How much better can my ride get over using these S9 wheels?

[Figit090]

Ok, I have three boards, but only bearings to run one, so I'm buying parts to make two usable at any given time. I would like to get one new set of wheels, but I only have the opportunity to ride on the two sets of wheels I have, which are stock Sector Nine wheels. So I'm wondering; is it worth my money to upgrade now and be happier while I progress to more serious riding? Or perhaps upgrading now wouldn't be much of a difference in ride quality? If not, I would just save that money until I use up the wheels I have, which should take quite a while since I'm not a crazy shredder.

So, from your experience, how much better my ride can get with different wheels (assuming better since these are stock model wheels, not by experience)? I'm thinking something larger, around 76mm or so, just for one of my decks, the other board will use one of my current wheel sets until I'm more serious.

Riding style...
I do mostly free riding (if the term is correct); carving down mild hills, lots of cross-town kicking...some mild downhill. I'm hoping to learn to slide and go faster on my evo someday soon, I'm just getting into longboarding though, so I can't say I do more than that (yet!). I would like a more comfortable ride and less rolling resistance, or more momentum...whichever.

Boards I'll be using:
Landyachts Evo I would like to freeride with this one at times (hence wanting bigger wheels, smooth out the ride I hope)
S9 48" birch pintail ("California") Very bouncy fun commuter
S9 31" bamboo deck ("Maccas") -- Has no cutouts for larger wheels, and its short so I don't like how unstable it is. I probably won't ride it as much but thought I'd include it since I do use it at times.
I have one set of randal 180 trucks w/50deg baseplates, and a set of gullwings. (no third set)

Wheels I have:

I have been riding on S9 slalom wheels, 78A 69mm, (not race formula, I hear those are nice, but didn't find a lot on these):


I also have these Nineballs, but haven't tried them. I assume they are similar to the ones I use now as far as grip and shock absorption -- 78A 70mm;


I've only been riding a few months now, but if I'm going to bother putting in an order online I'd like to get new wheels while I'm ordering. I don't have anything to compare to but I feel like I should be rolling easier, smoother, and farther... This could be because of my S9 bearings...two of my wheels have a faint clicking noise when I lean hard, despite cleaning and re-lubing my bearings? I removed shields on one side too, so I got them clean. Has the feel like my pivot cups are making that popping noise as you lean, but it has to do with wheel rotation, not lean..so I think its coming from a bearing.

Anyway, as for what I'm considering, after searching the forum for good views on good all-around wheels and looking for nice-looking wheels also...

I like the sound and looks of these - Dregs Luv Yo Mutha 78a 70mm (green)
I like the color of these - ABEC-11 BigZigs 80a, 75mm (lime)
The manufacturer claim about these is appealing but they're so new I can't find much - EarthWing Floaters 78a (red) or 81a (blue) 77mm

[ack]

EPIC WHEELS!

I love those first ones. buttery smooth quiet slides. fast enough. kinda fastish wear but they are centerset. they are also surprisingly grippy.

second ones are kinda slow i guess, but have a nice slide when broken in. also pretty grippy. also great wheels.

don`t bother getting new wheels.
you have been visited by the ghost of ack!

[wgpballer5]

Cuuuuuuuuult. Cult wheels are the **** if you can get your hands on some, some of my favorite grippy wheels with a decent drift.

Look into abec 11 flashbacks if you want a cheaper wheel to do some sliding on, although the two you have now are decent enough for sliding, I'm still killing some old nineballs I found lying around.

[Figit090]

EPIC WHEELS!

I love those first ones. buttery smooth quiet slides. fast enough. kinda fastish wear but they are centerset. they are also surprisingly grippy.

second ones are kinda slow i guess, but have a nice slide when broken in. also pretty grippy. also great wheels.

don`t bother getting new wheels.
you have been visited by the ghost of ack!

Hey, sorry but right after posting I edited and re-arranged the wheels, could you specify which is which? I think I know since you say centerset but I want to make sure, you love the nineballs right? Thanks for the reply!

Cuuuuuuuuult. Cult wheels are the **** if you can get your hands on some, some of my favorite grippy wheels with a decent drift.

