassle

[close]

Let the shop know you got the wrong size but will keep.

55mm is a good size. I had radials in 52mm and they felt good.

Thanks, yeah, I’ll do that.  I’m leaning towards keeping.  It’s a ramp set up so I wanted to lean a little bigger, but 55mm’s on AF1 66’s could maybe keep me away from wheel bite better?

[manysnakes]

Got some Bones 93a prototype wheels and skated them for two brief sessions the other day. Didn't make a *great* impression, but the surface I was skating honestly seems tailor-made for an ultra hard 101a Spitfire F4. What I will say is that it is a noticeably soft wheel, like you can feel the softness with your finger, but it skates much better than one would expect from it. I just came off some newish F4 97a and my feeling is that this is a much better soft wheel than that. The Spitfires do a great job smoothing out the rough surface, but they have a mushy feeling and I found that they were terrible for slides. With the Bones wheels, they roll incredibly fast and smooth, they still slide (not great, but better) with a noticeable bark. Maybe they will get soggy with time, it's hard to say right now.

I wish I had got some of the 97a wheels. This is all speculation, but I think that this formula in a little harder durometer might be the sweet spot for me.

[Ok]

Got some Bones 93a prototype wheels and skated them for two brief sessions the other day. Didn't make a *great* impression, but the surface I was skating honestly seems tailor-made for an ultra hard 101a Spitfire F4. What I will say is that it is a noticeably soft wheel, like you can feel the softness with your finger, but it skates much better than one would expect from it. I just came off some newish F4 97a and my feeling is that this is a much better soft wheel than that. The Spitfires do a great job smoothing out the rough surface, but they have a mushy feeling and I found that they were terrible for slides. With the Bones wheels, they roll incredibly fast and smooth, they still slide (not great, but better) with a noticeable bark. Maybe they will get soggy with time, it's hard to say right now.

I wish I had got some of the 97a wheels. This is all speculation, but I think that this formula in a little harder durometer might be the sweet spot for me.

Interesting. Good to hear more feedback. The f4 97s are pretty rad for real streets, pretty not rad for the courts, and/or parks.

[manysnakes]

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Got some Bones 93a prototype wheels and skated them for two brief sessions the other day. Didn't make a *great* impression, but the surface I was skating honestly seems tailor-made for an ultra hard 101a Spitfire F4. What I will say is that it is a noticeably soft wheel, like you can feel the softness with your finger, but it skates much better than one would expect from it. I just came off some newish F4 97a and my feeling is that this is a much better soft wheel than that. The Spitfires do a great job smoothing out the rough surface, but they have a mushy feeling and I found that they were terrible for slides. With the Bones wheels, they roll incredibly fast and smooth, they still slide (not great, but better) with a noticeable bark. Maybe they will get soggy with time, it's hard to say right now.

I wish I had got some of the 97a wheels. This is all speculation, but I think that this formula in a little harder durometer might be the sweet spot for me.

[close]

Interesting. Good to hear more feedback. The f4 97s are pretty rad for real streets, pretty not rad for the courts, and/or parks.

Yeah, my first session was this. Excited to try them at a super crusty DIY or at my local curbs, but it has been too wet lately.

[FuzzGNU]

Got some Bones 93a prototype wheels and skated them for two brief sessions the other day. Didn't make a *great* impression, but the surface I was skating honestly seems tailor-made for an ultra hard 101a Spitfire F4. What I will say is that it is a noticeably soft wheel, like you can feel the softness with your finger, but it skates much better than one would expect from it. I just came off some newish F4 97a and my feeling is that this is a much better soft wheel than that. The Spitfires do a great job smoothing out the rough surface, but they have a mushy feeling and I found that they were terrible for slides. With the Bones wheels, they roll incredibly fast and smooth, they still slide (not great, but better) with a noticeable bark. Maybe they will get soggy with time, it's hard to say right now.

I wish I had got some of the 97a wheels. This is all speculation, but I think that this formula in a little harder durometer might be the sweet spot for me.

Yeah to be clear these are a crust tackling wheel, but coming from F4 99a they don't feel much softer to me. Like a hypothetical F4 98a at the softest.

