Nowadays, There are diverse wheels that keep debuting on the market, Many companies toward on developing new wheels to engage more e-skateboard zealots. New wheels continuously debut, and many new users may be attracted by the appearance of the wheels, but is it useful in your build? What spec listed on the wheel detail is important? Omni Esk8 give you the answer.
What spec is important for the wheel?
There are 3 specs that are important for the e-skateboard wheel, which I would like to share: Durometer, Diameter, Width and contact patch
1. Durometer(A)
Like the way we measure the bushing's hardness, we use the same way the (durometer) to measure the Urethane wheel. The hardness scale from A, B, to D, literally all the skateboard companies are using scale A in measurement. It is not a perfect way to measure the wheel hardness but offers you a general idea. If you bought a 78A wheel from this company and compare it with the same wheel from another company, you might find that it's a different hardness.
Each hardness of the Urethane wheel changes the feeling while riding drastically, from 78A TO 100A
| Hardness | Pro | Con |
| Hard | Solid | Wheel is easy to get slide on wet road. |
| Durable | Crazy vibration on the roughly road. | |
| Less friction | ||
| Longer range | ||
| Soft | Nice Grip | Easy to get cracked on gravel. |
| Better vibration absorb | Big friction caused less range. | |
| Comfortable |
2. Diameter
The Diameter decides the top speed and the acceleration of your skateboard. If you look for stability and speed, the bigger wheel meets all your needs. If you need faster acceleration and a lighter wheel for tricks, the smaller wheel can handle all of these in all aspect. Wheels 65 mm and below are often for cruising, skate park, and other trick disciplines. 65-75 mm are for cruising, downhill, and pumping boards. 75 mm+ are for cruising, long-distance, and Esk8. The diameter of the wheel offers us a general idea of the wheel size affection, but all the size categories have exceptions.
3. Width and contact patch
The width and contact patch of the wheel aren't always the same measure. The width of the wheel refers to measuring from edge to edge. The amount of the width that contacts the ground is called the contact patch. The contact patch of the wheel and width can be the same if the wheel is square In-shape. One of the deciding factors on how easy the wheel slides is the contact patch. The bigger the contact patch is, the more grip you got, contrarily the smaller wheel, the easier it to slide.
Different material
Street wheel (Urethane)
The street wheel is one of the essential wheels of the e-skateboard, it fitted all the board. The street wheel is made of Urethane to offer less friction for a longer range and solid durability with less cracked, as the title the people gave, this wheel is the King of urban pavement, you can cruise the longest range with this wheel.
Pneumatic Tires
The pneumatic tires use the rubber for the external tire and typically got an Air tube inside. We can say it's a mini version of your bike tire. This tire has a great performance to absorb the shock and bring you a smoother ride. You even obtain more traction on an uneven surface with a thicker tread. Typically, if you bought an off-road electric skateboard. The pneumatic tires are the premium choices. Compare with the Urethane wheel, you have another advantage is that you can adjust the wheel's firmness by adding or releasing the Air in the tube. But there is a limitation to the range, don't overfill or underfill the air in the tube. It's not easy to get to slide like the urethane wheel. And another drawback is that they can go pop if punctured. Anyhow, they are in the top class of the off-roading.
Offroad Urethane Wheels
The hybrid urethane wheel tends to be another off-road option. These wheels have a larger size than a regular urethane wheel and have a texture on the contact patch. The cloud wheel and MBS wheels are the 2 main wheels of this category. These wheels are good for light off-road and street. Peoples have the consensus in the Esk8 community that if you plan to go off-road you should change to a pneumatic or honeycomb wheel instead since they perform better off-road.
Conclusion
The choice of the wheel also depends on the road terrain you need to face every day. There is no best wheel, but fit. We can summarize it:A soft wheel (rubber, inflatable) absorbs shocked perfect, a hard wheel gives you more cruise range, a bigger wheel helps you across the gravel and rock, the small wheel gives you more pushback. Make the choice or try out all of them.