Peeps who have gone down from 55-56mm wheels to something like 52-53mm – is there a noticeable difference? I know they're going to be a bit slower when going big, but otherwise? How's the ollie? Or are the effects just very marginal and I'm overthinking this?
As a background, I've been skating mostly transition for the past couple of years with 55-56 wheels mostly, but now I've began to dabble more on flatground/curbs/ledges and it's gotten me thinking about smaller wheels. I ride 53.5mm height Indys and a "normal" wheelbase, if that's something to consider.
I guess my own experience definitely shows that smaller wheels work better on more street type stuff, coming from more transition based go fast 56 mm wheels, then finding that those wheels were just a bit big for the sort of smaller stuff I wanted to skate, so I would let a set wear down a lot more on a board and use that for the more tech stuff, rather than buying a smaller wheel, which was usually a lot more narrow and not quite what I wanted.
That said, a lot of people are riding wheels of about 52 mm or so - the most common wheel size in skateboarding for the reason that it is for street and tech, but can be used for everything as well. Sure they are a bit slower and sometimes I feel like I just can't get going like I would on 56 mm wheels, but it's not like I need to go super fast for the more mellow street stuff I do anyway.
Regardless of the size or shape, it is more what you are used to and what will work best, but smaller wheels are generally easier to pop with and flip and do whatever else on if you do find that your usual wheels are making things harder for you.
For a lot of wheel shapes nowdays, you can easily get the same wheel in 52 or 53 mm as you would in 55 or 56 mm from most brands, not just Spitfire, Bones / Powell, OJs, but almost all the others which have a lot of those sizes, including Satori, SML wheel co, Loophole as per wheels I have seen or have had pass through my hands.
Edit:
The wheel size poll is interesting to see as well, 52 mm being the most common, then 53, then 54, then 56 mm sizes:
https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=126605.0
Topic: Wheels Thread (Read 786876 times)