Switched to smaller wheels and...

[drcroc]

So I was skating 52s all last year, went as low at 51 and it was fine.  Two weeks ago I decide, I want to skate small wheels. So I set up my board and tested it out and I'm skating 48mm Plan B PJ Ladd wheels. And... noticed I was sliding all over the place.  Being 30 years old I can't risk slipping out just cause of wheel size. I ordered some 52mm wheels later that night.

Point of this post: I didn't know that smaller wheels are actually slippery and less stable, I bought into the idea they made tech skating easier. Anyone have any thoughts on wheel size for street skating? I didn't realize wheels so important (and crucial to the set up), but they are.

[colt cannon lunchbox]

I skated a pair of SPF's for about 4-5 years they wore down to about a 45mm wheel and were great for locking into grinds, but were too slow and eventually my bearings wouldn't stay in place? Anyways i switched up to a 54mm wheel a few weeks ago and grinds are substantially harder to lock into properly.

[Pigeon]

It's better to just get whatever 52 mm wheels you normally ride...bomb hills and do a lot of powerslides for a day, until they're small enough for your park shit. I don't know what the Plan B wheels are like, but it sounds like the hardness of the wheel is throwing you off, not the size.

By the way, there is a whole thread on wheels.

[drcroc]

It's better to just get whatever 52 mm wheels you normally ride...bomb hills and do a lot of powerslides for a day, until they're small enough for your park shit. I don't know what the Plan B wheels are like, but it sounds like the hardness of the wheel is throwing you off, not the size.

By the way, there is a whole thread on wheels.

Ah,, you may be onto something. These wheels did feel super hard.  I figured it was the surface area being smaller, like the wheels themselves are pretty thin on the part that touches the ground. The wheels I normally ride are Pig 52 and they're much fatter with broad wheel-to-ground surface. I def prefer that. It could be the ground too, I tested them on smooth surface, maybe a little too smooth like Berrics is slippery and whatever. I don't know I got a little spooked cause I was just doing tic-tacs and I was sliding all over the place.

[Roisto]

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It's better to just get whatever 52 mm wheels you normally ride...bomb hills and do a lot of powerslides for a day, until they're small enough for your park shit. I don't know what the Plan B wheels are like, but it sounds like the hardness of the wheel is throwing you off, not the size.

By the way, there is a whole thread on wheels.

[close]

Ah,, you may be onto something. These wheels did feel super hard.  I figured it was the surface area being smaller, like the wheels themselves are pretty thin on the part that touches the ground. The wheels I normally ride are Pig 52 and they're much fatter with broad wheel-to-ground surface. I def prefer that. It could be the ground too, I tested them on smooth surface, maybe a little too smooth like Berrics is slippery and whatever. I don't know I got a little spooked cause I was just doing tic-tacs and I was sliding all over the place.

[colt cannon lunchbox]

Expand Quote

It's better to just get whatever 52 mm wheels you normally ride...bomb hills and do a lot of powerslides for a day, until they're small enough for your park shit. I don't know what the Plan B wheels are like, but it sounds like the hardness of the wheel is throwing you off, not the size.

By the way, there is a whole thread on wheels.

[close]

Ah,, you may be onto something. These wheels did feel super hard.  I figured it was the surface area being smaller, like the wheels themselves are pretty thin on the part that touches the ground. The wheels I normally ride are Pig 52 and they're much fatter with broad wheel-to-ground surface. I def prefer that. It could be the ground too, I tested them on smooth surface, maybe a little too smooth like Berrics is slippery and whatever. I don't know I got a little spooked cause I was just doing tic-tacs and I was sliding all over the place.

Did you like the pigs? Ive been thinking of trying something different

[j....soy.....]

Less surface area means less surface area which means slides more.....but I think it's the wheel formula.....

[Roisto]

Less surface area means less surface area which means slides more.....but I think it's the wheel formula.....

But friction is independent of surface area.

[Willie]

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Less surface area means less surface area which means slides more.....but I think it's the wheel formula.....

[close]

But friction is independent of surface area.

Friction in wheels is variable between formulas but each individual wheel should see increased friction with increased surface area. (Dependent)

[Roisto]

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Less surface area means less surface area which means slides more.....but I think it's the wheel formula.....

[close]

But friction is independent of surface area.

[close]

Friction in wheels is variable between formulas but each individual wheel should see increased friction with increased surface area. (Dependent)

Based on what? Physics doesn't apply to skateboard wheels?

[j....soy.....]

Good to see you guys know what I mean.....because what I said makes zero sense.....

[Willie]

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Less surface area means less surface area which means slides more.....but I think it's the wheel formula.....

[close]

But friction is independent of surface area.

[close]

Friction in wheels is variable between formulas but each individual wheel should see increased friction with increased surface area. (Dependent)

[close]

Based on what? Physics doesn't apply to skateboard wheels?

Well fuck me.

The force due to friction is generally independent of the contact area between the two surfaces. This means that even if you have two heavy objects of the same mass, where one is half as long and twice as high as the other one, they still experience the same frictional force when you drag them over the ground. This makes sense, because if the area of contact doubles, you may think that you should get twice as much friction. But when you double the length of an object, you halve the force on each square centimeter, because less weight is above it to push down. Note that this relationship breaks down when the surface area gets too small, since then the coefficient of friction increases because the object may begin to dig into the surface.