Wheel help

So I am an old and old school skater. I’m 46 this summer and I’ve been skating since I was in grade 5. Lol. These days I only ride mini ramp and a little bowl/flowy park. I’m not a big trick guy....lip tricks only and your basic old school mini ramp stuff. In the park (I prefer pumpy carve parks....evergreen park style) I rarely go to or above coping...just love to carve and get speed. But there in is the problem. Speed. Right now I ride the Chris Miller couple shaped deck by welcome. It is 9.6/31.6. 159 Indy’s and 60mm slimeball vomits 97a with bones reds. On mini ramp I love this set up. Feels rock solid to me. In the park though, I feel I struggle to keep speed with those bike fat wheels. I recently tried a pair of orbs spectres 56mm 97a and I HATED them. I had no confidence with them. No feel. On ramp they were just terrible. I quickly went back to my slime balls. So. My question is....do you have a suggestion for an old school skater like me that is looking for that old school feel of the slime balls, but perhaps something a bit faster?? Thoughts??



DW99
«1

Comments

  • Best solution imo is to change those Bones Reds to Bones Super Reds, Bones Big Balls, or Hardluck 6’s. Or if you can afford it Bones Swiss Super 6’s. Normal Bones Reds are pretty crappy imo
  • For speed at the park I've discovered nothing beats a Bones SPF wheel. They're not much good for anything else, but at the park they are king. They are fast and grippy.
  • Thanks for the input guys. Bones spf are high on my list right now, but I’m worried about going to a narrow wheel tbh.

    I’ll look in to upgrading my bearings.
  • The P5/sidecut shape is pretty wide. I agree on the bearing upgrade.
  • SPF are no good on skatelite/masonite ramps, good on ordinary ply though.

    STF is only marginally slower than SPF and good on all wood too.
    There are plenty of wheel options to increase speed from 97a slime balls....

    One thing is you got to expect a little acclimatization time,,
    probably everything will suck if your been riding the same wheels for years and overall are happy except for speed

    stf/spf will slide and that will be a new thing...
  • Sorry bones, but Powerflex gumball's or rock candy's are by far the best all around wheel and just as fast as SPF's. Bronson's G3's bearings and 56-58mm rock candy's and don't look back.
  • Try the 56mm 97a slimeballs. Slightly smaller than what your using, but the same formula you are use to....
  • Feel <------ X -------> Fast

    It really depends where you want to be on that scale.

    As said, SPFs are the fastest and have a really hard ride. It's what I use at the park on my big board to go fast.

    STFs are almost as fast and feel a slight bit better - but I'm guessing still harder than you want. I skate these on 3 setups.

    Spitfire F4 101s would be the next down and a bit closer to what you are looking for. I have one setup with these.

    I think your winner is the Spitfire F4 99a in one of the wider cuts (or possibly the Bones Easy Streets - although I haven't skated those.) I have two sets of these and don't run them because I don't find them fast enough.

    Anything softer it out of my zone.




  • 6 ball bearings like swiss 6 work their magic best during acceleration
    bowl/mini/vert make 6 balls ideal
    either focus on bearings or think about getting bigger or harder wheels

    but harder will detract from the old school feel you want
    and bigger than 60mm is getting too big for mini
    so bearings is the way forward

    @DW99 when was the last time you replace/maintained your bearings?

  • Bearings are brand new, but I clean and maintain my bearings pretty regularly. I’m considering the rock candys in a 60mm and Swiss six bearings. I am concerned about slippage though. That’s what I love about my vomits. I really feel so connected to the surface.
  • Maybe the thing thats caused this desire for more speed is something else.
    Lightweight kids stay light on their toes and weight/unweight more efficiiently.
    I'm 56 and sometimes I got lead in my shoes and no spring in my step that day.


    STF and ramp slides could be fun...
    I love sliding on skatelite mini...
  • Lol could very well be true....
  • The rock candy's won't slide out, very similar to STF's but faster.
  • Even on Masonite?
  • Everything slides on masonite
  • My vomits rarely do.
  • edited August 2019
    or spit 80hd, rough riders, clouds, keyframes etc
    if you dont want to lose the old school feel that you like so much
    swiss 6

    stf only slide when you want them to, but spf will slide out on masonite unexpectedly
    but you will def get more speed on both these formulas
  • I have this question too, similar circumstances. I'm an old-school 80's skater getting back into it with my kids now. I'm skating 60mm 97a slimeballs on a Elephant deck, but want a smaller wheel to go with my new Anderson flight deck that i haven't set up yet. I haven't bought wheels in years. I ride street mainly, and our park is all concrete and steel ramps, no wood or masonite. It sounds like anything harder than 97a is going to be very slippery feeling? I'd like a wide-ish 56 or 58mm wheel, and not so hard that my teeth chatter. I can't seem to find a bones wheel with these specs. Any recommendations?
  • if ur skating steel and concrete then maybe a hard wheel would be good cause u will go faster
  • speed isn't a concern for me here, moreso the right size and ride-feel.
  • Just keep practicing and you'll be good.
  • if using plastic risers
    try urethane ones
    makes your setup feel like its got softer wheels

    means you can go harder/faster with wheels and not have such a bony ride in the rough

    but too many people want speed plus softwheels
    cant have both
    but high density urethanes like 80hd, clouds and dtf/rough riders
    went some way to getting a bit of both
  • not using risers, personally. not looking for speed, just looking for a smaller size old school width & hardness wheel. 56 mm seems a good height for this deck, but most duros I find at that height are either soft bombers or ultra hard. I don't want another set of SC slimeballs, I don't want skinny, slippery ultra-hard wheels that will make me hate the sidewalk either. I feel like a 56mm/95a would fit me best, but that seems a rare combo right now.
  • edited August 2019
    a lot of manufacturers recommendations and duros are wrong
    look what this reviewer thought of SC calling keyframes a 'filmer wheel'
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=2-8iifpElcM

    keyframes are 87a
    yet way harder than clouds 92a
    which are probably the same as 97a slimeballs and spitfire 80hd

    OG 95a g bones are harder than reissue 97a g bones
    its a minefield of errors!

Sign In or Register to comment.