Originally published at: https://esk8.news/trampa-gummies-a-comprehensive-review/
Tired of getting holes in expensive pneumatic tires? Want to be the experimentalist in your group rides? Trying to look like a pretentious ass telling everyone else “you can’t afford this”? Have I got the solution for you. Trampa Gummies are amazing, and quite a lot better than they seem at first glance. However, they are only worth it if you are in a very specific set of circumstances. These are Trampa’s hand-poured urethane alternative to “Stickies”, which are what you get if you want something larger than 90mm from them. According to real-world measurements, they have a 44mm wide contact patch (relatively thin for today’s esk8 wheels) and 127mm diameter.
An interesting bit of ‘thane
What is odd about these is the 17.5mm of urethane between the ground and the hub, compared to 31mm on the Abec 107mm wheels. If you happen to be concerned about the thickness of the urethane, you are not alone. Thin urethane commonly means a much more brutal ride, since more vibrations are transferred to your feet.
Diagram of Gummies profile credit to Pedro Paganini De Mio
Think about it this way: 80mm Kegels have just 17mm of urethane between the ground and the core, and many riders prefer them especially in soft durometers. Additionally, Trampa has taken a few steps to ensure that the thickness of the urethane is not a dealbreaker. For one, a 125mm wheel itself is big enough to dampen more vibrations than your average wheel. You think 107s roll over everything? These will too.
Other than just the large size, there are two big manufacturing choices that Trampa made which contribute to the comfort of the most peculiar hybrid wheels we’ve seen yet. The first is hand-poured 75A urethane. Soft as hell, and feels smoother than the 90mm 75a Abecs that I had in hand to test with. The second is the curved edge with an overhang. Although the inner part of the urethane comes in contact with the inside layer of hub when put together, the outer area of the sleeve with the curved edge (about 6mm out of the 44mm contact patch) has a few mm of gap. This means that when turning, that 6mm area compresses more than the rest of the urethane, allowing for harder and smoother carving. Current tests have shown that the urethane returns to normal position after hard carving and does not deform easily.
Issues
The only potential “issue” with the wheel itself that I’ve uncovered so far has been several bubbles, found in the inner layer of the urethane. I’ve been assured by Trampa that this is a normal result of hand-poured urethane and that it will not affect ride quality.
So – why buy these at all?
The Gummies are outrageously expensive compared to many alternatives out there, and although ride quality is great because of some fine decisions made by Trampa, it simply is not worth it for the average rider. Boom. There, I said it. But the answer to your question is this: Hybrid builds. I purchased these at full price when I was tired of dealing with pneumatic wheel troubles, and since the Gummie urethane is a sleeve for normal mountainboard hubs, it is super fast to transition from pneumatics to urethane. Same hub, same gears, same bearing size – totally different feel and longevity. I am not the richest kid on the block and these made a decent dent in my pocket, but so far the investment has paid off quite nicely. If you have a street build – go with Abec. If you have a mountainboard – stick to pneumatics. But if you built a mountainboard and don’t want to keep wasting that expensive pneumatic rubber on bad roads – get Gummies. They even come in multiple colors so you can stand out even more than you already do.
Rating:
Quality: 10/10
Price: 2/10
Feel: 7/10
Aesthetic: 10/10
Reliability: 8/10
Durability: 8/10
That brings the total to 45/60.
