Wheels Thread

[moonordie]

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Is impossible to find F4 Conicals in here hence I'm tempted about getting some Bones. Easy streets have that "plasticy" STF feeling? Also what would be more conical feeling; v4 or v5?
Thanks pals.

[close]

The 99 STFs/Easy Streets feel very different (to me) and I ride STFs almost exclusively now; Get the V5, sick shape.

[close]

I was constantly sticking on tail slides with the easy streets and didnt know why, this morning i went there with the f4 99s and didnt have any issue. So yeah, not a huge fan of the easy steets. theyre fine but f4s slide better with ledges n curbs in my experience. Great on transition and no issues w reverts. Just soft and plasticy feeling. First stf wheel I tried. Ill gladly trade with someone who wants to try these. I pulled them and put my 50mm Ricta Lightning Boltz on my secondary setup. Not sure why Ricta gets so much hate on here. Those are really solid wheels

Can't stand that, I was able to find some conical full (I was looking for just conicals) but in black... At least on the bright side they're cheap for a F4

[tyshoes]

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Is impossible to find F4 Conicals in here hence I'm tempted about getting some Bones. Easy streets have that "plasticy" STF feeling? Also what would be more conical feeling; v4 or v5?
Thanks pals.

[close]

The 99 STFs/Easy Streets feel very different (to me) and I ride STFs almost exclusively now; Get the V5, sick shape.

[close]

I was constantly sticking on tail slides with the easy streets and didnt know why, this morning i went there with the f4 99s and didnt have any issue. So yeah, not a huge fan of the easy steets. theyre fine but f4s slide better with ledges n curbs in my experience. Great on transition and no issues w reverts. Just soft and plasticy feeling. First stf wheel I tried. Ill gladly trade with someone who wants to try these. I pulled them and put my 50mm Ricta Lightning Boltz on my secondary setup. Not sure why Ricta gets so much hate on here. Those are really solid wheels

[close]

Can't stand that, I was able to find some conical full (I was looking for just conicals) but in black... At least on the bright side they're cheap for a F4

Yeah I almost grabbed the black ones too because there were no f4 52mms conical full 99s in stock. Ended up getting 51mm classic shape and those are good and have no issues but I prefer a larger contact patch usually. I havent had any colored wheels in a long time but I think its fine and just ride what you like. The f4s feel harder than the easy streets but are not any worse on rough pavement than the easy streets regarding the vibrations. Im just sticking with f4 99s or the mini slimeballs 97a from here on. For bad pavement, I keep a set of Ricta Clouds 92 in my bag. Im done with my wheel search. F4 ftw

[ILikeToMilkDucks]

So OJ Keyframes revised their design? New core? Or just colored with new graphics?








previous:

Core looks the same as my old ones. I think they just spruced them up. If anyone knows better feel free to correct me.

[Ol Nick]

I came across NFG MFG wheels a few weeks back on IG and thought they looked interesting. I live in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Houston which means I’m surrounded by miles of terribly rough, pitted concrete so I mainly stick to softer wheels but I’ve been wanting to try something harder and heard newer hard formulas are way better on rough streets than the old hard wheels I used to ride a decade or two ago so I ordered a set of the square shape 54mm from them.

Overall, I’m really happy with them and I don’t mind the feel on shitty concrete. They grip well enough on hard turns at speed, roll fairly fast, and are way more forgiving when sliding the board around after landing a little crooked than soft wheels are.

I know these guys are a small operation and have read a couple posts here where other people mentioned some weird blemishes, maybe, on the surface of the wheels from the hand-pouring process. Honestly, I was a little bugged out when I opened the set cause they definitely have a very different look than stuff I’ve bought from major wheel manufacturers. There’s weird bubbles on the sidewalls and some speckling that reminds me of melted vanilla ice cream or something. I have no experience with hand poured wheels or these newer formulas so I wasn’t sure what to make of it but the aesthetic issues don’t seem to have any effect on the ride; I guess time will tell if they have an effect as the wheels age.

Also, a note about the graphics: Right out of the shrink wrap some of the lettering (see pics) was just loosely adhered to the wheel and I found it would come off with just a little rubbing with my thumb. I dig the look of a blank wheel so it didn’t bother me at all, just thought it was strange they’d not want the branding to last more than a day, especially as a newer company. I later saw some posts saying that these guys also make wheels for Loophole and flashed back to a guy at a local shop telling me about his issues with the same phenomenon. He was saying that he loved them but recommended just taking the graphic off ASAP cause he had issues with the paint flaking into his shieldless bearings.

