Wheels Thread

[spitfirehardslider]

Guys, Im looking to buy another set of wheels to alternate with my 53mm dragons.

Should I go for harder wheels like spitfire 99as/bones x97/99?

[theloniousmonk]

Guys, Im looking to buy another set of wheels to alternate with my 53mm dragons.

Should I go for harder wheels like spitfire 99as/bones x97/99?

I like my x95 set. My town is really rough ground and they get me through it. They are not soft and bouncy like dragons, definately a hard wheel. Shop only had 56, I wanted 54 but I’m glad because I’m down to just plow around town. I am trying now to get the spit 97s in a 54. The 95 is worthy of consideration

[spitfirehardslider]

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Guys, Im looking to buy another set of wheels to alternate with my 53mm dragons.

Should I go for harder wheels like spitfire 99as/bones x97/99?

[close]

I like my x95 set. My town is really rough ground and they get me through it. They are not soft and bouncy like dragons, definately a hard wheel. Shop only had 56, I wanted 54 but I’m glad because I’m down to just plow around town. I am trying now to get the spit 97s in a 54. The 95 is worthy of consideration

Nice, I'll definitely put x95 into consideration if the wheels are actually "harder".

I initially didn't consider it because I thought 95's are very close to the dragons and it would take an experienced skater to notice the minutiae difference so at that point I might as well just get another set of dragons.

[theloniousmonk]

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Guys, Im looking to buy another set of wheels to alternate with my 53mm dragons.

Should I go for harder wheels like spitfire 99as/bones x97/99?

[close]

I like my x95 set. My town is really rough ground and they get me through it. They are not soft and bouncy like dragons, definately a hard wheel. Shop only had 56, I wanted 54 but I’m glad because I’m down to just plow around town. I am trying now to get the spit 97s in a 54. The 95 is worthy of consideration

[close]

Nice, I'll definitely put x95 into consideration if the wheels are actually "harder".

I initially didn't consider it because I thought 95's are very close to the dragons and it would take an experienced skater to notice the minutiae difference so at that point I might as well just get another set of dragons.

Yes they are definately hard wheels. I think that is why dragons are differentiated from x formula, dragons are soft wheels that slide and x formula are hard wheels that forgive more. Also, mine are 56mm v6 so keep hay in mind as I like them but they are pretty big and good for rolling through rough ground. The dude etang skates has a good review on them on YouTube as well

[pops]

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stoked on my new set up, glad I was able to shop local too. Thanks for the solid advice

[close]

Glad you like them. I mostly ride the Dragons in 93 but really want to try the 97s. I tried the spits 93s but not for me. Something about the X/Dragon formula I really like.

[close]

What didn't you like about the spits 93? I liked the radial 54 but the 52 classic 93s are horrible. They slipped when trying to turn but when i tried to slide they'd stick and were slower than my dragons 52.

I have the 56mm radials. It's a very good wheel shape imo. Never rode radials before, only the fulls and slims. Soft sliders still feel a little hard for me, not quite soft enough. I find them icier than dragons too but some say the opposite.

[spitfirehardslider]

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Guys, Im looking to buy another set of wheels to alternate with my 53mm dragons.

Should I go for harder wheels like spitfire 99as/bones x97/99?

[close]

I like my x95 set. My town is really rough ground and they get me through it. They are not soft and bouncy like dragons, definately a hard wheel. Shop only had 56, I wanted 54 but I’m glad because I’m down to just plow around town. I am trying now to get the spit 97s in a 54. The 95 is worthy of consideration

[close]

Nice, I'll definitely put x95 into consideration if the wheels are actually "harder".

I initially didn't consider it because I thought 95's are very close to the dragons and it would take an experienced skater to notice the minutiae difference so at that point I might as well just get another set of dragons.

[close]

Yes they are definately hard wheels. I think that is why dragons are differentiated from x formula, dragons are soft wheels that slide and x formula are hard wheels that forgive more. Also, mine are 56mm v6 so keep hay in mind as I like them but they are pretty big and good for rolling through rough ground. The dude etang skates has a good review on them on YouTube as well

What would you have as your top 3 wheels?

