Everything about Skateboard Wheels – Wiki

1. Skateboard Wheels: General Info

Without wheels skating would be pretty difficult. Next to the deck and trucks, wheels are a major component of your skateboard setup. Which is why we’ll go into detail to explain to you what skateboard wheels are made of, what the deal is with hard and soft wheels and the right size for your setup. We’ll also give you an overview of the most important technologies in terms of skateboard wheels.

1.1 Skateboard Wheels: Material

What are skateboard wheels made of?

In the ancient times of skateboarding, skateboard wheels were constructed of metal. The wheels were actually intended for roller skates, but skaters attached them to their boards nonetheless. This practice was fortunately put to en end with the invention of the first urethane wheel by Frank Nasworthy in the 1970s.

Since then, skateboard wheels have been made of the plastic polyurethane. However, it is frequently referred to just as urethane. This versatile material can be manufactured in varying degrees of hardness and has therefore dominated the skateboard wheel market.

But not all urethane is the same, nor are all wheels the same. The different skateboard wheel brands are constantly trying new blends of materials to make the wheels more durable, faster, smoother, slide better, and to make them especially flat spot resistant. But we’ll get to that later.

1.2 Skateboard Wheels: What are flat spots?

When doing powerslides (turning the board sideways and sliding on all four wheels, perpendicular to their rolling direction in order to slow your board down), 180 powerslides (turning the board 180° while skating without doing an ollie or other tricks), and other slide tricks like the bluntside, it’s possible that your wheels will become severely abraded, and you’ll develop flat spots on your wheels. When this happens, your wheel will no longer be perfectly round and consequently, won’t roll properly. This happens most commonly with soft wheels.

1.3 Skateboard Wheels: Standard Wheel vs. Core Wheel

The basic distinctions in skateboard wheels are standard wheels and core wheels. In contrast to standard wheels (also referred to as “non-core wheels”), core wheels have a plastic core, harder than the rest of the wheel. This plastic core saves on weight and also helps the bearings stay in place, keeping them from being forced into the wheel.

2. Skateboard Wheels: How to choose your wheels

When purchasing wheels, you should make sure that the size and hardness fit your setup and your skating style. Don’t panic though; we’ll let you know what’s up with the different wheel sizes, levels of rigidity, and contact patch.

2.1 Skateboard Wheels: The right height

Skateboard wheels come in different sizes. The size specification indicates the diameter of the wheels and is given in millimeters (mm). In general, skateboard wheels have a diameter between 50 mm and 59 mm. Anything bigger is not suitable for your skateboard and is intended for cruisers or longboards.*

 

* Our recommendation is meant for street skateboarding purposes. Here it is common to use wheels with a diameter up to 59 mm. Of course, you can also use larger wheels like the 60mm Bones SPF wheels for a skateboard setup. However, these are more likely to be used for specific setups (e.g., cruiser & filmer boards) or for vert skateboarding.

Smaller wheels accelerate faster and are lighter and more compact. However, their top speed is lower than larger wheels. Moreover, with bigger wheels, you’ll be on the safe side when riding on rough ground since they won’t be stopped by each and every little stone that crosses your path. Larger wheels are devoted to reaching higher speeds and are more durable.

So, to break it all down for you: For street skateboarding use small wheels between 50 – 53mm, for small ramps and mini-ramps use mid sized wheels from 53 – 56 mm, for vert skateboarding, use larger wheels up to 59 mm.

For beginners and anyone who’s undecided, we recommend all-around wheels with a diameter of 53-56mm. This size range is currently the most popular with skaters.

 

Skateboard Wheels: Suggested Sizes Based On Your Trucks

When buying skateboard wheels, you should check to make sure your wheel size fits with your setup. What’s crucial here is your truck selection. When your trucks and wheels aren’t right for each other, you’ll end up with some nasty wheel bites.

What are Wheelbites?
A wheelbite is the result of your deck coming into contact with your wheels. If you skate with large wheels, the distance between them and the skateboard deck is smaller. Landing tricks and hard turns can produce this unpleasant meeting of deck and wheel, leading to a very abrupt and likely painful stop.

 

As you might have guessed, bigger wheels also require higher trucks. Of course, with big wheels and high trucks your entire setup will be a bit higher. There are two things you should keep in mind with such a setup:

1. During the pop-off, the tail has to go a long distance until it hits the ground. Consequently, the angle of your board will be steeper and Ollies (theoretically) will be higher. If you’ve got enough power and long legs this shouldn’t be a problem, but small skaters and beginners could face some hard times here.

2. Since the board is higher above the ground than with small wheels and low trucks, you’ll have to bend your knees more while pushing. This can become quite exhausting.