I figure I’ll ride these for a while and try out some other companies’ modern hard formulas to compare eventually.






After one session


After three or four sessions and rubbing the rest of the graphic off with my fingertips

[BL0B]

fuck no! not even for free.

[TwisT]

those look like they were made in someones garage

[Ol Nick]

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fuck no! not even for free.

Ha! Damn, really? Again, I’ve never seen wheels like this but I figured, given that some human had to see them when they were shrink wrapping the package, that it’s not a defect so much as just a byproduct of their process. Do you think it would result in some issue with the wheel as they wear down or is it more just an aesthetic thing that puts you off? Thanks!

[Sundaynuggets]

I came across NFG MFG wheels a few weeks back on IG and thought they looked interesting. I live in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Houston which means I’m surrounded by miles of terribly rough, pitted concrete so I mainly stick to softer wheels but I’ve been wanting to try something harder and heard newer hard formulas are way better on rough streets than the old hard wheels I used to ride a decade or two ago so I ordered a set of the square shape 54mm from them.

Overall, I’m really happy with them and I don’t mind the feel on shitty concrete. They grip well enough on hard turns at speed, roll fairly fast, and are way more forgiving when sliding the board around after landing a little crooked than soft wheels are.

I know these guys are a small operation and have read a couple posts here where other people mentioned some weird blemishes, maybe, on the surface of the wheels from the hand-pouring process. Honestly, I was a little bugged out when I opened the set cause they definitely have a very different look than stuff I’ve bought from major wheel manufacturers. There’s weird bubbles on the sidewalls and some speckling that reminds me of melted vanilla ice cream or something. I have no experience with hand poured wheels or these newer formulas so I wasn’t sure what to make of it but the aesthetic issues don’t seem to have any effect on the ride; I guess time will tell if they have an effect as the wheels age.

Also, a note about the graphics: Right out of the shrink wrap some of the lettering (see pics) was just loosely adhered to the wheel and I found it would come off with just a little rubbing with my thumb. I dig the look of a blank wheel so it didn’t bother me at all, just thought it was strange they’d not want the branding to last more than a day, especially as a newer company. I later saw some posts saying that these guys also make wheels for Loophole and flashed back to a guy at a local shop telling me about his issues with the same phenomenon. He was saying that he loved them but recommended just taking the graphic off ASAP cause he had issues with the paint flaking into his shieldless bearings.

I figure I’ll ride these for a while and try out some other companies’ modern hard formulas to compare eventually.






After one session


After three or four sessions and rubbing the rest of the graphic off with my fingertips

I’ve got a set of these and also a set of Loopholes which are exactly the same wheel. Lettering peeled off quick but the quality of both sets of wheels is great for me. Feels decent on medium/low crusty streets, slides and grips well. Feels/sounds like a slightly muted F4.

[myfeetarekillingme]

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fuck no! not even for free.

[close]

Ha! Damn, really? Again, I’ve never seen wheels like this but I figured, given that some human had to see them when they were shrink wrapping the package, that it’s not a defect so much as just a byproduct of their process. Do you think it would result in some issue with the wheel as they wear down or is it more just an aesthetic thing that puts you off? Thanks!

Looks like they need to go back to the drawing board because no one in their right mind would pay money for wheels that look like that.

[BL0B]

i wanna see a clip of these wheels spinning all fucking wonky, they don't look concentric.

[Ol Nick]

i wanna see a clip of these wheels spinning all fucking wonky, they don't look concentric.

That might be distortion from the wide lens you’re seeing? Anyway, here’s a video, they all seemed to spin the same.

Edit: To clarify, the wheels’ shape are fine, the bearings seated as well as or better than most wheels I have from major manufacturers and they roll smoothly on the ground.

[drinny]

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I just bought some 53mm slime ball vomit miinis. The white ones. There was a seller on Amazon selling them from 23 dollars prime shipping, so I figured that's cheap and grabbed them. I guess I was right because as soon as the order shipped the seller bumped the price up to 33.

The shape looks cool. Never rode these before, though, will I hate them compared to 99a f4's? Will riding them with the graphic in make a difference due to the shape? For the price I can't imagine I went wrong.