[theloniousmonk]

If I’m really being honest dragon 93s are probably the top. I have had them in 54, 52, and surprisingly 50s are real fun. That’s just me because as a time honored treasure , my hardest sessions where I would need a hard wheel are past me. I just love pushing around town. And the dragons do well enough sliding and in krooks etc.
Then 2nd probably the x95 because still can eat the crust.
And I guess I really like the dragon 88s on my cruiser deck for just bombing as third.
X97 are good. Feel obviously hard.
Haven’t tried spitfire 93 or new 97 yet but will hopefully try them soon.

[spitfirehardslider]

If I’m really being honest dragon 93s are probably the top. I have had them in 54, 52, and surprisingly 50s are real fun. That’s just me because as a time honored treasure , my hardest sessions where I would need a hard wheel are past me. I just love pushing around town. And the dragons do well enough sliding and in krooks etc.
Then 2nd probably the x95 because still can eat the crust.
And I guess I really like the dragon 88s on my cruiser deck for just bombing as third.
X97 are good. Feel obviously hard.
Haven’t tried spitfire 93 or new 97 yet but will hopefully try them soon.

Thats great to hear as current owner of dragons. Maybe I'll get x97 that is hard but not hard enough to be like 99a spitfires just to be sure the difference compared to dragons easy enough to notice. Or I could just resist the creeping wheel madness and just buy another set of wheels when these dragons are done.

[rikki]

The new Spitfire 97 formula is amazing. Been riding my Delfino 55s everywhere from smooth concrete bowls to average asphalt to crusty-ass-mofo rough industrial area spots. They work everywhere and are fast and non-sticky and non-bouncy on smooth surfaces.

Of course if I rode only crust, I'd go for a softer wheel, but as someone who doesn't want to change wheels all the time (who does?), these things are pretty close to a Swiss army knife.

[theloniousmonk]

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If I’m really being honest dragon 93s are probably the top. I have had them in 54, 52, and surprisingly 50s are real fun. That’s just me because as a time honored treasure , my hardest sessions where I would need a hard wheel are past me. I just love pushing around town. And the dragons do well enough sliding and in krooks etc.
Then 2nd probably the x95 because still can eat the crust.
And I guess I really like the dragon 88s on my cruiser deck for just bombing as third.
X97 are good. Feel obviously hard.
Haven’t tried spitfire 93 or new 97 yet but will hopefully try them soon.

[close]

Thats great to hear as current owner of dragons. Maybe I'll get x97 that is hard but not hard enough to be like 99a spitfires just to be sure the difference compared to dragons easy enough to notice. Or I could just resist the creeping wheel madness and just buy another set of wheels when these dragons are done.

mthe difference between x95 and dragons is extremely noticeable. X95s feel like hard wheels, not bouncy at all like dragons. I’d almost say go with x95 as a starting point. I also really liked my x97s and skated those the past two summers

[Slave IV]

I had Ricta Cores from a long time ago and they were fine but that was before I skated parks. When I tried them at a skatepark, they were too slippery for me and I ended up getting F4 99 Conical fulls, which are so far, a pretty perfect wheel to me. Not sure if I have better control now and if I'd be ok with Rictus again but no need to find out since I have plenty of newer wheels now. I now also have Dragon 97s and those are really nice overall with the main difference from the 99 F4s being they are quieter and more forgiving on rough surfaces. I also have mini logo wheels from around the same time as my Rictas (about a decade old) and those are even more slippery since they are smaller and harder. Perfectly good when I was using them recently again for flat ground. So, I'd say all of these are good wheels but if I were to pick two to keep and continue to buy moving forward, it would be the Dragon 97 (or X97) and F4 99. I might try some F4 101s sometime just to see how those are but probably don't need to.

