The History of Skateboard Wheels 

What wheels are you currently riding and why?!

I remember in early 2000’s it didn’t really matter what wheels you skated, because they were all the same, just different graphics and brand. I started skating again in late 2022, so I got some whatever wheels, not knowing how much the technology changed, but then I got some SF formula 4, and my whole world changed… what a difference!

I was the first kid in my school to have urethane wheels. That was 1974, 6th grade. I had my mom drive me to a surf shop in Newport Beach to buy them. Four gleaming, amber, Roller Sports urethane wheels. So smooth, so quiet, so grippy!

I made my first "skateboard", around 1962, out of a piece of 3/4" x 4" pine and some metal wheel strap-on skates bolted to it. It was murder on the smooth sidewalks of the hospital across the street from our house. I was 8 at the time, and I survived it with no protective gear! My second build was around 1969, out of 1" x 8" doug fir and clay wheels, that I rattle can painted in a psychedelic paisley pattern on while in a closed garage, ...I wound up puking my guts out soon after due to lack of ventilation. Bought my last skateboard in 1977, a bowl rider (don't recall the brand), Tracker Trucks with wedges, OJ wheels with germs, and added some anti-skid tape on top. Riding Timberline Road, and Mary's Peak in Oregon was awesome!

Our family moved to Southern California in 1973. Around that time, my dad bought a Hobie maharaja skateboard with clay wheels for us kids as a novelty trinket/toy. Then, for my 12th birthday (in 1975), my parents gave me a Hobie fiber-flex with Road Rider wheels. These urethane wheels had only been out for a short while. That skateboard was a whole new ballgame and skating became my full-time obsession ... until I started surfing. It's really cool to have lived during that time.

Long-time subscriber: This is probably the best video you guys have done so far. Comment for the engagement - I hope this channel gets huge.

I remember Cadillacs coming out when I was in the fifth grade. We all wanted Cadillacs and Benett trucks back then. I still have scars on my arms and knees from hitting small rocks on my old clay wheels, and it bums me out that I didn't keep my old boards! I still have the very last board I rode back in the early 80s: a Powell deck with blue Gull Wing Pro trucks and 65mm green Kryptonics. I loved the video!

I remember when I got my first polyurethane wheels. My dad worked at a Aerospace firm and brought home some cased bearings that fit my wheels. I was STYLING!

I had a Peralta Powell board in '77 used mostly in a public swimming pool off season.

Interesting documentary, Shredz Shop. I appreciate your historical research and your inclusion of the roll that Vern Heitfield and Creative Urethanes played in the early PU wheel market. They started it all. They were also the only processor I spoke with in 1976 that thought they could pour the first Bones Double Radial MDI production wheels. Sadly, Vern's home made mixing equipment was not up to the task. They failed, and after a year of trying, I had to move to a processor in LA that had just purchased an expensive state of the art mixing machine that was able to mix the long ratios involved in manufacturing the new MDI material we pioneered. As our volume increased during the 1980's, we were able to purchase this processor, Rogers Manufacturing, and finally gain the ability to completely control our wheel manufacturing, and speed up our R&D dramatically. I thought it was an oversight on your part to omit our creation of the BONES SPF, and especially the STF that forced Spitfire to find out what we were doing to make such dramatically better wheels. In fact, Spitfire's F-4 is their version of Bones STF. Thanks for mentioning Dragon and X formulas. They are the next generation formulations that our competitors are trying to duplicate now, because they allow us to adjust the slide to grip ratio, roll faster, and absorb more vibration. Dragons and X formulas are game changing. Once again, this opens up new skate terrain, and makes skating more fun. Powell•Peralta and Bones wheel technology have consistently (since 1977) led skateboarding in developing new wheel shapes and polyurethane formulations to enable skaters to have more fun skating, expand skating's performance envelope, and to get more value out of their wheel purchases because of increased durability. Just saying, we are the leader.

Nice one! Currently riding Kryptonics 76As...real blast from the past as well.

