Let’s focus on the modern-day skate wheel for a minute.
Forget about downhill slalom sponges or vertical bulldozers – what’s relevant here is the contemporary spheres of urethane that street skaters use to roll around and stay stuck to the road with.
Essentially I can only see three choices on the market: generic blank blobs, original grippy fuckers or the hyped up cores.
You don’t want to buy the generic blanks because their chemical compound was probably mixed by an eighth grader, and the original grippy fuckers aren’t reliable for white balance when you are filming your ‘part’. So, now we see why the core trend has swept the wheel cabinet by storm- and everyone has their method! Initially, I kept my shit original grippy because the cores weren’t up to scratch- popping out, air bubbles, horrible colours, dual durometer madness… Things needed fine-tuning and today the standard is set.
Skateboarders can be a big bunch of nostalgic c***s at times, always reminiscing about the good ol’ days even thought they are blatantly stoked to see suits putting cash on the table in the long run. ( *cough* Bullet 66, OJ2… Z-Ed) I mention this because since Plan B got a second life, critics and personal opinions have not always been supportive of one of skateboarding’s landmark companies. It’s a been a steep hill to climb in the opinion polls for the new Plan B team, so their product definitely has to be setting the standard or one step ahead at all times. These 53mm cores are sitting nicely at the top of the pile of quality urethane.
They are hard, but that’s what the street generation want when they approach a curb. They don’t flatspot so it’ll take the smoothest of surfaces for you to hear otherwise. They stay white so your set-up looks fresh no matter what. That’s the top three criterions for a skate wheel to suffice. First the boards, now the wheels… You do know that Unquestionable is dropping sometime soon, right? $20 says you’re rocking Plan B gear by this Fall!
8.5/10
Ralph L-D
17.03.07