Big wheels for street?

I’m looking for new wheels because mine have worn down to under 50mm and i really think they are way too small. I skate on my road mostly and then sometimes at my local park probably more so soon as i finish school tomorrow bar exams.

I normally try to learn flip tricks but so far can’t get any. Would having big wheels like 57-59mm really make it harder to do them.It’s only a few millimeters bigger but since most skaters are so adamant that it will be harder ( I struggle to see how) i thought i might ask you guys.

And any thoughts on these

Or

Yellow ones are 57 mm 35 wide with around a 20 mm contact patch 98a And orange are 59 mm 85a, 38 wide with 22mm contact.

will these work for a kind of all around wheel?

Hey Riley.
In regards to the wheel size, it does make a difference when they get bigger. Let me ask you some questions first.
Is your skate park a street park or transition park?
Will your street skating be mainly cruising or doing some tricks?
Let me know and it will be easier to go from there.

HI CJ

My park is a transition park which i struggle to keep speed on. I can get to the copping but it requires a lot of effort to get up there and keep speed. It has 5 or 6ft halfpipe with around 7 or 8ft vert walls.

In the street mainly doing tricks.Also i wanted one set of wheels so i don’t have to swap when i go to a park.

I agree with the others
big wheels are great for bowl and vert though
for street it might make you board a light more heavy.

Hey mate,

I’d be sticking to between 54mm-56mm
They will seem like a big jump if your current wheels are around 50mm.

I ride 52mm and when I jump on a 53 or 54 I notice the difference.
Even things like being higher off the ground.

the 59s will be way too big if you want to do any street stuff. Not saying its impossible, but just saying its going to make it harder to do things like flip tricks.

You wanted to know why it’s harder? Its physics. The bigger the wheel means there is more weight. And it means there is more weight near the rails of the board. This makes it harder to flip and spin. The more weight there is towards the ends means there is more inertia.

Picture it the same as when you are spinning on an office chair or on one of the spiny poles/round-a-bouts in a playground. On a chair if you are spinning with your arms out, you will not spin as fast as if you move your arms in to your body. Same as those poles in a playground you can spin on. If you spin and are hanging bac away from it, you will be travelling at a slower speed, but if you pull yourrself (the weight) close to the pole you will speed up.
The wheels are that weight. Bigger wheels means there is more weight to spin around.

Again im not sayi8ng its impossible. I have 58mm i think on my film set up. I can still kick flip it, it just requires more effort to flip. I’d suggest a 54-55mm wheel.
It will make a fair bit of difference in the transition, but still be very versatile in the street

K2 has pretty much summed it up there. The big wheels won’t help your skating for street. I was going to suggest 55mm as well as it is a good versatile size and won’t have too much of an affect on your set up. Especially if your wheels are currently around the 50mm mark.

Some good wheels to try are also Bones SPF slims, they have a large contact area without the extra fat of the side walls.

What bearings do you have?

Reason is a good set of bearings will help you keep your momentum. Keeping them clean and lubed will help them last longer and help your momentum.

I highly suggest Modus Titanium’s. They roll super fast and last for ever. Roll good their whole life too. And they are cheaper than ceramics. Once you are a BW “member” you should relieve a discount on the store

Hi Riley,
Ready for me to mess with your head?
I Skate on 65mm wheels in the park and street! And it’s by far the favourite of my two boards for me.
I have another setup which I use either 52 or 55mm wheels, and I use that ONLY for practicing flip tricks on flat ground.

Now a few things I should say is:
1. CJ and K2 are WAY better skaters than me and would be doing flip tricks more than me.
2. I’m a snowboarder and I like flip tricks but rarely do them (or try to do them)
3. When u say “Street” if you mean street skating like a pro in a movie, then yeah small wheels are the go. If you mean mostly just cruising the street like me, you will love bigger wheels so much more.

I think K2 has the right idea. If your wheels are below 50mm then those 57mm would be my suggestion of the 2. They will still feel much easier and faster in your transition park. And smoother and faster on the road.