Look into abec 11 flashbacks if you want a cheaper wheel to do some sliding on, although the two you have now are decent enough for sliding, I'm still killing some old nineballs I found lying around.

Sounds good I'll have a look at those. Which cult wheel do you like? MHS has them, but I was hoping for some larger wheels hopefully, that is...if it will help ride quality much. Still a big consideration here!

[wgpballer5]

Hey, sorry but right after posting I edited and re-arranged the wheels, could you specify which is which? I think I know since you say centerset but I want to make sure, you love the nineballs right? Thanks for the reply!



Sounds good I'll have a look at those. Which cult wheel do you like? MHS has them, but I was hoping for some larger wheels hopefully, that is...if it will help ride quality much. Still a big consideration here!

I'm using blue Gamma rays right now, they grip like a vise but do give a bit of drift, the orange death rays are a bit more drifty and slight less grippy. If you want to do some sliding cult classics kill.

And I've found that 72mm is a good all around size, small enough for fast acceleration while pushing, and big enough for decent speed.

[Figit090]

I'm using blue Gamma rays right now, they grip like a vise but do give a bit of drift, the orange death rays are a bit more drifty and slight less grippy. If you want to do some sliding cult classics kill.

And I've found that 72mm is a good all around size, small enough for fast acceleration while pushing, and big enough for decent speed.

Thanks!

For now, I unless I'm told that a bigger wheel like Dregs' 76mm Luv Yo Mutha wheels will help my ride quality a lot, I'm probably going to just get better learning on my 70mm S9 Nineball wheels... they rode nicely and felt a bit better than the slalom wheels when I tried them for the first time yesterday...

So I'll look into buying or making slide gloves and getting a true skate helmet so I can practice sliding, and get new bushings and bearings to refit my boards.

Still open to opinions on how much of an 'upgrade' I could get over the nineballs though!

[wgpballer5]

You should definitely be good for now with the s9s, I've almost finished killing my set of nineballs and its been fun, they slide so smooth after a bit of breaking in.

[ack]

You should definitely be good for now with the s9s, I've almost finished killing my set of nineballs and its been fun, they slide so smooth after a bit of breaking in.

yeah. cheap wheels FTW.

Luv the top shelf 65-70mm noneballs.

don't bother with bigger wheels than 70mm.

[Figit090]

You should definitely be good for now with the s9s, I've almost finished killing my set of nineballs and its been fun, they slide so smooth after a bit of breaking in.

Sounds good thanks, I was trying to save on shipping and I think I can achive that no problem just buying bearings, even though I'd rather go with buyer's impulse and get free bearings with new wheels, I don't need 'em.
Might get a skate tool though...not sure if it's worth 13 bux or not...but I think it could be.

yeah. cheap wheels FTW.

Luv the top shelf 65-70mm noneballs.

don't bother with bigger wheels than 70mm.

But you have 75mm bigzigs? lol hmmmm...

I thought about those, they look pretty cool...and are the size I want.

I wonder if I could just dye my nineballs to a similar bright color? They're just ghost-thane or some translucent thane on a blue hub at the moment. My other wheels I hit with a permament marker and that dyed them to an extent. Don't wanna do that again though.

[ack]

Sounds good thanks, I was trying to save on shipping and I think I can achive that no problem just buying bearings, even though I'd rather go with buyer's impulse and get free bearings with new wheels, I don't need 'em.
Might get a skate tool though...not sure if it's worth 13 bux or not...but I think it could be.



But you have 75mm bigzigs? lol hmmmm...

I thought about those, they look pretty cool...and are the size I want.

I wonder if I could just dye my nineballs to a similar bright color? They're just ghost-thane or some translucent thane on a blue hub at the moment. My other wheels I hit with a permament marker and that dyed them to an extent. Don't wanna do that again though.

I have bigzigs because I bought the board complete from a friend. I am gonna trade em someday. I have gumballs cause they are rad. they are now about 70mm.

