If you use your longboard a lot you’re going to want to replace the wheels at some point.
Wheels are pretty much the most important part of a skateboard – without them you ain’t going nowhere.
But which ones should you go for? There’s so many options out there.
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That’s where we come in. We’ve looked at the best longboard wheels available right now and come up with our Top 5.
And, we have a buyers guide for you, which we think covers everything you might want to think about before you buy.
And to top that off, we’ve also got a section where we answer your most frequently asked questions.
In a hurry? This is Our Favorite!
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Best Longboard Wheels – Comparison Table
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Best Longboard Wheels – Reviews
This longboard wheel from Freedare is one of Amazon’s best sellers, and after all those customer ratings, the average customer rating comes out at a whopping 4 and a half stars out of 5, with the overwhelming majority scoring them 5 out of 5.
The wheels are 70mm in diameter, a common size for longboards, so will be great for going at high speed, and they’re 51mm in width, providing a nice large contact patch to provide a good grip on the ground.
The wheels are solid and durable, so it keeps your board stable, and will roll smoothly and quietly. The durometer rating is 85a, which is a great level of softness for longboarding.
The wheels feature rounded lips which allow smoother transition into slides, and are great for freeriding. They also prevent wheelbite.
The wheels are centre set, which will give a high amount of grip since it effectively creates a very large inner lip.
All standard size skateboard bearings will fit into the wheels, which is a plus. It does, of course, come with bearings already set inside of the wheels, but it’s a good thing to know come time to replace.
They come in a variety of styles, mostly black with modest sketching, or you could opt for something brighter like red, blue or yellow.
They come with a 6 month warranty, so if you’re not happy for whatever reason, just get in touch with the manufacturer. We can’t see there being a problem though, looking at the feedback they’ve had so far.
- One of Amazon’s best sellers.
- Great customer feedback
- Very affordable
- Wheels are 70mm in diameter
- Large contact patch
- Wheels are solid and durable
- Durometer rating is 85a, nice and soft
- Rounded lips, great for freeriding
- Wheels are centre set for good grip
- All standard size skateboard bearings will fit
- They come with a 6 month warranty
- Some customers have complained about the bearings, but as we’ve said these are easily replaced
These funky little wheels from Orangutang are flying off the shelves at Amazon, and after well over 100 customer ratings the average rating comes in at a whopping 4 and a half stars out of 5, with an overwhelming majority giving it 5 stars.
These big smooth wheels are perfectly designed for not just great speed and momentum, but also for carving, long-distance pushing, and pumping.
And when I say big, I mean huge – they’re a whopping 85mm in diameter! This makes them great for rougher terrain, you can go over not just cracks but even rocks and sticks like they’re nothing.
And the contact patch is really wide, coming in at a wide 56mm, for excellent grip on the ground. And we love it’s subtly rounded edges which help the wheels pass smoothly across pavement cracks.
When it comes to wheel hardness, the manufacturer is offering 3 different options, with durometer ratings of 77a (blue), 80a (orange), and 83a (purple). We talk about durometer ratings in our buying guide if you need a little more information to make your choice.
They also have a large 46mm supportive core, which provides quick acceleration and plenty of momentum.
The bearing seat is offset, which gives you a more forgiving slide initiation and hookup, while at the same time still providing ample grip and control in the slide.
And when you’re done using it on your traditional longboard, you can use them on an electric board too!
- One of Amazon’s best sellers
- Great customer feedback
- They’re huge – 85mm in diameter
- Contact patch is really wide, at 56mm
- Great speed and momentum
- Good for carving
- Great for rougher terrain and cracks
- 3 options of wheel hardness
- Quick acceleration
- Plenty of momentum
- Bearing seat is offset
- Can be used on electric boards too
- They will wear over time
These longboard wheels from Playshion come in a number of different sizes and levels of hardness. We’ll try to cover as many as we cna in this product review.
The smaller ones first of all. With a diameter of just 65mm, they’re much faster than their 70mm counterparts on the acceleration. They’re also really good for carving and can help you to do slides or turn really quickly.
The larger ones meanwhile, 70mm in diameter and 47mm in width, provide a superior contact patch, and are good for a number of different skating styles such as carving, cruising and downhill.
These wheels come in 2 different levels of hardness, specifically with durometer ratings of 78a and 80a. We like 78a best personally, and we think you’ll notice the difference, albeit small.
Depending on which you choose, you get a different build to the wheel, smaller wheels are made with high-rebound polyurethane SHR, which is durable and robust.
The larger wheels meanwhile have a polycarbonate core which helps to maintain the smoothness of your ride.
The main drawback of these wheels is the relatively poor color options, only 3 and a tad plain.
Whichever you go for, you’ll find they’re super easy to install, and will work with any 608 bearings.
There haven’t been many customer reviews for these wheels on Amazon just yet, but what is there is really positive.
- Smaller wheels are faster, good for carving
- Larger wheels have better grip, good for cruising
- Available in 2 different levels of hardness
- Good, durable build
- Super easy to install
- Very positive feedback so far
- Not many peer reviews on Amazon just yet
- Very few color options
Our Top 5 longboard wheels would be amiss if we didn’t include any light up ones!
These babies come in red, green, orange, or white, each with ultra-bright LEDs. And they’re eye-catching enough before they even light up! And when they do light up your longboard is completely transformed, glowing as you zoom around. The rider will be the envy of all their friends.
The wheels light up as they spin and they don’t need any batteries whatsoever.
As it starts to get dark they’ll provide a real boost in visibility. Be cool and safe at the same time.
The wheel diameter is a little on the small side, meaning they will build up speed more quickly.
With regards to the hardness, it’s got a perfect durometer rating, coming in at 78a (more on that in our buying guide).