[moonordie]

I had Ricta Cores from a long time ago and they were fine but that was before I skated parks. When I tried them at a skatepark, they were too slippery for me and I ended up getting F4 99 Conical fulls, which are so far, a pretty perfect wheel to me. Not sure if I have better control now and if I'd be ok with Rictus again but no need to find out since I have plenty of newer wheels now. I now also have Dragon 97s and those are really nice overall with the main difference from the 99 F4s being they are quieter and more forgiving on rough surfaces. I also have mini logo wheels from around the same time as my Rictas (about a decade old) and those are even more slippery since they are smaller and harder. Perfectly good when I was using them recently again for flat ground. So, I'd say all of these are good wheels but if I were to pick two to keep and continue to buy moving forward, it would be the Dragon 97 (or X97) and F4 99. I might try some F4 101s sometime just to see how those are but probably don't need to.

The Slap mantra pretty much.

[roba]

I might try some F4 101s sometime just to see how those are but probably don't need to.

don't bother, they're the worst out of all f4s, they don't slide much better than 99s but are way slicker

[TastyBurrito]

Has anyone used 60mm wheels for a curb board?

I have some from an old pool board and wasn't sure if that'd be over kill for a curbs.

[Slave IV]

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I had Ricta Cores from a long time ago and they were fine but that was before I skated parks. When I tried them at a skatepark, they were too slippery for me and I ended up getting F4 99 Conical fulls, which are so far, a pretty perfect wheel to me. Not sure if I have better control now and if I'd be ok with Rictus again but no need to find out since I have plenty of newer wheels now. I now also have Dragon 97s and those are really nice overall with the main difference from the 99 F4s being they are quieter and more forgiving on rough surfaces. I also have mini logo wheels from around the same time as my Rictas (about a decade old) and those are even more slippery since they are smaller and harder. Perfectly good when I was using them recently again for flat ground. So, I'd say all of these are good wheels but if I were to pick two to keep and continue to buy moving forward, it would be the Dragon 97 (or X97) and F4 99. I might try some F4 101s sometime just to see how those are but probably don't need to.

[close]

The Slap mantra pretty much.

Lol!

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I might try some F4 101s sometime just to see how those are but probably don't need to.

[close]

don't bother, they're the worst out of all f4s, they don't slide much better than 99s but are way slicker

Good to know, I'll skip that madness then.

[TwisT]

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I had Ricta Cores from a long time ago and they were fine but that was before I skated parks. When I tried them at a skatepark, they were too slippery for me and I ended up getting F4 99 Conical fulls, which are so far, a pretty perfect wheel to me. Not sure if I have better control now and if I'd be ok with Rictus again but no need to find out since I have plenty of newer wheels now. I now also have Dragon 97s and those are really nice overall with the main difference from the 99 F4s being they are quieter and more forgiving on rough surfaces. I also have mini logo wheels from around the same time as my Rictas (about a decade old) and those are even more slippery since they are smaller and harder. Perfectly good when I was using them recently again for flat ground. So, I'd say all of these are good wheels but if I were to pick two to keep and continue to buy moving forward, it would be the Dragon 97 (or X97) and F4 99. I might try some F4 101s sometime just to see how those are but probably don't need to.

[close]

The Slap mantra pretty much.

Somebody has to do the research

[Slave IV]

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I had Ricta Cores from a long time ago and they were fine but that was before I skated parks. When I tried them at a skatepark, they were too slippery for me and I ended up getting F4 99 Conical fulls, which are so far, a pretty perfect wheel to me. Not sure if I have better control now and if I'd be ok with Rictus again but no need to find out since I have plenty of newer wheels now. I now also have Dragon 97s and those are really nice overall with the main difference from the 99 F4s being they are quieter and more forgiving on rough surfaces. I also have mini logo wheels from around the same time as my Rictas (about a decade old) and those are even more slippery since they are smaller and harder. Perfectly good when I was using them recently again for flat ground. So, I'd say all of these are good wheels but if I were to pick two to keep and continue to buy moving forward, it would be the Dragon 97 (or X97) and F4 99. I might try some F4 101s sometime just to see how those are but probably don't need to.