I’m just telling you that I skate 65mm to show that not all preconceptions about skating are true.

65mm! thats getting long board specs! I personally would find there would be way too much weight in something that big. I reckon it would effect your ollies.

Though you are an enlarged human being. So if you were to scale, maybe they would be 55mm wheels haha

Thanks for the help. I’ll try to keep it around 55-56mm although if i can’t find anything i like then i’ll get the 57mm rainskates and wait till their a bit smaller.

As for the bearings i’m looking at picking up some bones swiss 6 with the wheels so they won’t be holding me back.

what hardness do you guys recommend for me.

And if you can point me towards some good wheels to look at it’d be much appreciated.

I also found these  

Pi wheels by deckcrafters said to be good all terrain wheels and they come in at 56.5mm. These are $53 off boardshop only a couple of dollars more than the rainskates at OCD skate.

Hardness is a preference. Do you like the ability to slide? Whether its powerslides or just the ability to deliberatly loose traction while doing transition tricks. Or do you wanna feel glued to the ground?

Harder and a high rebound usually means faster rolling. I’ll look into some wheels for you

The Bones Super 6 Swiss bearings are awesome. I had some years ago and was well stoked with them, after that I had some Pig bearings then onto Modus Titanium.

Those Pi wheels look good, especially having the stone ground finish to rip straight away. Some other wheels that are good for a mix of skating are.

Type-S
They have a good mix of amazing skaters showing how diverse the wheels are. They are cored like the Pi wheels and have a 98a hardness which is good for providing grip, but also allowing slide. They also have a good mix in sizes.

Bones
These guys make some great wheels and are really hard to flat spot. The range you would want to look at is the SPF series as they are the better hardness for all round skating. Having the slim shape will also reduce weight on the bigger wheels and give a larger grinding area.

Spitfire Formula Four
Now this is the latest offering from Spitfire and to be honest I haven’t skated them yet. From what I understand they are a hell of a lot better than previous Spitfires. They have 2 different hardness on offer and I would say they 99a is going to be the better of the 2 for you.

Size wise I feel that 55mm is definitely the better option, as it is not a huge just in size but definitely a big help. Then if after that you feel you want to go larger your more prepared for it and will enjoy skating it more.

I hope this provides some insight for you Riley.

Andy Aitken - 23 October 2013 12:42 PM

Hi Riley,
Ready for me to mess with your head?
I Skate on 65mm wheels in the park and street! And it’s by far the favourite of my two boards for me.
I have another setup which I use either 52 or 55mm wheels, and I use that ONLY for practicing flip tricks on flat ground.

Now a few things I should say is:
1. CJ and K2 are WAY better skaters than me and would be doing flip tricks more than me.
2. I’m a snowboarder and I like flip tricks but rarely do them (or try to do them)
3. When u say “Street” if you mean street skating like a pro in a movie, then yeah small wheels are the go. If you mean mostly just cruising the street like me, you will love bigger wheels so much more.

I think K2 has the right idea. If your wheels are below 50mm then those 57mm would be my suggestion of the 2. They will still feel much easier and faster in your transition park. And smoother and faster on the road.

I’m just telling you that I skate 65mm to show that not all preconceptions about skating are true.

Andy why do you always have to bring size into it. 

Don’t know about being a WAY better skater these days though. Shift work and being a daddy is not the best for a skate life.

Thanks CJ and everyone else, the help is much appreciated.

Formula fours were my first choice but i can’t find any over 52mm. seems they are in pretty high demand, might mean there good. Probably pick up some type s in 55mm as the pi and spf wheels seem a bit too hard for my liking.

How loud will the 98a type-s be, as it is now my setups pretty loud it’s not too big of a problem but it gets annoying. It could also be the bearings though because they are just whatever came with my complete and don’t have removable shields to lube them.

With wheels in the 98a hardness you will get noise from them. The only way you will get a quieter ride is with softer wheels, the problem with that is that it won’t have as good a rebound for park and street. The other thing is you won’t be able to slide the wheels as easy.