What's the Best Mid-Soft Skateboard Wheel? | How to Choose Skateboard Wheels Part 2 | Tactics

[@bryannaemmerling]

Tim from Tactics is my favorite scientist!

[@tacticsboardshop]

Gonna have to put "Scientist" in quotation marks haha. 🤓🛹😄 - Tim

[@love4boost]

Got the F4 93 radials in 54 and 58. I actually prefer the 58 because they’re smoother. My 17 year old 49mm skating self is shaking his head at what I’ve become

[@TRAVIESO_NA]

It’s interesting because I realized that it’s all about technique, the more I focus on technique I can skate any size wheel and truck size, but for a long time I couldn’t Ollie with anything bigger than 52mm. Now I’m skating the same wheels as you, 58mm spitfires F4 conical fulls, and love em. I also ride some 60mm Powell dragons and some 54mm Oj key frames. The keyframes give me the most pop, and best all around wheel. Out of those 3. To me. But that’s all for rough spots not skating park or rails.

[@JohnKirk]

Thanks for putting in the work on this video. It’s so good to get an objective and trials based perspective!

[@LeonPaxton]

Soft Sliders are my number 1 👌🏽

[@JoeKyser]

Tell you what I am 45 and wish I had today's wheels back in the 80's and 90s. I have about a dozen sets up ready to go with a dozen different wheels. I try them all out. I feel like you did a great job here and I can agree with your outcome. No matter what, its still give and take though

[@foulweather6625]

Prob the best review of these mid-duro "softer wheels that slide" category. Nicely done.

[@VhaidraSaga]

I love the Powell G-Slides better than the Dragons. SpeedLab makes amazing wheels too!

[@alstone5005]

They are also heavier than the Dragons and due to the wide contact patch not ideal for some ledge tricks but I can see why you would feel that way for flatland or cruising

[@jdelcourt]

Bones X-Formula 99 are my favorites 👍🏼

[@jellyheaddd]

There is also the Andy Anderson Pro Model Wheels. The Powell-Peralta Dragon Formula 97a Nano Cubic Skateboard Wheels. Also dragon formula and x formula I heard come from the same factory just different brand names but dragon formula is 93a and x formula comes in 97a and 99a so the Andy Anderson wheels are x-formula 97a same as bones just powell brand name, but come from the same place. Not sure about the spitfire ones though. Or Oj. Haven’t tried the spitfire formula yet but own every other type of these wheels. Definitely going to try out the spitfire ones. So far x~formula ones feel the best I own I own 5 pairs in almost every size and they work amazing not slippery but power-slide great slide great on ledges slappy good don’t flat spot or chunk out over all amazing wheel that comes in a bunch of different shapes and sizes so far I like the first bones x formula 97a I think skate the best and last a long time I skate the 54mm good thing to remember is the wheel over time is going to go down in mm as it gets worn down. 2nd the dragon formula is good but I can’t tell much difference in how soft they are 93a vs 97a doesn’t feel all that much different and slide well on both power slides and ledges but warning the dragons take time to break in and are super slippery in my opinion i ate it pretty hard on a hill speed check because of the new 93a dragon formula size 52mm. The 93a dragons feel just a bit more slippery and bouncy and quiet then 97a formula. Id definitely recommend the 97a or 99a x formula over 93a. If your looking to just cruise go with any 78a if you just want to roll around smooth and go fast and don’t need to slide on a ledge. There is long board big 78a wheels that power slide good. Ricta clouds are a great 78a wheel that is super soft but great for skating super crusty street spots but they don’t power slide or slide on ledges. Lastly the Oj double duro ones are around $60 so almost $20 more then dragon or x-formula wheels and are much harder so skate more like a traditional 99 or 101 wheel but tiny bit softer then regular hard wheels. They are good for tricks but I think they come in a lot less sizes the ones I have are big size 58mm the ace slappy red ones. I have a problem with slipping out on these when going fast on rough ground if I turn sharp or try to use them as filming wheels which I use my soft wheels for both filming and skating myself and it’s awesome to be able to use for both but I wouldn’t recommend the double duro formula over the x formula or dragon. In conclusion I’d say you can’t go wrong with the 97a or 99a x-formula. Idk Spitfire formula haven’t tried yet but they look promising forsure. But I back x formula all day 97a !!! And I skate pretty much all crusty pdx street spots only so this is my opinion on all these wheels on crusty Portland Oregon street spots. I’ve really tried any of these wheels at a skatepark besides the x formula ones but they worked good at smooth skate parks too the 1/2 times I tried them but work great for crusty diy skate spots forsure. But if you only skate skate parks / half pipe / transition you don’t really need a soft wheel anyways. So you could just stick with 99 or 101 wheels anyways. Unless it’s a old crusty skate park that is too rough for hard wheels. These type of wheels are for people that want to skate skateparks AND Street spots with the SAME deck and not need to set up more then one complete or switch wheels often. Long story short bones x-formula wheels are amazing! If you read this far your really into skate wheels like me haha gotta catch ‘em all.