Whoa wtf I grew up in Sacramento and when I was 13 I moved to WV just 20 minutes from Purcelville. That’s insane! I’ve been skating for 22 years and had no idea I lived by the birthplace of my passion!

Love my Dragon wheels. Have them in 52 mm for daily riding , 54 for curbs, and 58 for cruising and curbs. So smooth on east coast pavement.

Underrated channel. So many nights I've dove into your videos to learn up on random pieces of history I never knew about. I'm 35 and just getting back into riding, and to see a lot of tidbits and topics I never knew about or cared to know about back when I was a kid is just interesting to me as an adult. Keep it up!

I started on a Black Knight skateboard with clay wheels on country roads. We rode 2 miles to get to the only sidewalk is a nearby village (no, not uphill in the snow :)). Between Cadillac and Road Riders 2s we rode Roller Sports with loose bearings. We learned a lot as kids trying to service loose-ball wheels with their races and cups. I remember Power Paws and a bunch of dumb super-wide 'Bowl' wheels in the 70s. Kryptonics were happening in mixed colors, etc. I begged my dad to visit Tom Sims' garage in SB to get me a set of Gyro wheels with the nylon bearing seats. I got a set with 2 black on 2 white. Punk Rock. We later rode big 66mm Bullet Speed Wheels on the SF hills while the cool kids were on micro wheels and wearing size 54 waist Ben Davis. Times.

You could get 32mm wheels from UFO. They used to have ads in Thrasher in 93/94

My first Skateboard wheel are Road Riders. Second were Kryptonics green for my Skateboard and red for my Rollerskates. Nowadays I am riding Slimeballs Snakes 60mm 97A, Dragons in 58mm, 60mm and 64mm, G Bones 64mm 97A, mini Cubics 95A and nano Cubic 52mm & 60mm 97A on my Carver Surfskates

Keeping the history alive is important for the whole world of skateboarding and this video does a great job at that.

My friends mom used to work for Kryptonics back in the late 70$ early 80$. She was the president of the company's assistant so she would always bring us new kinds of wheels to see what we thought of them and her boss didn't care how old you were if you didn't like something about one of the wheels he would make sure to pair you with exactly what you were wanting to get out of the wheel. We were decked out with 4 or 5 pairs of skates and I remember having 12 22inch "Long Boards"!!! And I believe Kryptonics were the first to come out with multiple colors on the same wheel! I still have that best friend today after 45+yrs and I know I kept 1 board and gave it to my son when he was 12! One thing we had the advantages of doing were taking roller skating wheels and putting them on boards and vice versa.!

You Guys are on a ROLL , amazing Vid as always! Much Love ❤🤘🏻🛹🇿🇦

I skated bones for probably 10 years. But 2 years ago i was skating an indoor park with a brand new set of STFs and i couldn't stop sliding around. I tried my first set of F4s afterwards and its my favorite wheel now.

I had Cadillac wheels and Chicago trucks, I was so jealous of the dudes riding Road Rider 4's lol. I saved up a while and got Bennett's and some Kryptonics! Game changer!

Had a lot of different wheels. Gotta say huge cruiser wheels are the greatest invention, feels like a magic carpet and makes me hate my street set up😂

A wheelie cool and informative video! Thanks Levi, you legend!

I was 13 in 74 and went through the early iterations- Cadillacs with loose bearings (a bitch to do anything with), Road Riders with precision bearings (incredibly quiet). Orange Kryptonics so soft you could twist them off the truck. There were some goofy design extremes put out by opportunistic entrepreneurs- those would make a fun history video. Thank you, this was fun.

I was riding Vision Blurs on my Gonz back in the 80’s.

