I have to start this review by saying I am generally not a fan of big PU wheels. My favorite and standard wheels for my street board are the blue 85mm 77a Orangatang Caguamas, these are for me the perfect electric skateboarding wheel. I am also blessed with having the choice between my street board and a fairly capable off road board
So really, I am not the target market for these wheels. That said I put them to the test and here are my honest thoughts on these crossover wheels.
The Slick revolution Foamies are the first mixed material wheels I have ever had in my hands. They come in 120mm diameter with a contact patch of 40mm under compression and have a hardness rating of 78a with a offset ABEC style core. In my hands they did not feel as soft as I was expecting; the unused 77a kegels sat on my shelf complied a lot easier under pressure and I wondered if these wheels were going to be a little hard like the old Rough Stuff wheels. I noticed that they have a new tread pattern now, more like MBS than the old wheels.
I put them on my board and immediately realised I needed longer belts as well as two extra speed rings to get the pulley to sit right. Unfortunately I didnt have longer belts so the motor pulley did touch the wheel for the first couple of miles. I love the colour on them, it’s a really nice see through purple.
Street
Helmet on, out the door and 100m later to my suprise these wheels are actually softer than I was expecting. Grip is good, a lot more than the mk1 RS for sure and the wear patch is twice the size of the old wheels. I can feel a large torque reduction and an increase of top speed but at high speed I feel unstable, I’m initially not sure if it’s me being rusty as I have been on the trampa so much or the wheels but after a couple of miles I realise that it’s the way the wheels are complying. After a few miles I was used to it and it wasnt a problem anymore. Grip increases as the wheels get warm and I could carve hard on them, the wheels gripping on the edges keeping me from sliding out.
Off road
I then took the board into the grass which was interesting, no PU wheel is good on long grass, grip isnt there and the ground was undulating so I moved into the woods. Again undulating terrain but the wheels had lots of grip on the compounded earth and it was fun. Out of the woods and onto a loose gravel track was always going to be sketchy, but I managed to stay on and surfed my way to the end.
On the way home I really carved as hard as I could getting the wheels nice and hot and I noticed that the wheels love being warm, they get softer and more grippy and perform well. The wheels have wear across the whole width of the tread from the off road part of the ride and a more pronounced wear patch from the road contact.
So what are my final thoughts? Well I think they work well for mixed terrain riding but I think air filled tyres perform better in this role. I could see why you might prefer to run PU though and in that case (if you like big wheels) I can reccomend them. They are soft, grippy and gave me lots of confidence to push them as hard as I could.
I wish they were a little cheaper, but I say that about most esk8 stuff. I think this is a solid attempt at a mixed terrain wheel and I give them a thumbs up.
Video review incomming, will post it here
. What do you think about them?