The contact patch is a decent size, in proportion with the diameter of the wheel, providing plenty of grip.
When the box arrives, you’ll have everything you need to install the wheels, including it’s special bearings, and there’s good instructions on how to install them right on the Amazon page.
- Wheels light up really bright
- No batteries required
- Boost visibility
- Will build up speed quickly
- Perfect hardness
- Contact patch is a decent size
- Easy to install
- Some customers haven’t been happy with the bearings, but the manufacturer has confirmed that you can replace them with your own.
After looking into this, we found that Shark Wheels really do live up to their name!
These longboard wheels from Shark Wheel sure do have a unique design – I had to do a double take to ensure they were in fact wheels. They’re funky design is in their unique lip shape.
And to make it look eleven more funky, they come in a variety of bright shades, including a few which are clear on the outer part but bright on the inside.
The manufacturer makes some stark claims, like they’re the best in the world for riding over rough terrain, and that they last 15% longer than wheels from other leading manufacturers.
Well, the latter has been backed up by science, and with regards to the former, just look at the customer feedback, with the majority of customers rating it a full five stars out of a possible 5.
In addition to being good for going over rough terrain, they offer great slide control, and allow you to ride very fast with minimal effort.
The wheels are 72mm in diameter, ever so slightly bigger than your typical longboard wheel, but still very much in proportion to the deck.
Their durometer rating comes in at 78a, to provide that perfect balance of grip, roll speed, and slide-ability.
- Super funky design
- Great customer feedback
- Great for rough terrain
- Very durable, more than other wheels
- Offer great slide control
- Ride very fast with minimal effort
- Wheels are large, 72mm in diameter
- Perfect durometer rating
- Premium product at a premium price
Best Longboard Wheels – Buyers Guide
There are a number of different things to think about when looking at new longboard wheels. There’s the size, obviously, but there’s also the wheel shape or lip profile, wheel hardness, and the wheel cores.
We’ll go through each in turn.
Wheel Size
Wheel size will be one of your first decisions. Most longboard wheels can vary in size from 64mm at the smallest to about 80mm diameter at the bigger end of the range, with the most common size being 70mm.
Larger wheels are better when you’re skating on rougher surfaces, since they can more easily roll over cracks. They also have a higher top speed.
Smaller wheels meanwhile have a slower top speed. They will however build up speed more quickly.
The other thing to think about is that you don’t want to get wheelbite, when the wheel comes into contact with the deck during a turn, effectively stopping the forward motion which could throw you off balance.
Of course, if your longboard has cutouts for the wheels this won’t be a problem, but if you don’t, you might need to add a riser pad of quarter of an inch or bigger if your wheels are more than 65mm in diameter.
A wheel with a wider area making contact with the ground (a wider contact patch) has more grip and will slow you down more quickly and give you that bit more control, so it’s the best option for going downhill.
A narrower contact patch meanwhile offers less grip, making it better for freeride.
Speaking of freeriding, many longboard wheel manufacturers now stone grind the wheel’s contact to deliberately wear off the shiny “new wheel” skin surface to make it less grippy and ride more smoothly. So, for free riding, you may want to look for stone-ground wheels.
Wheel Hardness – The Durometer Rating
To measure the hardness of longboard wheels, we have a durometer rating. Most longboards wheels will have a durometer rating of 75 to 88a, meaning they are much softer than your typical skateboard wheels which are around 95 to 101a.
Harder wheels are more durable than their softer counterparts, but the hardness of the wheel also affects the ride.
Softer wheels have more grip but will roll slower, whereas harder, higher durometer wheels have less grip but will roll faster. For the best of both worlds, you might want to go for softer wheels of 78a or 8-a durometer which provide a happy medium.
These softer wheels will slow you down quicker and are much easier to control at faster speeds. Harder wheels meanwhile don’t slow you down as quickly and will glide across the surface of the road.
Longboard wheels are generally made from polyurethane, PU, and their PU formula can be designed to offer varying degrees of grip, durability, and slide-ability. And many longboard wheels are specially designed for freeride.
Lip Profile
Thick square edges on a wheel make it more grippy, and are often preferred for downhill skating.
Rounded edges on the other hand enable the wheels to break traction more easily, giving smoother transition into slides, and are better for freeriding.
Whilst lip style is less important for cruising, round lips are a good option for cruiser setups, as they’re usually lighter and enable you to really powerslide when needed.
Core Placement
The core of a longboard wheel can be centerset, offset, or sideset.
When the core is placed directly in the centre, you get more grip, because you’ve effectively got a larger inner lip.
Wheels that are sideset have their core directly aligned with the inner lip of the wheel. This makes them easier for initialing slides, but then makes the sides that bit harder to control.
The other option is offset which offers a happy medium. When the core is positioned between centreset and sideset, you get a blend of both characteristics, and you end up with a more forgiving slide initiation, but still get plenty of grip and control in your slide.
That said, there’s also a further advantage to centerset wheels – as the wheels start to cone, you can flip them over to get a longer lifespan out of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What longboard wheels are best for cruising?
There are 2 really great wheels for cruising right here in our Top 5, specifically our Number 2, the Orangatang Caguama 85 mm Longboard Wheels for Cruising, and our Number 3, the Playshion 70mm 65mm Longboard Wheels – but you must ensure that you select the right option.
Can you put skateboard wheels on a longboard?
Although it’s possible to put skateboard wheels on a longboard, longboard wheels are better. They are designed to be softer than skateboard wheels, making them more comfortable for riding longer distances.
To be honest the question that gets asked more often is “can you put longboard wheels on a skateboard”. Our recommendation hands down is that you invest in longboard wheels.
If you don’t want to pay too much, we can recommend our Number 1 set of wheels, the FREEDARE 70mm Longboard Wheels, which are the most affordable set across our Top 5.
