SkateboardingUniversity.com Presents
The Online Skateboarding School
The Online Skateboarding School
"No Skateboarder Left Behind"
The Skateboard Equipment Class 101
CHAPTER 4
The Wheels, Bearings, Hardware and Risers
Section Three
Wheels and Bearings Review
Honest Reviews Of The Good And The Bad!
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Skateboard Wheel Reviews
All skateboard wheels are different and that means that you shouldn't just buy the first pair that you like. Learn about the different companies and pick the best pair for your use.
Spitfire: These are one of the most well known brands of wheels. I've had many pairs of them for a couple of different reasons. The first is they are affordable and cool looking. The second is because they have good grip and last a long time. Most skateboarders trust them and that makes them very popular. If you like to support American made products this would be your choice of wheels. They do have a warranty against defect of any kind.
Mini Logo: Mini logo is one of my favorite wheel companies. If you skate hard, you will notice that the design on your skateboard wheels wears off anyway. That being said, these wheels come in only one color, but the design are neat. They are top quality wheels. They are the cheapest ones that I'm familiar with.
Bones Reds: Bones Reds are a very, fair priced well designed skateboard bearing. I've had one set and was extremely pleased with them. They skate super smooth and really fast. I even broke some of these after a while, but it happens! I enjoyed The Reds over the Speed Demons.
Ricta: Ricta probably has the biggest selection that I know about when it comes to skateboarding wheels. They have the right match for everybody. I've skated a couple of different pairs and they seem built to last. They have strong see through wheels that come in different colors. They have skinny wheels, wide wheels, small wheels, big wheels, hard wheels, and soft wheels.
Pigs: I've used a pair of Pig skateboarding wheels (that were used) and they reminded me of how Spitfire wheels skate. They have a large selection of colors and designs. They came out with a new wheel that is suppose to be lighter than most the majority of wheels on the market. If you are trying to build an overall light skateboard buy a set of Pig wheels aircore line series.
Blank: Blank wheels come from a couple of different skateboard companies. They are cheaper because pros do not get commissions from the sale of these. The company saves money by not needing to use any paint for a graphic. I buy blanks all of the time, because they usually skate almost as good as any other pair of wheels out there and I always like to save money.
Skateboard Bearings
Speed Demons: Speed demons are an inexpensive set of bearings that work like a charm. I've had three different pairs of them. I do remember breaking some of them, but that can happen with any kind of bearing if you land the wrong way on the board and sometimes even if you land the right way on it.
Bones Swiss: I know that it is the same company, but it seems like a totally different bearing. These are indeed the fastest bearings that I have ever bought. They cost a lot more, but man do they ever fly. If you skate for speed then get nothing but these!
Shorties Black Panthers: I've never bought a pair. I remember riding on my friend Andy's board the day he put a set on. I was jealous that day! After I gave his skateboard a push I remember that they coasted for a really far distance. They felt like they were crafted to perfection.
Lucky: I bought a pair of Lucky bearings at the mall once. They seemed like just a normal set of cheap skateboard bearings. That's not a bad thing at all. They did the job that they were suppose to. I do not remember them being overly fast, but they worked good and lasted a fairly long time.
Just an idea to think about....
If you plan on sticking to skateboarding for a long time because you really enjoy it, maybe you should buy two skateboards. That is if money isn't an issue. There is nothing wrong with having just one skateboard, in fact at this moment I only have one.
There was a time that I had two different skateboards set up for two different types of skateboarding. I used the wider board with the bigger wheels to film skateboarding. It helped when I was riding behind another skateboarder filming. It caused the camera to be less wiggly and also I didn't have to push as much to keep going because I would go farther per push. I used that board to skate on vert ramps.
I had a smaller board with little wheels, that I used to do more technical tricks on. I used it to skate boxes, rails, and banks. It was the board that I used most often.
It gave me an extra board to let people borrow if something happened to their board.
It happened to be that I had enough parts to put together another board.
I realised that it was convenient to have two boards!
I realised that it was convenient to have two boards!
