Best Longboard Wheels For Rough Roads - top 9 model 2021

No matter who you are, a longboard beginner or a professional, having a worthy longboard is a prerequisite because it will affect your practicing process and the safety of your ride.

Practically, among all that have a direct impact on the performance of your board, the wheel is one of the factors taking on the most significant role. And for many, finding wheels to ride on rough roads isn’t an easy task.

With the view to enlighten longboard riders on wheel selection, this article will reveal to you the top 6 best longboard wheels for rough roads and ways to choose them. If you’re ready, let’s start!

What Are Rough Roads?

Usually, players often practice and train their ability on longboarding ground, a typical type of floor extremely smooth so you can carry out movements using wheels instead of toes with difficulty rate as low as zero.

But if the neighborhood does not hold any particular place for longboard training, people can practice in the park, on the road as long as they are even and flat.

However, not all roads are flat in practice, and sometimes you have to come across slopes or bad and rough roads.

Simply put, to a longboard rider, rough roads are uneven roads. People even classify them into two categories, the first one is cracked or has potholes asphalted, and the second is rocky and unpaved roads.

None of these are going to show your wheel even a tiny bit of mercy. Unless you use suitable wheels, they won’t stand a chance against these savage monsters. This causes the wheel to fail faster and reduces other parts' lives, such as the truck or deck.

How Important The Wheels Are When Riding On Rough Roads?

If you’re still hesitating on why you should change to the appropriate wheel type when riding on rough roads, here are the reasons that will definitely convince you.

The first to mention is the safety factor. As mentioned above, the non-dedicated wheels don’t have the necessary characteristics of the dedicated ones. Thus, they can’t support the longboard nor the player. For that reason, the chance of an accident is extremely high.

Also, the dedicated wheel will extend the life and help protect other longboard’s parts. Because of the appropriate rigidity and elasticity, they are better at damping, absorbing vibrations as well as shocks.

Moreover, thanks to that great support, you can practice longboarding on rough roads more easily and smoothly as the dedicated wheels are light, which makes it easy to move and balance yourself during the act.

The Wheel Diameter

The diameter of longboards wheels is usually measured in millimeters, and they mostly range from around 55mm to 75mm. Some special types are even larger than 100mm.

Usually, it’s advisable to use small diameter wheels for better balancing and keeping the center of gravity for riding on a flat road. On the contrary, the large diameter wheels, from 70mm or more, will be suitable for rough roads.

Because the large diameter wheels increase the distance between the deck and the ground, this will help you get through cracked or rocky land better.

Furthermore, large wheels will help to accelerate faster during longboard controlling or navigation. This will keep you from getting stuck every upon encountering hindrances on the road.

Contact Patch

The contact patch is the contact surface between the wheel and the ground. The size of them varies depending on the size of the wheel. The larger the wheel, the larger the contact patch and vice versa.

Contact patches big enough will have a better grip on the road surface, and they’re able to slow down faster and control balance, which is useful for downhill style. However, they will turn the difficulty crank up a notch when it comes to accelerating and make it less flexible when performing a sudden turn in your trip.

On the contrary, the small ones will have less traction, but their flexibility index is high enough and they can assist you in speeding up faster. For that reason, they are usually recommended for daily practicing on the flat road.

The Wheel Durometer

Wheel durometer (or rigidity) is the hardness of the wheel. This characteristic of the wheel is diverse because different playing styles need wheels with different hardness.

Usually, to measure how tough the wheel can be, people will use the Durometer A Scale with a maximum index of 100. With this scale, the larger the index, the higher the wheel's hardness and vice versa.

Moreover, the Durometer B Scale is another type of hardness measurement, but it’s not as popular as the A one. Its maximum number is 80, which corresponds to the index 100 of the A scale.

To use for rough roads or rough terrain, longboard wheels with rigidity falling between 73A and 87A are recommended for use.

At these levels, they will be soft, high in elasticity, and provide sufficient adhesion. This way, you can gently overcome rough roads while maintaining balance and stability when sliding.

Wheel Shape

There are three types of wheel shapes: square edge, beveled edge, and rounded edge. Each type has its own exclusive set of features for different uses. Still, among the sea of choices, only the round edge type is often used for rough roads because it supports well in passing cracked roads and gravel and supports faster acceleration and navigation.

What Other Techniques That Wheels For Rough Roads Can Do?

Wheels for rough roads have the same features as conventional wheels that perform basic techniques like gliding, stopping, turning, and so on.

However, since the wheels are typically quite soft and grip the road, it’s quite difficult to use them to perform tricks.

Should I Wear Protective Gear When Riding On Rough Roads?

After practicing and getting used to using a longboard, many people often don’t use protective gear such as helmets, pads, and so on because they consider them unnecessary.

However, players are always encouraged to use protective gear during competitions or practicing processes. Moreover, not only when riding on rough roads but on flat ground, you should also use them.

As we know, prevention is better than cure; you aren’t able to anticipate anything until an accident occurs, so protecting yourself is the most important thing.

Conclusion

The above are all the most basic and necessary information you need to know before choosing yourself the best longboard wheels for rough roads. To sum up, wheel diameter, contact patch, wheel durometer, and wheel shape are four important factors that you must not ignore in the purchasing process.

To pick up the best one, we recommend the Cal 7 90mm 78A Wheels. It’s clear that this product meets all the standards of materials, design, size, and being at an affordable price.

How about you, what is your best one?

Related: What is the rough road?

The above are all the most basic and necessary information you need to know before choosing yourself the best longboard wheels for rough roads. To sum up, wheel diameter, contact patch, wheel durometer, and wheel shape are four important factors that you must not ignore in the purchasing process.

To pick up the best one, we recommend the Cal 7 90mm 78A Wheels. It’s clear that this product meets all the standards of materials, design, size, and being at an affordable price.

How about you, what is your best one?