When it comes to fine-tuning your ride and getting the most out of your Evolve electric skateboard, there's one thing that is going to make the biggest difference to your board's top speed, acceleration, braking and grip: the wheels. Skateboard wheels are a crucial piece of the endless wave puzzle. After all, they're the thing that attaches you and your board to the pavement, so you best make sure you're riding on some top quality rubber.
Whether you've just got the latest electric skateboard and now you're looking for ways to trick it up, or maybe you're wanting to try and change the way you ride and get a different sensation from the board. Changing your wheels is going to be the fastest way to get your desired ride.
Without further ado, let's take a look at some of the results that changing wheels can lead to, and what you might want to change in order to get the desired feeling from your board.
Street Versus All Terrain
The first and most substantial difference that can come from wheel choice is where your board will be able to take you. This is the beautiful thing about our boards, they're versatile. And with a bit of tweaking, you're able to take them to any number of places. Imagine the faces of mountain bikers as you blaze past them on a forest track! Priceless. If this is enticing to you, but you're currently atop one of our street-focused boards, don't worry! All you need is a conversion kit, which comes with all of the new shoes (and gearing mods) that your board needs to hit the trails!
The opposite option is also possible. Say you got yourself an all terrain board, thrashed the hills for a while and now you want to hit the street. Sure your all terrain wheels will take you there, and they'll still do a pretty solid job (they are ALL terrain after all.) but it's fair to say that if you're planning on riding with your buddies that have street wheels, there might be a bit of a gulf in performance to get over. This is easily solved as well, grab one of our kits and slap on some high quality street wheels so that you can smash pavement like there's no tomorrow! Electric skateboarding is a wide and varied hobby, there's something for everyone.
What are electric skateboard wheels made of?
Generally, electric skateboard wheels (and most regular skateboard wheels out there) are made from a combination of rubber-like materials that, when combined, make a material called polyurethane.
What can I get out of changing my little round bits of polyurethane you ask? We're so glad you did. Here's where it becomes a bit more of a fine-tuning exercise rather than completely changing the environment you ride in. But don't be fooled, once you get the right wheels on your board, you'll notice a pretty radical difference in its capabilities.
The different street wheels have a few different properties that are worth looking out for, these are what will change your ride.
Durometer rating
The first is the durometer rating of the wheels. The durometer rating is basically a scale used to explain how hard or soft the wheels are. Electric skateboards are closer to longboards than traditional skateboards, so as a result, they have fairly soft wheels when compared to normal skateboards.
How does this affect the board? Simply put, the lower the durometer rating of the wheels, the more grip the board will have when turning, there will also be a slightly more 'padded' feeling to the board when riding it. If you've ever ridden a classic popsicle board on super hard wheels and felt every single twig and crack in the pavement then you know what we mean. Less of that basically. There is also a reduction in the amount of wheel noise when using softer wheels.
The opposite of this is if you go for a higher numbered wheel on the durometer rating, you'll find that they are a little bit less grippy but quite direct with their handling. This can mean that you have a bit more leeway to slide the board around when you want to.
Diameter
The diameter of your skateboard wheels will play a key role in deciding the overall top speed of your board, as well as the braking and acceleration performance. Gearing also has a major role to play in these characteristics but from the perspective of the wheels, bigger = faster.
By having a larger diameter your wheels can pick up more speed (Indycars don't use go-kart wheels for a reason) compared to smaller wheels. But smaller wheels have their uses too, not everyone wants a crazy top speed, they just want to reach it quickly. For those riders, the smaller-diameter wheels will be best.
What electric skateboard wheels are good for beginners?
As a beginner, you're looking to build confidence and get a grounding in the core skill set of electric skateboarding. With this in mind, doing mad slides and hitting ludicrous top speeds probably should be saved for when you have more experience. So for beginners, we would suggest finding a wheel that is on the softer side to maximise grip, and on the smaller side to get the most braking performance. Then once you're comfortable and confident you can whack on some hard wheels and send it around every turn.
Street Wheels
Evolve 97mm, 76A
If you’re looking for an all-round wheel that’s going to give you a great balance of both speed and agility then this wheel is going to be spot on. Luckily for our customers, these are the normal wheels we fit to the GTR and Hadean boards.
The 97mm wheel is pretty much in the middle of the road for size and the 76A durometer is similarly central, although more towards the softer end of the scale. Still great for sliding though!
Evolve/ABEC 107mm, 74A
Made for the chillers who want the smoothest ride they can possibly get. With the super soft 74A compound these wheels are going to feel like carving on clouds.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t fast though, we even put a warning in the description about how much faster they make your board. The Hadean street boards can hit 33mph with these!
Caguama 85mm, Blue 77A
The softest of three compounds from Caguama, this is a wheel that’s going to suit someone looking for maximum grip for carving pavements. The standard fitment for our Stoke series boards, these 85mm options has less rolling resistance, leading to some gains in acceleration, with a minor sacrifice to the overall top speed.
Caguama 85mm, Orange 80A
So you’re a rider that knows they want a reactive ride. You know you want a balance between torque and speed AND you know you love bright colours. Well then, we know you’ll love Orange 80A from Caguama.
80A on the durometer scale is going to allow you to start some slides without sacrificing too much outright grip for carving.
Caguama 85mm, Purple 83A
This wheel is going to offer a very interesting riding experience to all our potential shredders. The 83A compound is towards the harder end of the scale when it comes to stiffness. This is going to allow for some great slides for riders to really express themselves. Another great thing about this wheel is that you won’t be needing to replace it anytime soon, as the hard compound is much more resistant to wear than the softer options.
All Terrain Tires
6” All Terrain Tire
Are you a keen pavement rider but think you’ll be needing a bit more functionality from your board from time to time? You’d love the 6-inch all-terrain tire.
7” All Terrain Tire
The 7-incher gives riders a higher top speed due to the slightly longer diameter tire. For dirt and gravel riding this tire also offers a bit more ground clearance to help get over those bumps easier.
Off Road Tires
7” Off Road Tire
It’s important to ask yourself what you really want to be doing with your Evolve Electric skateboard to inform your tyre choice. If your answer to that question is to take it mainly to the trails with minimal commuting, then this is the tire for you.
