Readers Respond: What Are the Best Skateboard Wheels?

Responses: 31

By Steve Cave, About.com Guide

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the ones i like r...SPITFIRE!!dude 4 real they got good riders with it and best 4 anything!!try'em whoever says they suck they suck!
—Guest skatedude

bones stf are a good one,smooth an slippery but not ice,jus rite and light but these new formulas are kinda plasticy.i like a fresh pair of spitfires,traditional but the best.but always rokin hard wheels neva softies.
—Guest 2pac

Powell Perelta G-Bones Blue. Big FAST Wheel for skating transition or Bowl, VERY VERY hard to flat spot!!! Heaps of grip or slip when you need it, They are very hard to overheat on those hot Summers concrete vert/bowl days. Grips on wooden vert ramps no problem. Drift up, Just right when your bombing downhill. Still a light enough Wheel set to ollie up high Ledges and do street tricks (you just gotta man up!!) You can pretty much outrun any other skater. Rides on any surface and kicks stones/rocks out of the way!! Best part of all, They last a long time!! If you havn't tryed a set before, Go try them!!
—Guest ScarecrowNgo

Yeah I reckon they're a really good brand because Ive had them on my skatebaord for like 2 1/2, 3 years now and the are in pretty good nick
—Guest Aidos

For vert and park Black Label 56mm are good. they are yellowish. i dont know what they are called but there black label 56mm. For street, spitfire 51mm wheels are pretty buttery. They provide the smoothest, grippiest ride. Go an get some a dem.
—Guest luke

usually i perfer spitfire wheels which are perfect for me. they have durometer of 99a which is my favorite hardness. ive tried just about every wheel and i like pigs. there skinnier than spitfire wheels but they have the same durometer. bones 100s are also great but the hardness isnt very good for gripping or shock absorbing. trust me, chose a 99a wheel from a top WHEEL ONLY company and theyll work great. skate company wheels like element of zero wheels are standard 99a wheels and dont have a special formula like pig of spitfire.
—Guest billy

Started on OJ orange, and getting speed in the park was work, flat spotted, got me some Bones SPF, WOW, super fast, super sticky on vert when you need it, let loose when you want to slide, I suck but my wheels rock. Definitely not for anything with texture/street.
—Guest Gmonkeyboy

i got these wheels from betterskateboarding.com they are awesome. they dont flatspot and if they do (which they wont) theyll give you your money back and a new set of wheels for free. aronl on youtube is sponsered by them and he's really good. The designs are okay but they are the only wheels that are color dipped so the color lasts. thats why i recommend them.
—Guest skate know

ricta white lightning formula r guarennteed not to flatspot ive rode 3 pairs for 6 years and counting
—Guest chris

Though everyone might say that the faster your board, the better, you should really buy what suits you. Such as some might say that you should buy ABEC 5 bearings and others 3 or seven. Thats because thats their personal preference and they like it best. So basically, buy whatever you think is best for you like a beginner could buy, according to me, ABEC 3 and a flatland skater ABEC 5 vert and street should probably go with 5 too....So instead of categorizing, if you're a beginner, just try them all out and pick the best!
—Guest Anirudh

I had element 54mm wheels for for 3 months and they sucked like there really heavy and they flatspot really easy then I got spitfire 54mm wheels and they were horrible also they flatspotted like in 2 weeks and I Had those wheels for like a month and they were all deformed then I got ricta bolts 48mm and these are really good they get no flatspots at all and I've had those wheels for 7months now
—Guest Fernando meza

My opinion, never skate Ricta they get flat stops so easy, I've had 5 pairs thinkin each one was different and also tried the guaranteed no flat spot Rictas. Those sucked covered them with flat spots. I've liked Audubon I think that spelled right. First pair was nice, 2nd pair I'm skatin now with bones labys which make a smooth combo. Try darkstars they keep that new wheel feeling for a long time.
—Guest matt

I have had several types of wheels in my past, I will sart off with a simple statement of how each one felt: Bones STF's 51mm - They felt good, not too hard, but not too soft. Pigs 53mm - These were extremely soft, ut they werent big. They are good if you skate a lot of urban, New-York-style streets. Blueprint 53mm - These were terribly hard, it was like skating plastic, they were wonderful for powerslides too because they were hard and didn't wear down at all. Spitfires 54mm Colored wheels - I loved these wheels, they were the perfect hardness for what I skate, which is mostly street and stair gaps, they powerslid, they didnt freeze up on rocks as much, and they are only a little smaller then when I bought them. Conclusion: I definitely liked both the Bones and the Spitfires. Spitfires kept their size a bit longer than the Bones did, though. I reccomend these wheels. I am afraid this review is not complete though because I would like to try out both Gold and Ricta wheels also.
—Guest Brembino666

I really like Bones STF wheels - they don't get flatspots and they look cool in black and white, but you can get them in other colors too. They feel like special high tech wheels, better than other brands.
—Guest K9

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Steve Cave
Skateboarding Guide

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