[@peterzbalazs]

The amount of time and work you've put into this is very respectable. This is by far the best review of this wheel "genre". Ben Degros would be so proud! :-D Thank you!

[@flipnog]

Great video. This is crazy helpful for everyone. Thank you guys

[@chrhadden]

i got a set of 58mm dragons. im a wheel guy and these will change your life and i cant live without them. i havent tried all of these wheels but i generally steer clear of slow js and any other santa cruz wheel. spitfires are spitfires. get the dragons your welcome

[@tacticsboardshop]

Which durometer of Dragons are you riding?

[@mulldriftyr]

x formula 99 !

[@l.j.i]

Dude, yes! This is the video I've been searching for! Thank you!!!

[@freshfood3425]

My experience with dragon wheels is they just do not slide that much on concrete or metal, but black asphalt it changes completely. Good video I was uneducated on every other option :D

[@swr410]

I wish there would have been some kind of comparison of the ability to hold a carve/turn when going fast, without slipping out. I love the spitfire 93a, and I think their best unique attribute is feeling genuinely good on smooth and rough ground. But they can almost float too much if I’m trying to make a line with a carve in it. You kind of mention this with the powerslide test, but didn’t really quantify it. Still, best comparison of these that I’ve seen so far!

[@corallaroc2946]

Wow, thank you. The great thing about taking these measurements (powerslide length and vibration) is that they are objective for each wheel itself, i.e., independent of the other tested wheels. You can repeat those tests with other wheels at a later time and still compare to these ones (keeping board, rider, approximate weather and locations the same). Would be great if you did more tests of the same kind with more wheels! You testbench could become a reference source of information for comparing different wheels (at least the slide distance and the accelerometer-based vibration test).

[@skrrratch]

So good! Awesome Upload! thx!

[@tacticsboardshop]

Glad you like it!

[@guido69x]

The new edition of Slime Balls are perffect for all around!!!I have a bunch of longboard and shortboard wheels!Magots Slime Balls are the ones!!! Btw,ALL wheels slide!!!You or need more speed,more carve and pre warm the wheels first,thats why most of them screech,after warming them they will make the buttery slide sound!!! Other thing to have in mind is bearing seat on the wheel core,if its centered or off side,wheel diameter,type of the wheel lip and contact patch

[@chrhadden]

thats weird because the slimeballs i got stuck with are useless.

[@bumrodgers]

This is great! Thank you!

[@dneck]

some awesome data here nice job!

[@tacticsboardshop]

Glad you think so!

[@fernandoreyes680]

Great video Tim, needed this. I've been skating dragons for about a year at this point and they seem to slide great for how soft they feel on the streets. But I do feel like they can get a little bit sticky mainly when pinching tricks on flatbars like smiths or feebles. A friend of mine has the X formula and they felt a bit to hard for crusty streets and don't seem to slide as well as my dragons. I think I need to try the spitfire soft sliders

[@burger1113]

You are kinda correct on the powell and bones wheels that they have grip, but the slide at the break of traction comes in progressively and doesn't get icy. Spitfires are definitely harder than the Dragons, and the have the icy slip that we are familiar with.

[@yesmaybe630]

Bones X Formula best ever!

[@yestostress]

a really interesting video :D

[@Raziel236]

Great video.

[@DTC1138]

Yeah! Science!

[@TRAVIESO_NA]

I agree you did a great job. You should have thrown the OJ Keyframes in there, they don’t slide, they don’t power slide. They do have pop tho, more than some of the ones you tested. It’s cuz they have a 101 core with 87duro outer. Spitfire has a wheel called the sapphire with a 101 core and 90a outer so you should test those against each other.

