wheel wisdom from Cliff Coleman

On 8/13/1999 Lono wrote in from 205.215.xxx.xxx:

Mr. Coleman was kind enough to send me this email when I asked him about which wheels HE likes...

"Regarding which wheels are good for sliding, there is not a decent wheel out right now that I have seen. Most wheels are low durometer models and are designed to grip the road. It is still possible to slide them, but they are not as good as they could be for sliding.

First of all there are two types of sliding styles when skateboarding. One style is racing and the other is more of a downhill freestyle. Let's first talk about racing. For me I like to race steep and winding roads. This requires a different type of wheel than one would need for the more traditional style of racing that takes place currently. Currently the downhill races are more like drag races. They don't have sharp turns and are even straight line races sometimes. For a straight line race the softer, lower durometer wheels are the best. When you add sharp turns that are impossible to negotiate without sliding you need a different style of wheel. To handle winding roads at speed it is necessary to have a wheel that won't flat spot. If a rider slides a lot he/she will wear out wheels fast! Once you have a flat spot the wheel is ruined. Every time you slide the wheel will stop on the flat spot and it will get progressively bigger until the wheel is actually dangerous. A small flat spot will make the wheel sound like a bicycle with a card in the spokes. If you keep riding and the flat spot gets larger, eventually the board will simply spin right out from underneath you.

The best wheel I've found for racing winding roads is the "Super Mundo" made by "Hyper". First, the wheel has a good hub design. It is large enough to give a firm ride, yet the wheel still has enough urethane so that it will last more than just a few a slides. To try and make this easier to understand, with the old "Kryptonic" 70 mm wheels the hub was too small. After sliding this wheel for a while the urethane portion of the wheel will become smaller. When you slide after this happens the urethane portion of the wheel will actually squish into a bell shape. This loads a lot of energy that will be released when you exit the slide. Most riders are not ready for this and get pitched off the front of the board. The "Super Mundo" won't do this. I do wish the "Super Mundo" was slightly wider. With the new "Kryptonic", "Gravity" and other wheels with a similar hub, the hub is so large that if you slide very much the urethane will be worn off and the hub will become exposed. Now your wheel is ruined. This could happen in less than a day and sometimes in less than one skate run. The reason for the similarity of these wheels is that most of them are made by the same wheel manufacturer for the different companies and the hub design is the same for most of these wheels. I almost forgot, I haven't tried the "World Industries" wheel. I would like to! Large wheels that are about 95 durometer are very interesting to me.

Now, for downhill freestyle. If you are going to do a lot of slides you will need a wheel with a harder durometer!!! Soft wheels are faster when you don't slide. The irony is that they also slow you down faster than a hard wheel when sliding. It is nice to have a wheel that has control when sliding but will allow you to maintain your speed when exiting the slide. My favorite wheel is not produced anymore. It is the old "Powell Mini Cubic". This wheel doesn't have the durometer printed on the side of the wheel, but I've been told that it is a 95 durometer wheel. This wheel doesn't flat spot easily and has a wider surface area than most of the wheels out today. It has a very controled slide and will allow you to maintain speed when exiting the slide. I felt like shedding a tear when these were discontinued. Hard wheels are not the best for racing so most of the manufacturers aren't making them in the sizes we need for sliding. Consequently, most Longboarding wheels are soft and wear out too fast. It is IMPORTANT to state that even with all of the publicity that I have received for the "Coleman Slide" and my career of 39 years of skating, that I am not sponsored and have not had an opportunity to try all of the new wheels that are now on the market. I'm hoping to try the new "Cherry Bombs". They have a wide surface area, seem to be harder and have plenty of urethane to grind off while sliding to make them a long lasting wheel." (Note: He also spoke about trucks, which I have posted on the trucks section.)