[close]

"The 97a Slimeball formula blend is poured in a reversible dead center bearing and no flex edge radius lip design, resulting in the fastest on command slide-able, slip to grip ratio wheel available. No chipping, no coning, no bearing seat stretch, no softening and no speed loss."

This has been bothering me for a while but are Slime Balls and Keyframes not the same wheel mould/core now pretty much? are Keyframes just a hipster Slime Ball? ;-)

I fucking love my Keyframes (52mm/87a) so no problem here...

[drinny]

actually, ignore me... the back of the wheel is clearly not so cut away on the Slimers, view from the contact patch side is very similar tho'

[layzieyez]

Those garage produced DIY wheels look sick. I'd market it as Meth Lab Wheels.

[Sativa Lung]

The bubbles are pretty common if you've ever tried hand-pouring urethane or epoxy. It's pretty hard to avoid introducing air/moisture in the mixing/pouring process without a perfectly controlled environment and machinery, but it shouldn't really affect the quality of the wheel. The quality (and amount) of the ingredients is what's most important, so if they're doing small batch hand pours of high quality urethane then the wheels are still going to be good with or without the bubbles.

I used to mess around with a girl who's dad was really into roller skating (he did speed skating trials and shit) and the wheels they used always had bubbles because they used some special urethane that poured really slowly and he wouldn't buy wheels that were perfectly smooth because it was a sign they were using fillers or lower quality urethane. Wheels from the big manufacturers undergo a smoothing and bleaching process to make them look pretty but it doesn't make them skate any better. It's kind of the same thing as any other homebrew process... just because the final presentation isn't as polished doesn't mean the product is inferior quality. I'll take a small batch IPA in a mason jar from someone who knows what they're doing over a budweiser any day.

I haven't tried NFG's wheels so they could be dogshit for all I know, but I wouldn't be scared off by the imperfect casting. If anything its nice to know they're actually hand pouring them and its not just marketing bullshit. 

[CaptainCheeks]

Anybody tried jivaro wheels I usually skate 99a but  I just want to know if they are slippery at 101A

[Ol Nick]

The bubbles are pretty common if you've ever tried hand-pouring urethane or epoxy. It's pretty hard to avoid introducing air/moisture in the mixing/pouring process without a perfectly controlled environment and machinery, but it shouldn't really affect the quality of the wheel. The quality (and amount) of the ingredients is what's most important, so if they're doing small batch hand pours of high quality urethane then the wheels are still going to be good with or without the bubbles.

I used to mess around with a girl who's dad was really into roller skating (he did speed skating trials and shit) and the wheels they used always had bubbles because they used some special urethane that poured really slowly and he wouldn't buy wheels that were perfectly smooth because it was a sign they were using fillers or lower quality urethane. Wheels from the big manufacturers undergo a smoothing and bleaching process to make them look pretty but it doesn't make them skate any better. It's kind of the same thing as any other homebrew process... just because the final presentation isn't as polished doesn't mean the product is inferior quality. I'll take a small batch IPA in a mason jar from someone who knows what they're doing over a budweiser any day.

I haven't tried NFG's wheels so they could be dogshit for all I know, but I wouldn't be scared off by the imperfect casting. If anything its nice to know they're actually hand pouring them and its not just marketing bullshit.

Thanks for that input. When I first opened them I was struck by the look enough to bother taking pics before putting them on the board but couldn’t really think of a reason not to give them a shot. I finally rode them for a couple hours on the first smooth concrete this afternoon and they honestly rode perfectly. I didn’t know how much I was missing the feel of a new hard wheel on smooth concrete.

[chris.]

I’ve been eyeing some Loophole. Seeing those pics just make me want to give them a shot even more.

[Ol Nick]

I’ve been eyeing some Loophole. Seeing those pics just make me want to give them a shot even more.

If you do and/or anyone else who has ridden Loophole or NFG could offer their thoughts on how they compare to other similar wheels you’ve ridden, I’d appreciate it. Lurking on slap has intensified my gear acquisition hunger over the last few months and I figure I might as well start planning out my next two or fifteen sets of wheels.

[Murge]

I really wanna try loophole also. I’m always skating 101a but I’ve been debating on trying 99a or anything aside from spitfire F4. I just wanna try a new wheel.