[close]

The Slap mantra pretty much.

[close]

Somebody has to do the research

Glad someone did this for me in this case.

[Barack Hussein]

Anyone have any experience with Bones X99 on skatelite, wood, indoor surfaces at all?

I tend to prefer having a little extra grip in most cases. I'm tall and top heavy. I dig 97a on skatelite and crust, but then they feel kinda blehh in a good concrete skatepark. And then F4 99a's are rad on concrete, but I've had disastrous slams due to slipping out at indoors.

I just have a hunch right now that X99 could be the wheel I would never really have to change out -- IF it is fairly grippy on skatelite/indoor. Trying my hardest to narrow down my setup to something thats never "not the right call".

[theloniousmonk]

Anyone have any experience with Bones X99 on skatelite, wood, indoor surfaces at all?

I tend to prefer having a little extra grip in most cases. I'm tall and top heavy. I dig 97a on skatelite and crust, but then they feel kinda blehh in a good concrete skatepark. And then F4 99a's are rad on concrete, but I've had disastrous slams due to slipping out at indoors.

I just have a hunch right now that X99 could be the wheel I would never really have to change out -- IF it is fairly grippy on skatelite/indoor. Trying my hardest to narrow down my setup to something thats never "not the right call".

I don’t have the x99 (im on x95 rn) but I know I’ve read many reviews on here that they are the perfect wheel that you won’t want to switch out.

That said, many are also saying that they like the spitfire 97 new formula more. Those are hard to find though.

[bombsaway86]

Anyone have any experience with Bones X99 on skatelite, wood, indoor surfaces at all?

I tend to prefer having a little extra grip in most cases. I'm tall and top heavy. I dig 97a on skatelite and crust, but then they feel kinda blehh in a good concrete skatepark. And then F4 99a's are rad on concrete, but I've had disastrous slams due to slipping out at indoors.

I just have a hunch right now that X99 could be the wheel I would never really have to change out -- IF it is fairly grippy on skatelite/indoor. Trying my hardest to narrow down my setup to something thats never "not the right call".

I just recently put the x99s on my daily driver. I bought them last summer, rode them for a few sessions then took them off because they were slower than my Formula 4s on smooth concrete. I put them on another setup and rode them when I could over the winter. I just recently decided to try them again and they are so much better now that they are broken in.

I have a mini ramp with skatelite in my backyard that gets dirt and pollen and other shit all over it. The F4s are usually ok, but sometimes I slip out. The x99s are significantly grippier and are faster than the F4s now that they’re broken in. At the same time I can still do reverts and grinds to fakie on the x99s.

Dusty indoor spots might still be a little sketchy, but the x99s will definitely do better than the F4s. Grip feels about the same as the old Spitfire 97a (I haven’t tried the new 97s yet, but really want to).

The x99s aren’t perfect, but they do everything well. For that reason, I’d ride the x99s if I only had one setup. My main complaint is that they still feel like they drag a bit when grinding on metal coping. They’re pretty quiet too which can be a good or bad thing depending on your preference. I love the way F4s screech, but the silence of the x99s is growing on me.

I haven’t had a set of x97s yet, but they felt kinda slow when I rode them on somebody else’s board. I have a set of dragons, but they’re too slow for bowl skating and they grab way too much on metal coping. I only use the dragons for the spots that are extremely slippery from graffiti

[bombsaway86]

Another update on the x99s. Skated them at Marginal Way today (super smooth concrete, a little slippery from being under a bridge). They’re still not as fast as F4s here, but they’re fast enough now that they’ve been properly broken in. I have to pump a little harder to get the same speed on the x99s, but the extra grip makes up for it. They still slide fine when I need them to.

Something else I noticed is that they feel slower when it’s really hot outside. I’ve never noticed that when riding Spitfires.

[back smith]

Kinda getting over the honeymoon period with the X97s.