I was skating in the 90s (began in the mid 80s) and i went through the small wheel fad and man it was tiring pushing it around bc you didn't roll very far like on big wheels. I also has bought some wheels that looked like it had mag rims on them. They were cool looking but man where they hard. They were made for riding ramp and i was a street skater. I ended up trading my brother in law those wheels for a suicidal tendencies (join the army) and Slayer (south of heaven cassette tape) and out my old wheeks back on. My mom uses to say i would get married with that skateboard in my hand i rode it so much. Lol

i live in the UK, my Dad is nearly 75 now and he fondly remembers his skateboard having clay wheels when he was a kid.

In the seventies, I grew up in the San Fernando valley skating down Escalon near Havenhurst. I lost count of how many nasty eats I took on clay wheels. The tiniest pebble and you would go flying. This was a great video. Thank you. I eventually moved onto rollerblades, which would never have existed if it wasn’t for skateboard wheels.

When do Slime Balls come into the story??

It's insane that polyurethane, one of the most prolific modern materials, ever, was made popular by one dude brewing skate wheels in his garage.

Great fantastic video. Not a skater myself , but a roller skater from the 80s resurgence, always loved the art work associated with skating.. Very informative and well researched,, loved this historical insight, many thanks...

That´s a masterclass, guys. Congrats. At 45 There are many new information for me.

I haven't skated seriously in over 10 years, but back in the 80's I was heavily into flatland freestyle. It was then I discovered Cockroach Wheels, well at least, my brother did. He bought a set for his street board, which when worn out and too small for his liking, they were perfect for mine. So I got a "new" set of wheels every time my brother bought new wheels. YaY They were great wheels too. So many wheels sold as freestyle wheels of the time were had little if any dishing in the wheel, which meant scraped up axels and wheel nuts when the board was up on it's rail. The Cockroach wheel were quite dished, enough so only wood and urethane touched the ground.

In 1975, in South Africa, I had Caddillacs like those shown. Now nearly 50 years later I have 70mm Roundhouse. Last year I fell and shattered my hip and had to have a complete replacement. 3 months later I was riding again. Getting close to 70 but still riding. Hip replacement cost $40 000.

love your content and charisma!

Making wheels in a cupcake tray reminds me of Bill Bowerman making the first Nike waffle soles for Pre on his old lady's waffle iron. Thanks for the history lesson...I stopped skating early on because of the quartz rock roof we had on our house coming in contact with clay wheels daily and moved on to bicycles.

Awesome and very detailed video as usual, thanks for teaching us about the history and industry of skateboarding again. Now I'm on Powell's Nano cubic 93A dragon formula wheels most of the time. I also have Spitfire formula 4 for skateparks.

I didn’t realize that the first skateboards were massed produced in the town next to mine

This was a fantastic docu.

Such memories. Up in NorCal i was out by the small wheel days but by the second half of the 70s was rolling lots of Bones and hanging at Mitch Haake's shop in Belmont/San Carlos and trying all his new Tunnel wheels and decks. Good times. 😆

Ive skate since '84. Rode as big as Bullet 66 and as small as Union 42s. Ive gotta say the Spitfire Radial Full 54mm are possibly my favorite wheel of all time. Until these came out OJII Team Riders held my #1 for decades. Just my own opinion.

Wow , thank You for this important information❤❤❤❤

you mentioned REAL small Wheels! stoked!

My history of wheels was Road Rider 4 to Kryptonic, Blackhearts to Bones, spitfire, and now I ride Goodyear radials.

I ride a lot of Speedlab Wheels, Ouro Skateboard Wheels, and Bones X Formula. All this was after a 25 year streak of only riding Spitfires.

I'm riding Arrow wheels, an Australian brand, and thy're quite good, but I just ordered some X-formula for a new DIY spot that's pretty rough surface

Right now I have some OJ wheels and they are 45mm, they are great because they remind me of the 90s and also the tricks are more masterable

Great video on the history of skate wheels. However a bit of an explanation about the difference between the types of wheels would be nice

Yo guys, u gotta keep posting clips like dat, shit is fire frr!!!

I got a fibreglass skateboard with caddilac wheels back in 87-88. It was probably made in the 70s. A Swedish man bought 100 boards on sale from californian shop and brought it with him to Sweden. The bearings broke when I tried my first ollies.