[tony volume]

Recently moved to the bay area, Berkeley to be specific , any recommendations on a wheel for street skating out here, the ground here is really rough

OJ Keyframes. Pick a size! They work really good on those rough streets. I’m from Orinda, but currently in process of moving to Honolulu, HI

[munchbox]

does bigger contact patch = less slide? trying to find out if i want 53, 54, or 56 conical full 101 spits next

[sadnocomply]

does bigger contact patch = less slide? trying to find out if i want 53, 54, or 56 conical full 101 spits next

Yes, but the bigger the patch the more “controllable the slide” less contact would be easier to get into slide. I’m sure it’s all subjective. I have way better slide on 54 conical than I do 53 conical full and it’s like a 1.5 mm difference in contact patch.

[munchbox]

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does bigger contact patch = less slide? trying to find out if i want 53, 54, or 56 conical full 101 spits next

[close]

Yes, but the bigger the patch the more “controllable the slide” less contact would be easier to get into slide. I’m sure it’s all subjective. I have way better slide on 54 conical than I do 53 conical full and it’s like a 1.5 mm difference in contact patch.

are you riding 99 or 101a? in my mind im thinking that 101a will be less grippy anyways so the wider contact patch would help control it, but thats just an assumption

[rocklobster]

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does bigger contact patch = less slide? trying to find out if i want 53, 54, or 56 conical full 101 spits next

[close]

Yes, but the bigger the patch the more “controllable the slide” less contact would be easier to get into slide. I’m sure it’s all subjective. I have way better slide on 54 conical than I do 53 conical full and it’s like a 1.5 mm difference in contact patch.

[close]

are you riding 99 or 101a? in my mind im thinking that 101a will be less grippy anyways so the wider contact patch would help control it, but thats just an assumption

Ah shit I hope this doesn't re-ignite that contact patch / friction debate again.

[sadnocomply]

99s sorry forgot to mention that, I think 101s and my knees/feet don’t mix too well and I like to go fast and huck a fair amount. 99s are my jam in every shape. I’m hooked on conicals tho, best shape ever full or non. Broken in 54mm classics (more like 52) if I’m feelin tech

[sadnocomply]

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does bigger contact patch = less slide? trying to find out if i want 53, 54, or 56 conical full 101 spits next

[close]

Yes, but the bigger the patch the more “controllable the slide” less contact would be easier to get into slide. I’m sure it’s all subjective. I have way better slide on 54 conical than I do 53 conical full and it’s like a 1.5 mm difference in contact patch.

[close]

are you riding 99 or 101a? in my mind im thinking that 101a will be less grippy anyways so the wider contact patch would help control it, but thats just an assumption

[close]

Ah shit I hope this doesn't re-ignite that contact patch / friction debate again.

Haha I hope it does. Love nerding out about wheels and trucks. Decks are meh I know what I like in that department.

[moonordie]

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does bigger contact patch = less slide? trying to find out if i want 53, 54, or 56 conical full 101 spits next

[close]

Yes, but the bigger the patch the more “controllable the slide” less contact would be easier to get into slide. I’m sure it’s all subjective. I have way better slide on 54 conical than I do 53 conical full and it’s like a 1.5 mm difference in contact patch.

This. Is harder to get into the slide but once you get there the feeling is better.
Everytime I had 101 I hated them and myself for betraying 99.

[Sativa Lung]

Anybody tried jivaro wheels I usually skate 99a but  I just want to know if they are slippery at 101A

I've got a pair of 53mm 101a Jivaro conicals. They're good wheels, I don't know what you consider "slippery" but I had no issues with them and they're probably the 101 I skate most often. I skate almost exclusively on shitty asphalt though, so I don't know how they'd fare in on indoor park style surface but I would think they'd be fine after wearing the grooves down a bit. If you've ever skated spitfire OG classic 99 they feel similar but a little harder to me.

They use mpc/creative urethane so if you don't care about looks TGM has some 54mm 99a conicals made by the same place for $12 with free shipping. I have a set of those and the 97a black and white ones (orbs blanks, probably seconds or overrun) and both are very good albeit a bit goofy looking.

https://tgmskateboards.com/skateboard-wheels-set-54mm-x-33mm-99a-pink-white-swirl/

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

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I’ve been eyeing some Loophole. Seeing those pics just make me want to give them a shot even more.