They suck on rough ground and I feel like the board gets thrown around a lot. But the latter may just be because the overall setup is light.

Fast and good on smooth surfaces but so are a lot of wheels.

[Spacecase]

Back to 99 F4s?

Tried almost all of the newer duro wheels from Bones/Powell and Spitfire and when I went back to F4 99s it just felt right.

I did recently pick up another set of F4 93s for rougher street/curb spots but they mostly live in my bag, Spend most of my time at skate parks these days.

[back smith]

Back to 99 F4s?

Tried almost all of the newer duro wheels from Bones/Powell and Spitfire and when I went back to F4 99s it just felt right.

I did recently pick up another set of F4 93s for rougher street/curb spots but they mostly live in my bag, Spend most of my time at skate parks these days.

F4 93 is the best overall wheel I've tried even if it makes you work a bit more at the extremes compared to dedicated park wheels or cruiser wheels. F4 99 is great at the park yeah.

Next wheels I wanna try are F4 new 97 and X95.

[JimmyFive]

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Back to 99 F4s?

Tried almost all of the newer duro wheels from Bones/Powell and Spitfire and when I went back to F4 99s it just felt right.

I did recently pick up another set of F4 93s for rougher street/curb spots but they mostly live in my bag, Spend most of my time at skate parks these days.

[close]

F4 93 is the best overall wheel I've tried even if it makes you work a bit more at the extremes compared to dedicated park wheels or cruiser wheels. F4 99 is great at the park yeah.

Next wheels I wanna try are F4 new 97 and X95.

The new F4 97a is the truth. I hope that more shapes and sizes become available in this formula. I enjoy them more than the X97 and X99 Bones offerings. They have all the benefits of the Dragon's - super fast, power through crust, slide well but still feel like F4. The one downside is that they don't seem to be quite as durable as F4 99/101 but you'd probably expect that from a softer wheel.

[BhaktaDon]

I had crazy wheel madness.  Tried most of them.  I settled on mostly having a smaller and smaller f4 99a wheel.  It is by far the best formula.  Get 60mm to roll over crust.  Save yourself lots of time and just stick with these and your probably gonna be good.

If you only skate indoor. Bones x97 all day.

If your gonna do a midsoft:    spit soft slider classics > x95 > 93a dragons.

[swongolianbbq]

Looking for feedback about these Powell wheels, for a cruiser board.

Snakes 66mm 75a

Snakes 66mm 82a

Dragons 64mm 88a

Dragons 64mm 93a

[BALARGUE]

I have a friend who is pretty happy with both sets of Dragon on 2 kinda identical setups, on smaller diameter though (56mm)

His main skateboard at the park on 93
His more "cruisy" setup on 88

I tried both but couldn't accept the extragrip on crooked grinds with the 93s but overall good
88s were pretty smooth on a really rough ground and it will be better with the diameter you're considering. I am considering them for my cruiser for some tricks on the way but I'll stay around 60mm because that's the usual diameter on my cruisers and I'm used to it.

You'll definitely get more slide / more consistency with your powerslides on 93

[back smith]

Looking for feedback about these Powell wheels, for a cruiser board.

Snakes 66mm 75a

Snakes 66mm 82a

Dragons 64mm 88a

Dragons 64mm 93a

Powell 85A G-Slides are a lot faster than 93A Dragons for me. Based on that I imagine the Snakes 82A are also, same "soft slide formula". It can be a problem too, if there's a big downhill on the way home from the bar or something.

[Tyler90]

I have acquired the 58mm x95 v5 shape wheel to go with / compare to 56mm soft sliders and 54mm 93 nano cubics. They’re definitely harder wheels so they slide easier but the nano cubics and soft sliders have their pleasantries..
I have 53mm x99 that are great at the park but I don’t have many parks or any smooth concrete near me.. plus I am not very good (quit 20 years ago, just turned 35). Enjoying all these options. I slightly remember the 52mm 97a wheels I bought when I was a kid and they sucked lol.