Pretty sure that World Industries/Blind/101 made some 36.5mm wheels in the early 90s.

Rictus and I’m still rolling in them, mostly riding but they still putting in work. I got the OJ wheels for my Alva board years ago they where dummy smooth, hella gripped and everything but they tore after not much shredding, I still like them but only if they could have lasted longer that would have been legit. Since then I have my spitfires and plan on buying another set when the time comes again. PURO PATINAR!!!!!!!

This channel is fantastic great work as usual.

Loved watching this!!! So good

Great vid. Thanks.

In 1978 I was riding a Haut Lama Flex with mid-tracks and Sims Comp II's. A friend of mine wanted to trade his red Kryptonics 70mm's for my Comp II's and 46 years later I am still riding those red Kryptonics!

Great video!

Surprised you didn't mention the "core" craze of the early 2000's. I remember how much I loved my Spitfire hollow core wheels. After I couldn't find them anymore I jumped on the 80HDs and eventually into the Formula 4. I've been on the Conical Full 58mm for a few years now. Love em.

Thanks for the info ❤

I recently found an old Road Rider sticker in the drawer and put it on my notebook for my everyday 70s vibe. I was not aware that they were pioneers. Thanks for the lecture. But my riding favorite were the red 65 Kryptonics. I bought several of them and they still work today - the smoothest ride on rough asphalt.

I wheelie enjoyed watching this !!! Keep up the good work 😁😁😁

Skating the Ryan Decenzo Bones. Beautiful artwork with the Mermaid on them.

I love my Dragon wheels and as an older guy I appreciate the smooth ride, game changers but would love more noise though. Great video dudes, with the whole history. Right on! 🤘🏼

Rad vid!!! Please make more of these "history of" videos so I can nerd out on the evolution of my skate gear! Re my own experience: Bones SPF still can't be beat on smooth concrete. Spit Formula 4 ruled the street for many years. It has been exciting to see the new generation of wheel formulas come to market, especially the Bones X Formula 97 and 99a. They've taken out Spitfire F4 99a as King of the Street IMO. I recently tried OJ double duro and loved them, so fast and so smooth - up there with SPF in terms of speed. They work really well in older, more crusty parks but they are no Dragon (XF) Slayer!

No!!! The Double Vision came out 2 years before Barnyard! Street skating has always been there! They bribed a guy at Vision to give them a copy. Thanks for mentioning Gator in the vid btw he was my favorite skater that was pro but my best friend down the street was the best skater living....props to my bestie Nick

I skated bones STFs since I discovered powersliding and came upon the fact wheels actually wear and flatspot as a consequence (I was a kid, unaware of the fact that skate wheels wear down). Then Bones came up with the “Easy Streets” (a softer STF I think) so I moved to those. Finally Powell came up with Dragons and Bones with Formula X a little after; I have been in between those 2, not sure which one I like better.

I’ve been riding Powerflex for the past 5+ years. Love ‘em! They never wear out. Also, great video!

Cool vid. I have a set of black Alva Hard Cores. Aluminum core. I think they are 90a. Were on a Bill Danforth Skull complete I bought for 60 bucks back in the mid 90s. I bought everybody's old boards that were sitting in the garage or shed. All wall hangers. Got some old Thunders & Gullwings. 97a Hosoi wheels. Slimeballs etc....

I remember back in the 70s, I really didn't like Bones but the different color and composition Kryptonics were the wheels of choice mounted on Gullwing trucks on super wide Sims decks, of course with Pizza Tape. Just thinking about it, I had a flash on a 45 year old memory of the Skircle. 😂😂😂

very nice video, learned a lot :D. Can you guys maybe also make on of these abour board shapes?

What ever else you need to know feel free to ask me. My first board was home made with metal wheels. That board eventually go upgraded to clay. The last set of wheels I bought were NOS Santa Cruz speed wheels OJs. that was 4 years ago. I'm still skating them. I'm 58. Old guys kick ass. Your welcome all you Young skaters for people like me who will always be promoting the sport.