[close]

If you do and/or anyone else who has ridden Loophole or NFG could offer their thoughts on how they compare to other similar wheels you’ve ridden, I’d appreciate it. Lurking on slap has intensified my gear acquisition hunger over the last few months and I figure I might as well start planning out my next two or fifteen sets of wheels.

yo I did a review a few pages back, search back through my post history should be pretty easy to find

edit: did the homework for ya

okay so I promised this one a while back but shit has been busy since being back at work after the break.
disclaimer: I usually ride nothing but spitfire F4 99 classic and radial slims in size 54mm - I'm old and stuck in my ways and don't want to change but, as I mentioned a few pages back, I wanted to set up a EE3 era inspired board that had some big chunky wheels that were reminiscent of what those guys were riding back then, I was thinking I wanted something like physics wheels and ended up getting these 56mm conical loopholes:

said set-up looks/ looked like this:



initial impressions: as you've probably seen from pics, these wheels are NOT white and look quite old from the get-go. I usually skate F4s so this isn't a problem per se but they are more yellow than brand new F4s. I also noticed little air bubbles/ imperfections in the finishing which kinda reminded me of 90s wheels too!

first skate: I set them up ready to break them in over xmas/ new year because I knew I had enough time off to get a good 7 - 10 session in. The first roll I had on them was in front of my house on the rough road with my son. Hard to judge from this session but they felt nice and fast (probably because I ride 54mm usually) and it was good to see they had no tread on them, just like my beloved F4s. also, the get DIRTY! maybe it's the bigger riding surface but they seemed so fucking grimy after each of my skates...

Second session: Off to my local DIY. The ground there is concrete but still smooth enough to get good power slides on. I do quite a lot of frontside power slides and little switch front 360 ones and straight off the bat I could tell they are down to slide and were quire responsive/ similar to F4s. These ones are listed as 101s (or 84b or some shit) and I could tell they were a tad more slippery than regular F4 99s especially when skating another local spot that has granite tiles on the ground.

third and forth sessions: not gunna lie, I had a lot of fun on this setup and it was the exact look/ feel I was looking for. I did skate a lot over the break and while I'm hardly progressing these days I felt that there wasn't something right about all the skates I had, I was still landing stuff but some tricks were a pain and I was having particular problems with long board slide/ lip slide type tricks on the local ledge. Of course I blame the wheels because I never had this problem with my F4s. The other issue was pop, I was ghosting a lot on tricks I don't usually ghost on. sure, it's a new set-up and it's only 2mm difference but it was getting me down, my board felt heavier too (probably 99% mental). how can 2mm fuck me up this much???

few more sessions in front of my house in the cold: what the fuck is wrong with my pop? I'm skating nearly every day and I'm missing simple shit, even just straight nollies are dribbling along the ground. I get fed up with this shit, run in the house and grab and old pair of F4 classic 54mm (probably 52mm at this point) and start changing them over. In my head I don't want to do it, but the kick on this deck is quite short and I NEED to check if it's the wheels or if I just suck at skating. I think the spitties are going to be a lot slower but was surprised to find that there was hardly any difference. I chalk this up to 99 vs 101 issue; the loopholes were harder and thus not as good when riding on rough surfaces. After 5 or so minutes I get my old (man) pop back, my board instantly feels lighter and even though I don't have the "look" I was going for my set-up just feels right.

next session at my local: had a much better session than the last 3 or 4. Lipslide/ long board slide tricks on the ledge still don't work but it was a wax issue, not a wheel issue.

closing thoughts: they aren't terrible wheels, far from it. The color is going to turn a lot of people off, but function wise I liked them a lot, and their slide felt natural and intuitive. The site I bought them off said they were a tad softer than F4 99s. I don't agree with that but I don't think they are on the harder side of 101s either (ala prize fighter cutlery which absolutely rattled my teeth). So yeah, slide better than 99 F4s but I never skate F4 101s so can't compare. I'm thinking of giving them another shot; either on a board with a bigger tail, or back on the northern co. until I can dial the pop in. In hindsight I probably should have just gotten 54mm because a) I never skate bigger than that anyway and b) I don't usually skate conical wheels.

If I end up not doing anything with them, I'm happy to unload them to a fellow pal if they want pay shipping from Japan. Will let you all know... hope this review is somewhat helpful for someone out there!