Setting Up a Slide Deck - Sliding Gear and Equipment for Downhill Longboarding

Wheels are just behind the deck in how the ride will affect your slide. For sliding wheels, you should be looking for stuff over the 90a mark. The lower duro slide wheels, such as No Skoolz 92a, will give you a strong transition when the deck breaks into a slide -- allowing you greater control over the beginning and ending of the slide. The higher duro wheels, such as Sergio Sliders, Lush Cannonballs and Earthwing Superballs, will give you faster entrance and exit to the slide with a minimal loss of speed. The size, lip shape and core setting matters a great deal for your slide wheels: a solid sliding wheel is center set (to allow rotation as they wear) and has double radiuses for reliable release and return when sliding. You will usually find slide wheels in the 60mm range with larger slide wheels at around 65mm. Smaller wheels tend to lack the feeling of transition when sliding. Larger wheels carry more speed into and out of slides.

Bearing choice is simple: you want something that will last and is easy to clean. Sliding is hell on bearings. You need to run speed rings and spacers or run a bearing with a core. Common choices on both sides of those would be Bones Reds or Abec11 Biltin Bearings. Killing as much slop on your axle as you possibly can will prevent side-load from smashing your bearings into grits. It’s not uncommon for sliders’ wheels to get molten cores and puked right off the trucks at the worst moment. This is all due to bearings that seize under side-loads.