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I just set up a cruiser with some 87a OJ Keyframes, and I'm not sure how much I like them
The roll and speed are great, but as soon as I get out in the streets I find myself wanting to rip some slappies, and unfortunately the stickiness of the Keyframes makes it much less consistent than I would like
I searched the thread and read previous comments, but there are a few things I'd like to follow up on:
Does the stickiness wear away after you break them in at all?
Do other people get their Keyframes to slide and slappy?
Should I try a slightly harder wheel? Seems like there aren't that many options currently available in the 90a-92a range, but some people like the 92a Ricta Clouds. I see 95a OJ Nomads for sale in a couple places as well.
For background, I normally ride 99a f4s in various sizes and shapes, and I'm looking for something just a little easier on my knees for those lazy/stiff days.
Unfortunately, my experience is they’ll stay sticky but also slow down considerably. What size are the keyframes? For cruiser, I skate Powell G-Slides, they’re 85a but not as sticky, feel harder, not bouncy and down lose their speed as much with age - just better quality urethane than OJ etc I guess. I skated the 54s and that was fun changeup to give my knees a break, but didn’t lose all feel like some cruisers. Works for me. I always go back to spitfire 101a for my street setup, but in my experience, spitfire/oj/ricta etc just don’t make a good quality lasting cruiser wheels.
Ok chiming in with an update on my cruiser wheel madness
The keyframes I’ve had are 87a 58mm. I actually asked for 56s when I bought them and didn’t realize they were 58s until I had been skating them for a while. Lol, whoops
After getting used to them I definitely got my slappies back, but they still feel weird and bouncy for a lot of stuff. Reverts and power slides are pretty much out of the question for me, although others may just be better skaters. Boardslides on parking blocks and curbs and stuff are kind of difficult as well because the wheels tend to get stuck if the obstacle is low clearance.
On the positive side, I really enjoy how grippy they are when I want to lay down deep surfy carves.
So I decided to try a set of 92a 56mm ricta cored clouds. Not sure how different they are from plain old clouds, or if this is an aesthetic thing or what. Based on reviews in this thread I thought they seemed promising for a wheel that could both cruise and slide.
I find that these clouds are definitely easier to boardslide, revert, and powerslide. No problems there. Slappies are a little easier as well. Nose and tail slides are strangely a bit more sticky for some reason? Could just be my own poor performance. They have a distinct rattling plasticky feeling right now, idk if it will change. They also aren’t as responsive for quick carves as the OJs, and make steering feel less responsive in general. I’m always surprised by how different wheel sizes and shapes affect turning— often overlooked imo. Also note this is on a polar dane1 with ace 55s, so handling would definitely be different on a popsicle or a narrower set of trucks.
Could definitely be a good street wheel to throw on if you want to hit a particularly jacked up spot but I’m not it’s quite right for my own purposes, which are basically “cruiser that can slide a bit.”
Maybe I’ll try some G Slides next?
Topic: Wheels Thread (Read 1102588 times)