GFH retro wheels REVIEW

[SirKale]

Pics will be up soon.
All right, most of you fishers should already know that GFH had/has a deal going on where you can pick up a set of wheels for just over 20$shipped.

First impression, these things are a different shape then I'm used to. It seems like someone took a regular park wheel, stuck some kinda poll through the whole and spread it out(crappy innuendo intended). Giant bevels on both inside and out. Cores are comparable size to other free-ride favorites, but are spoked instead of solid. Center set for flippability.

Test setup: subsonic swift 40"(the crazy drop makes it real low and very fun for slides)
Randall 180's 50* (Front) 81a venom cone bottom 80a(lime) retro tall cone top (rear) 81a Venom cone bottom 83a(lemon) retro tall cone top. (i weigh 135)
Redz

Quick summary:
Board in hand to the street I go. About 30 mins of solid skate time mini-sesh to at least get them broken in. Throwing small standups, colemans, and pendies, slide unbelieveably quietly. Most of my slide time is on pink pballs(great wheels btw) but i was going completely sideways without making noise. Slides were also exceptionally smooth, but due to extremely small contact patch (about 22mm) the wheels did feel like they would take the board away from you if you weren't locked in well, or weren't balanced correctly.

Quick stats:
70mm 78a with about 22mm contact patch when new(should increase with wear due to shape of wheel)
Roll speed: slowish (despite small contact patch)

Ride: semi-harsh (huge core + thin thane = rough)

Slide: very smooth and very quiet and the transition between grip/slip is smooth, but slid a little more then i wanted them to at times (could easily be because im not used to them)

Ending notes: fun for going sideways, not recommending for anything above 30 because you'll probably just slide off of road. A little harsh of a ride. Threw one hard coleman at end of sesh to test for thane-lines, they do lay down some thane, more testing needed.

Pics will be up soon.

[GFHBoarder]

Great review. Thanks for getting this up. And FYI the wheels are still on sale. Just go to GFH BOARDS | Producing High Quality Longboards and Retro Mini Skateboards and use the promotion code wheeldeal and pick up a great set of wheels for only $15

[SirKale]

Pics of it all: note changing venom cones from 81a to 85a today.

Wheels in wrap:


Wheel comparison to 80a(lime) retro freerides in wrap:


Wheel out of wrap next to brand new 70mm 80a S9 RaceForm:


Mounted up:


Ride height compared to deodorant:


From the Front:


After mini-sesh:

[LoAdeD x DeRvisH]

Nice review man.
+Rep

[SirKale]

Was planning on taking these for an actual slide sesh today. rain trumped that idea(rain in south texas wtf?) but i did go on a 1 run rain skate cause i was thinking about drifting them all day. I was thinking small contact patch = not too much affect from rain, that was wrong. going about 3mph i could throw a 2 ft coleman. seriously, not even walking speed and they wanted to hydroplane like crazy. I felt like being nice to my bearings and didn't do anything over 15mph, and it was a very short sesh.

so,
insane rain skate possibilities +1

[SirKale]

hate to be doin the double post, but seeing as i started the thread its not so bad.

So been riding these on a couple different setups
subsonic swift 40" 50*randalls
S9 kommi chargers
Comet FSM 50*randalls

worn down about 3 mm of thane now, doesn't sound like much especially considering the contact patch is tiny compared to most wheels. BUT, in the same amount of time doing the same kinda skating i wore some Pink Pballs down about 7mm. Whats that mean? well these things hold up to slides surprisingly well. First impression of small contact patch + 78a must = fast wear, turns out to be not so true. Also no sign of coning, even though ive been purposely not rotating them when i put them on different decks.

Speed still feels kinda slow, no change there sorry to say.

Slides are feeling amazing though. Brand new the shiney coating caused some awkward board breaking loose suddenly and wanting to shoot out from under you feelings, but not that they are down to some good thane they feel great. Insanely predictable, and throw HUGE Coleman. cruising at the end of a run im pulling 15 FT colemans when im not even going 20mph. And the whole time they are sideways you have total control. Absolutely no chopping, so smooth its like if your sliding over an ice rink, then pull it back up and they hook up without asking questions. Makes stand ups a breeze.

Mostly comparing to pink Pballs, and lime freerides cause they are the freeride style wheels that i have the most experience on. they have better wear pattern, not as fast, and more slide oriented. I feel more comfortable on these sliding, but i like the others for needing to take small corners.

So this update consists of:
Sorry to double post
wheels are pretty Fing durable, and wear well
kinda slow
Feel as good going sideways, if not better then, they do going forward.

Watch out for a post by GFH if your looking to pick up a set, i hear something crazy is in the works.

Questions?

[GFHBoarder]

The POST IS UP..

We are giving away 30 free sets so search the fish for the promo codes. Limited to the first 30 orders