Should your wheel size not fit your trucks, you can use shock or riser pads to increase the distance between your deck and wheels.

2.2 Skateboard Wheels: The right hardness

Another thing to keep in mind when purchasing skateboard wheels is the level of rigidity.

HOW IS THE HARDNESS OF SKATEBOARD WHEELS DESCRIBED?

The hardness of skateboard wheels is given in Durometers, with the unit of “A.” This so-called A Scale is a 100-point scale, with skateboard wheels ranking between 75A and 100A. The higher the number, the harder the wheels.

Since the A Scale can only accurately describe wheels up to a hardness level of 100A and gets imprecise with high values, brands like Bones Wheels use an additional scale to more precisely describe wheels with a durometer of 101A – 104A.

On this “B Scale”, around 20 additional units are represented. To clarify, a Bones 83B wheel corresponds to a 103A, and an 84B wheel corresponds to a 104A. These wheels are substantially harder than the wheels on the A scale.

WHICH HARDNESS DO I NEED?

Soft skateboard wheels have more grip, are quieter, and absorb irregularities in the ground better than hard wheels. Because of this, they slide less than hard wheels and are a bit slower. Below you can find out which individual degree of hardness is most suitable for you.

2.3 Skateboard Wheels: The right contact patch

After the diameter and hardness level, selecting the right contact patch is the last criterion you have to do decide on when selecting the right wheels for your skateboard.

This area refers to the part of the wheel that stays in contact with the ground

Slim Wheels and Basic Wheels differ fundamentally in that Basic Wheels have a contact patch of 18-20mm, where as the range of Slim Wheels is 15-17mm. Because of this, the friction is minimized when skating and sliding, making narrow wheels particularly suitable for technical skating.

Fun Fact: All info about the diameter, hardness, and contact patch of a wheel can be found in our item descriptions. Additionally, you can use the filter options to easily find the level of hardness or brands you’re looking for!

3. Skateboard Wheels: Assembly, Bearing removal, Maintenance

Here, you can find out how to get the bearings into the wheels and how to mount the wheels on your trucks. We’ll also tell you how to get the bearings back out of your wheels, and how you can extend the longevity of your wheels and what to do if they stop rolling.

3.1 Skateboard Wheels: Assembly

We’ll show you exactly how to mount your wheels on your trucks and how to get the bearings into your wheels in our Skateboard Assembly Instructions and in the comprehensive video below. Make sure that you don’t use excessive force when attempting to insert your bearings, as not to damage the wheel core or bearing. Your wheels should be neither too loose nor too tight on the axle. Try to give your wheels just enough space for clearance.

3.2 Skateboard Wheels: Bearing removal

This is how you get bearings out of the wheel

3.3 Prolonging the lifespan of your wheels

3.4 Skateboard Wheels: Your wheels aren’t turning?

There are several reasons as to why your skateboard wheels might not rotate properly. First you should check to make sure the axle nut isn’t too tight and that the area between the bearings, speed ring, axle, and/or axle nut isn’t too dirty. If that is the case, unscrew the wheels and clean the parts with a damp cloth.

If your wheels still aren’t turning, the problem probably lies in your bearings. It’s likely they just need to be cleaned. Learn how to properly clean your bearings in the Bearings Wiki. If after all that, your wheels still aren’t working, it’s time for some new bearings.

Still have questions?

One thing we haven’t mentioned yet that has an impact on the speed and sliding performance of skateboard wheels is the urethane mixture. Brands are using different mixtures that also have an influence on a wheel’s performance. Unfortunately, there is hardly any information about the urethane compounds used by the various manufacturers. Therefore, it is possible that wheels with the same specifications as hardness (durometer), diameter, riding surface, etc., will perform differently. Thus, it makes sense to simply give another brand a try if you weren’t 100% satisfied with your last wheels.

If you still have questions or suggestions, you can leave a comment under this post, send us an email through our contact form, or ask our customer service team for advice in choosing the optimal wheels.

You can find other interesting information on skateboard decks, wheels, bearings, bolts and more in the skatedeluxe Skateboard Wiki. To ensure that the deck, trucks, and wheels, as well as the bearings and bolts, fit together, we have created the skatedeluxe Skateboard Configurator. This allows you to easily display your individual selections and create a completely customized skateboard in six simple steps.

Below you can find an overview of the most well-known special technology in the skateboard wheel business. Have fun skating!

Additional interesting pages & links:

  SKATEBOARD WHEELS IN THE SKATEDELUXE SKATE SHOP   TRY OUT THE SKATEDELUXE SKATEBOARD CONFIGURATOR