[humbi]

you prob should hold on on upgrades and get the bearings. the 9balls have a round edge that helps you break into a slide and at 78a they are soft and grippy but after you learn how to slide you will have them broken in and then they start to slide much better, both for being broken in and because you know have the skills to slide

get the bearings at your local shop man, support your local skater comunity and get to know other skaters there are many shops that will have 10$ bearings and that is all you need. don't even bother with anything above the price because you will not feel any difference and you will be slaming the board/wheels a lot as you learn and put a lot of strain on your bearings as well. by the way get some speed rings which are small and thin flat washers that fit between your hanger/bearing and bearing/nut (both sides of the wheel) to add a small gap to reduce friction of the bearing with either hanger or nut.

slap the evo with the randals 180 and the 70mm 9balls and you have a nice set up don't pay attention to haters and overspenders here at the forum right now its all about the stoke and learning how to ride and your set up is not bad at all.

make sure you start playing with bushings combinations, you will be amazed how much they change your ride

to answer your question of the post, If you go with a larger wheel 75mm-80mm you will have higher top speed in the longrun, it will mantain momentum for longer and will roll over road imperfections much easier. however for now while you learn, trash those 9balls until you have all your slides checked and then ten upgrade yourself to wheels of your prefference, like you said you prob need to save some money and your ride won't get THAT MUCH BETTER.

[ack]

why get bearings? doesn't he have bearings? if they are cheapos, WLG them.

[humbi]

why get bearings? doesn't he have bearings? if they are cheapos, WLG them.

cause he said he only has one set of bearings, if he buys another then he can have 2 boards ready to ride at any time (2 boards 2 sets of trucks 2 sets of wheels 2 sets of bearings) or if the noise problem is really the bearings then he might need new ones because sometimes the bearing can rust if it has been that dirty for that long or gone over water several times...

[ack]

cause he said he only has one set of bearings, if he buys another then he can have 2 boards ready to ride at any time (2 boards 2 sets of trucks 2 sets of wheels 2 sets of bearings) or if the noise problem is really the bearings then he might need new ones because sometimes the bearing can rust if it has been that dirty for that long or gone over water several times...

ok. read wrong I guess. get 2 sets of cheap vxbs or MHS.

[Figit090]

Sorry for the delay, I've been busy.

you prob should hold on on upgrades and get the bearings. the 9balls have a round edge that helps you break into a slide and at 78a they are soft and grippy but after you learn how to slide you will have them broken in and then they start to slide much better, both for being broken in and because you know have the skills to slide

Agreed, sounds like a plan. I'm hoping to buy two new sets of bushings, two sets of bearings, and I should have enough spent to save on shipping, maybe I should get a skate tool? not sure if they are worth 11 dollars but it would be nice to keep in the car and keep from separating out my tool set.

get the bearings at your local shop man, support your local skater comunity and get to know other skaters there are many shops that will have 10$ bearings and that is all you need.

I would but most the skaters I see tend to be shortboarders and frankly I can get parts from MHS that are better, for cheaper. It's sad I can't buy local but the shop I have doesn't quite do it for me. They are nice but I ended up with some crappy Doh-doh bushings last time I was there. At least I've heard they are bad and they don't really seem to be great. Probably more suited to shortboards.
Thanks for the tips, and about my setup. I'm pleased you say it's good. I'll stick with it now. I'm going to repair the cutouts in my board and clean it up soon, and make some slide gloves so I can use up my wheels

I have bigzigs because I bought the board complete from a friend. I am gonna trade em someday. I have gumballs cause they are rad. they are now about 70mm.

Oh cool.

why get bearings? doesn't he have bearings? if they are cheapos, WLG them.

Mine make a bit of noise, and since I'm not that versed with bearings and failing bearing symptoms, I'm going to save this set as backups. They do seem alright but I will be more comfortable with 8 new MHS units. Plus, I want spacers and rings, which MHS sells cheap and even in a kit.

cause he said he only has one set of bearings, if he buys another then he can have 2 boards ready to ride at any time (2 boards 2 sets of trucks 2 sets of wheels 2 sets of bearings) or if the noise problem is really the bearings then he might need new ones because sometimes the bearing can rust if it has been that dirty for that long or gone over water several times...

\

EXACTLY. My S9 bearings have light rust in places, the races looked fine though.

ok. read wrong I guess. get 2 sets of cheap vxbs or MHS.

MHS sounds good to meeee!


Thanks for the help everyone!