This was great, super well made, homework accomplished lol

Great vid❤❤❤❤❤

Great video your content rocks..im currently using bones reaper series wheels on my blood wizard mercyful fate deck 😅

Tracker trucks or gullwing trucks and kryptonics wheels on a hobie board, loved the late 70'.

And Another Great Video !

58mm dragons cant see life without them

Dope video and great history would appreciate more of these types of episodes! I’m skating spitfires 54mm at the park currently and ojs for when I’m cruising around my building and city just trying to relax.. I’m curious how those 58mm spitfire og classics feel ?

We got a spiiiiicy one! 🤌

My first job was working at the “stake board department” of a bicycle shop. We sold a boat load of Kryptonics. Different colors for different hardnesses. The market was up and down so I became a bike mechanic. Great job.

Cadillac still make and sell the OG retros with the REG T.M. On it. Pretty dope that the oldest wheel company is still making the oldest wheels.

I'm so old i started skating before the invention of the wheel.

Those wind-slateboarding and figure skater style duo tricks on a skateboard were funny to see. 😅

I dunno why this popped up in my feed but it reminded me I still have my old skateboard from the 70s in a bag with a set of pads hanging up in my mum's shed. 🤔

I am now a smarter human due to this video. Thank you.

The OG Classic is the old Ground Round. It all makes sense now. Im riding 97a F4s this year. 58mm. In 3 days ill have the 66.6 Big Beat Down if all goes well. Killer lil piece of art you made here guys.

I've been riding Spitfire wheels for the last 15 years and i will never change brands.

I have wheels from almost every company but I keep coming back to some bright green 52mm Powell Dragons. They're just too good.

A point in the 60's the wide but hard rough rubber wheel. I remenber buying my first board in 1965, they were some of the first sold that I remember.

I remember the object of my desires in the 70's were called Cryptonics. Does anyone else remember these?

for a while I was really digging Rat-Bones 90a on my cruiser and Mini-Logo hybrids 90-95a on my street setups. Since the Powell Dragons came out I'm hooked, best all around wheel I've ever skated.

Thinking about starting to skate again. Just doing slappies near my apartment and flatground. I live in NE Wisconsin though so a lot of parking lots and sidewalks even are jacked up. I used to just rock the lower duro F4s. 56mm Conical on my bigger setup and usually 52 classics on my flatground/manual setup. Hated the Bones STF I tried... WI terrain is just way too jacked. Even our good spots are sort of rough... also our good terrain is mainly skatelite indoor slippery ass stuff unless you're at a concrete park. Anyways I saw the Dragon Formula hype online though and that seems like a great wheel for flatground, slappies and skating a few blocks to the gas station. I'd ask Slap but I'm a kook that hasn't skated in ages. Thanks. Sorry about the wild long comment I'm ripping some rosin off the terp slurper and off them IPAs.

been skating some 101 52mm dgk wheels n i like em a lot never skating something this small

Boardy Cakes have been treating my skating well for a few years. They make early 90's inspired smaller wheels. Smaller wheels like 49mm to 46mm is what I like. Not everyone's jam, but they skate really well for me.

Back in the seventies Kryptonic greens were the ultimate wheels ! OJ,s were a close second

I’m riding boardy cake wheels 38mm.. I like them because it’s a step back to my days in the early 90s

I did a report in highschool on the history of skateboarding. I would of loved to have this video then. Currently riding Spitfire FF Conicals size 53's

I’ve tried many many diff wheels and duros. Spitfire lock ins 99duro is my fave!

Excellent history. I remember starting on steel wheels (diabolical), then what we called 'chalkies' which were white and wore down fairly quickly, then the polyurethane wheels seemed like the pinnacle of what could be used :) Yes, I'm old, and I wouldn't try a skateboard nowadays in fear of my life!