Choosing the right wheels size for your board ain’t that hard. A lot of it comes down to how much you want to push and how high off the ground you want to be.
When it comes to street skating, I’ve always found it awkward to ride big wheels – your ollies seem sketchier with big weels and your flips become cumbersome. But that’s just me…
How Does The Sizing Work?
It’s pretty easy.
All skateboard wheels are measured in millimeters. And all they are measuring is the height (or width) of the wheel.
Skateboard wheels are usually measured by diameter with units of millimeters..
The inner diameter (where your bearings go), never matters and you’ll never see a dimension for that hole.
Street Skating
If you have no idea what to pick, then get 52mm wheels. That’s probably the most common street skating wheel size. If like speed and don’t like pushing much, then get something a little bigger, like 54mm. And definitely, if you like to skate parks get a bigger wheel. Again, 54mm is probably perfect.
If you’re just starting out and are really trying to get your tricks down, you MIGHT want to try a smaller wheels like 51 or 50mm. Some people like taking it slow when trying tricks. However, some find that rolling easier is more helpful – so that will be your call.
Longboarding
Stay above 60mm. And go soft. The key to longboarding is to be able to absorb the impact from big cracks and road hazards. The bigger the wheels, the easier it will be to ride right through that stuff.
Filmer Boards – If you’re going to make a filmer board to get footy, then we recommend 60mm softies. There is an old filmers’ tale that says they need to be black and soft. Not sure where they came from…
Our Suggestion
Bones wheels are probably the safest bet when coming to quality. However, all dedicated skate wheels companies produce good wheels these days. Unfortunately, our favorite wheel company of all time no longer is in business. It was called Accel, and the made the best wheels and had a ridiculous guarantee. I think if you ever got a flat spot they would replace your wheels for free.