[@tacticsboardshop]

The Spitfire Sapphires look pretty cool! I didn't do the keyframes because they're a designated cruiser/filmer wheel and don't make any claims that they are good for tricks/slides. I picked a few of the wheels that were claiming that they were softer but could ALSO slide. I've always been skeptical of that claim, but also, I like to skate the slipperiest wheels I can find. It was a fun experiment none the less. Cheers! - Tim

[@burger1113]

I think if this could have been done with the same or similar shape or contact patch wheels, and you included speed/distance test to see how far they would actually roll down a flat area after gaining the same amount of speed from an incline, it would have given us the better comparison. If the softer wheels could actually roll significantly farther than the harder ones on the list, some sacrifice on the slide could be acceptable.

[@Rahzarusfilms]

well, ima have to watch this a few more times. ded ass was wondering how to pick a wheel for a cruiser i wanna be able to take to a park from time to time.

[@dneck]

x97 are awesome for just about everything.

[@Rahzarusfilms]

lmao just bought a cruiser board. now im about to look up these spitfire 93's. i will probably end up with the 93's and some 97's tho

[@protestthisyouloser1093]

Formula 4, 93a spits are the best if you’re trying to replicate both sides of the durometer scale

[@75YBA]

This video is GENIUS! I dunno if you took notes from Professor Schmitt, but very well done. Best video on this subject yet!🛹🛹🛹🛹🛹👍👍👍👍👍⚽️⚽️

[@tacticsboardshop]

Haha thanks. We're just skate nerds and I was genuinely curious about some of these wheels. 🙏😅 - Tim

[@user-uy5id4ue6n]

I love the new fórmulas, now you can skate everywere and efortless

[@user-uy5id4ue6n]

But i have tons of 99a and 103, only for skateparks from now (I'm a street skater mostly)

[@incsk8]

Long story short: Get Spits. Loved the video

[@user-uy5id4ue6n]

X fórmula 97 feels great on streets, and powerslide and slide like a dream

[@dougmccoy1260]

Those wheels on that 1963 flat oak board, original set, they would slide down that hill till they were flat.

[@itsjjstyles]

Backside powerslide tutorial when?

[@tacticsboardshop]

Hmmmmm.... don't tempt us.

[@TimJones97701]

Speed is the other metric. And speed is going to be different on crust / average pavement / park. I have the Dragon, X97 and X99. I prefer the X99 because I spend more time in the park but they are really close to the 97 on pavement, and smoother than an F4 99 or STF 99.

[@JollySaintPhil]

Which one has the best noise?

[@tacticsboardshop]

I'd say the OJ Double Duros had the best 'hard wheel like' screech when sliding. The Powell Dragon wheels were the most quiet when sliding and rolling in my opinion. I hope that answered your question! 👍🛹 - Tim

[@darlingthickie]

Another example of spitfire superiority

[@gnarlywagner8171]

Ive never had wheeles deteriorate as quickly as the dragons they felt great they were just 4mm smaller in two months

[@orlandounderground350z]

Ahh yes tik tok science the the new standard for everything 😂😢

[@tacticsboardshop]

Hahaha, yep. Big emphasis on the "Science" being in quotation marks! 🤣 Cheers! 🍻 - Tim

[@dneck]

flawed test. first you should also have the X99 formula. Also I think you should have used the other spitfire 93a wheel shape, not the Reynolds "Classic" Shape. that one has a way smaller contact patch than the other spit 93a, so it will slide different. The other one is a more wide contact patch.

[@32srt32]

spitfires a 93d or 93a?

[@tacticsboardshop]

It's the same thing. Spitfire just calls it "D" for durometer, but it's still using the same "Shore A Scale" of hardness. So a Spitfire 99d wheel would be the same hardness as a 99a in any other brand. I hope that clears it up! 👍🛹 - Tim

[@xXGe0rgEXx]

Flatspots are due to bad form. Dude's 90 blasting like crazy, causing the wheels to stop spinning and flatspots to form.

[@Aminormaze]

Bones and spitfire are the only wheels worth skating

[@itsWhicker]

Going from Dragons to Spitfire 93s, i can say that spitfire are MUCH faster and require less pushing on crusty Canada streets. Both great wheels though.