As I've said in the thread, I haven't gotten to try the non-cored version of the harder duros but the 97a cored was really really hard feeling which is why I can't speak to what the formula feels like normally.

I will definitely try the non-cored 95a in the future, but the 97a is probably going to be too rough for these Midwest streets.

Like I've said before, the slide will take some time to get used to. The 93a are harder to initiate slides but it's a blessing in disguise because that also means they never slip out. On top of that, the slide is super controllable and won't slip out so you can really lean into that initiation without fear of it losing traction (something many other sticky wheels I've tried have been really scary because of).

Keep skating them and just work on your power slide form. Wider stance, a bit lighter on feet to help the initiation, digging with your heel (or toe for BS), etc. Once I figured out my foot position and weight shifting with sliding these wheels, they ended up being my favorite slide because they let you be a bit more careless than other wheels without issue.

Like they're hardER to initiate slides (than Stf 103 or F4 99) but not "difficult" when compared to other wheels... Especially since they have that huuuge margin of error without slipping out. You can be a bit careless with your force and not worry which I like.

[FuzzGNU]

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Got some Bones 93a prototype wheels and skated them for two brief sessions the other day. Didn't make a *great* impression, but the surface I was skating honestly seems tailor-made for an ultra hard 101a Spitfire F4. What I will say is that it is a noticeably soft wheel, like you can feel the softness with your finger, but it skates much better than one would expect from it. I just came off some newish F4 97a and my feeling is that this is a much better soft wheel than that. The Spitfires do a great job smoothing out the rough surface, but they have a mushy feeling and I found that they were terrible for slides. With the Bones wheels, they roll incredibly fast and smooth, they still slide (not great, but better) with a noticeable bark. Maybe they will get soggy with time, it's hard to say right now.

I wish I had got some of the 97a wheels. This is all speculation, but I think that this formula in a little harder durometer might be the sweet spot for me.

[close]

Interesting. Good to hear more feedback. The f4 97s are pretty rad for real streets, pretty not rad for the courts, and/or parks.

[close]

Yeah, my first session was this. Excited to try them at a super crusty DIY or at my local curbs, but it has been too wet lately.

Yeah that is where they will really shine. I still haven't gotten thrown off my board by a pebble yet while skating the 93a and it's been about a month now.

Obviously they're not going to be as amazing and fast on nice surfaces as my beloved STF 103... but its about comparable to F4 99 on good surfaces in my opinion. And WAY better if the good surface is slick and notorious for slip outs.

[cucktard]

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If you want old-school, why not Rat-bones?
90a, still soft enough for shit concrete but WAY more durable than Roughriders.

Plus a wide contact patch.

[close]

That is an idea and I know you are a fan of Rat Bones and probably influenced me to get Rough Riders.

It may sound picky but I don’t like a hard edge on the inside wheel. I don’t like locking into coping or curbs.

I really like the cut on Slimeballs and that was the wheel I rode as a kid but I think their urethane is sub-par.

What about g-slides? They are harder and more narrow than rough riders. And they have that same hard core.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Yeah, the sharp edge is the one main drawback of the wheel.
As for g-slides, I’ve never tried them. I have a kind of hybrid cruiser/downhill board with 80a? ATFs on it that i really enjoy.

[FuzzGNU]

LOL wtf... while looking at my bucket of old wheels I found a set of these (or something very similar, there is still a flake of the orange flame graphic still on one of them).



Apparently they're called "Spitfire Hardline Firelite Wheels"

They're kind of sick looking tbh, but I completely forgot about those. Ohhhhh the things we did to shave off grams of weight when we were kids.

I just measured these random blank CCS wheels I had and they were all the way down to ~44mm before I swapped them out, haha.

Next time I am able to I will have to go back and figure out all of the wheels I had.

[rocklobster]

@FuzzGNU sent me Googling old Hubba ads, seeing pro skateboarders stand awkwardly next to models in a wheel ad is the best / worst thing

[FuzzGNU]

Amazing... Can anyone else think of any blast from the past wheel bullshit?

[rocklobster]

Amazing... Can anyone else think of any blast from the past wheel bullshit?

Aircores come to mind

[FuzzGNU]

Aircores come to mind

Damn, where are you finding all of these ads?!