Having trouble figuring out what skateboard wheels are made of? This article will help you to eliminate all your doubts.
Skateboard wheels are the most important part of a skateboard. Considering skateboard wheels features is extremely important, especially the hardness and material of wheels.
To choose the best skateboard wheels and identify their build quality, you need to know what materials they are made of.
As a result, this article answers your question about what are skateboard wheels made of, as well as the factors that affect their performance.
Table of Contents
What Are Skateboard Wheels Made Of
Skateboard wheels are usually made of synthetic rubber polymer known as polyurethane.
Skateboard wheels were made of steel or metal in the early 1900s. However, when polyurethane wheels were introduced, skateboard wheels makers realized that polyurethane wheels performed far better than steel or metal wheels.
There have been attempts to utilize clay wheels before polyurethane wheels were developed. However, these too were soon replaced by polyurethane wheels since none of the wheels fitted the skateboard.
Frank Nasworthy invented the polyurethane skateboard wheel in 1980 after all this failure. Nasworthy first made polyurethane wheels for roller skates, and then after seeing success with roller skates, he thought, why not make polyurethane wheels for skateboards? After these, polyurethane wheels entered the market and became the most widely used wheels.
Does Skateboard Wheels Matter?
It is true that skateboard wheels are essential parts of a skateboard as they determine your riding style, balance, speed, and surface to ride on.
Material, size, shape, and hardness are the most important factors to consider when buying skateboard wheels.
Furthermore, skateboard wheels matter, but no one can say which wheels are best for you. It all depends on your preferred style of riding. Therefore, if you want to learn about which wheels are best for your riding style, you should look at our other articles in the wheels category.
However, if you ride rough roads, you don’t have to find the criteria since we already wrote an article about the best skateboard wheels for rough roads here.
Shape Or Profile
As described above, the shape of the wheels also influences their performance. However, this might confuse you because of the variety of wheel shapes available in the market.
If you want to slide more easily, choose wheels with rounded edges. For better grip and to avoid slipping, choose wheels with sharp edges. In addition, if you want a smooth and effortless ride, select wheels with a large and wide surface.
Color
You may ignore this topic, but note that the color of the wheels also contributes to overall performance. Thus, if you’re serious about skateboarding, you must also pay attention to the color of the wheels.
You may have seen some people wheels with no color, and you have thought how boring that person is. In reality, it’s not as you thought. The wheels with no color add more balance to riding.
The pigment in the color wheels reduces the urethane and minimizes the contact with the ground. A simple explanation is since the urethane coating is in contact with the ground, no color wheels have full traction on the surface as no color wheels do.
The wheels without colors can also be dye to make them more attractive. With this, you’ll be able to perform better while looking more beautiful.
FAQ
Since polyurethane wheels were introduced to the market, most skateboard wheels are now made only of polyurethane. Before polyurethane was invented, rubber, plastic, or clay wheels were used, but they would not grip the ground and rip apart. Therefore, they are no longer in use.
Polyurethane wheels provide better control and balance while riding a skateboard, as they have a better grip on the ground than any other material wheels have.
It’s not safe to ride a skateboard with plastic wheels, as they won’t grip the ground as well, resulting in an unbalanced ride. To ensure better performance and balance, choose polyurethane wheels.
Conclusion
You must know what are skateboard wheels made of if you want to ride safely and achieve better performance. In addition to the material, also consider the wheel hardness, size, shape, and color.
Hopefully, you’re able to find the answer to your question. You are welcome to make any further comments in the comments section below.
I am James Buckridge, the founder of skateboardidea.com. Skateboarding is my passion, and I have years of teaching experience in this field. Our vision and mission is to provide you with accurate information on everything related to skateboarding. Catch me on Twitter & Pinterest.