Thing Wheels

One thing is for sure, longboard wheels are that one part of our gear which we use up faster than everything else. The more you skate, the more you need and if you’re looking to support your local business there are quite a few options available on the European longboard wheel market.

We’ve compiled a list of European wheel and longboard companies that have their own branded wheel models for you to get to know better and maybe discover some new ones.

There may be other European wheel brands that we did not mention, so if you know any, let us know in the comments below, so we can add them to the list. You can also share your experience with these brands to help others.

Please note that this list is in random order and the point of this article is to introduce you to European longboard wheels rather than evaluate them. It’s up to you to try them out and decide which are the best for you. 

Let’s get started…

Ninetysixty Freeride & Slide wheels

Ninetysixty is a longboard wheels brand by the German shop Longboardshop.de  which also has a rich history in manufacturing snowboard and longboard decks under the brand name Pogo. All of their decks are made in their 400-year-old farm in Baden Württemberg.

The Nintysixty longboard wheel range includes 4 models. They come for quite cheap so don’t expect them to have a “pro level” performance. Nintysixty are great entry level wheels especially if your focus is to learn how to slide, but they will also serve well to more experienced riders focused on faster freeride or tech sliding.

Ninetysixty Freeride Wheels 70mm

The Ninetysixty freeride wheels will cater to your budget and your freeride needs with a 70 mm height, 56 mm width, a 78a durometer, rounded lips, and a 48 mm contact patch. The core is semi centered so you can’t flip them, but they will make up for it with a stone ground finish meaning you don’t need to break them in which makes them also very beginner friendly.

Nintysixty Freeride wheels features:

• Size: 70 mm
• Width: 56 mm
• Contact patch: 48 mm
• Durometer: 78a
• Core: Semi centered

Available in black or green, the Nintysixty Freeride wheels are priced at 34.95 EUR and available at Longboardshop.de.

Ninetysixty Slide Wheels 70mm

Sporting a vibrant yellow color, the 70 mm slide wheels by Ninetysixty are another entry level wheel good for improving your freeride skills at medium speeds. The wheel is 70 mm high, 45 mm wide with a contact patch of 40 mm and a 78a durometer. Their centered core is designed to avoid coning, enabling you to flip them around every once in a while.

Nintysixty Slide wheels features:

• Size: 70 mm
• Width: 45 mm
• Contact patch: 40 mm
• Durometer: 78a
• Core: Centred

Sharing the same durometer and price like the wheels mentioned above, these carry a price tag of 34.95 EUR.

Ninetysixty Slide Wheels 65mm

The smallest and the cheapest in the Ninetysixty collection are the 65 mm white Slide wheels. With an 80a durometer, 40 mm width and a 34 mm contact patch, these will easily go sideways. They have been described as slippery and appropriate for those who are trying to learn stand up slides at lower speeds.

Nintysixty Slide wheels features:

• Size: 65 mm
• Width: 40 mm
• Contact patch: 34 mm
• Durometer: 80a
• Core: Centred

As an all-around wheel meant for cruising, sliding and also street skate, these only cost 29.95 EUR.

Slide Perfect Wheels

Slide Perfect Wheels is a UK based longboard wheel company that started with Bodhi Keen and a group of friends in 2015, with the aim to provide smooth sliding and affordable wheels for the UK market. Years of playing with different formula’s resulted in a line up focused on going sideways. The wheels are designed and tested in the UK.

Slide Perfect Supremacys

The SP Supremacys freeride wheels are available in three durometer options (86a, 83a, and 78a) which you can choose from for just the right amount of slip or grip.  All share a large centerset core, a total height of 70 mm, 47 mm width, rounded lips, and a stone ground finish. It is noted that these have a very slippy first few slides, but once you break them in, they should provide a nice and consistent experience for your sideways action.

Slide Perfect Supremacys features:

• Size: 70 mm
• Width: 47 mm
• Contact patch: 44 mm
• Durometer: 78a, 83a and 86a
• Core: Centerset

The price of a set of Supremacys is £35.50 or around 40 EUR on their website.

easygoinc.

This Austrian brand is mainly known for their longboard decks, but they’ve recently expanded their repertoire to clothing and van makeovers. But besides that, they currently offer one wheel model known as the Freds Slidewheels.

easygoinc. Freds Slidewheels

These green 65 mm wheels have an offset core, a width of 37 mm and a 78a durometer. With a nice freeride shape and a stone ground finish, the Freds are another good entry level wheel at a cheap price.

easygoinc Freds Slidewheels features:

• Size: 65 mm
• Width: 37 mm
• Durometer: 78a
• Core: Centred

The price you ask? Well if you check out their website you will find the Freds Slidewheels for as low as 29.90 EUR.

Walzen wheels

Waltzen is a German company that developed their own urethane formula which is now 100% made in Europe. In the past, we did a post about the Walzen Insul wheels with Roman Tschofen , but for this article, I chose to have a closer look at their Walzen Kiosk wheels.

Walzen Kiosk longboard wheels

The Walzen Kiosk wheels are available in three different colors. The green and orange models sport a 60 mm diameter, a  width of 41 mm, rounded edges and a contact patch of 32 mm. The core is offset and is placed inside their personally developed urethane with a 78a durometer.

Their blue Kiosk longboard wheels share the same dimensions as their green and orange counterparts, with the only difference being an 82a durometer. All Walzen Kiosk wheels are priced at 44.90 EUR  on Concretewave.de.

Walzen Kiosk wheels features:

• Size: 60 mm
• Width: 41 mm
• Contact patch: 32 mm
• Durometer: 78a (green & orange), 82a (blue)
• Core: Offset

Olson&Hekmati

Olson&Hekmati is a European longboard brand based in Mainz, Germany. Besides their flagship board models and slide gloves, they offer quite a few longboard wheels that will cater to your needs. In the past, we did a review of their Pro Grip wheels with Steffano Barbizzi but in this article, we’ll have a look at their cruiser and freeride longboard wheels.

Olson&Hekmati Cruiser Grip 63 mm longboard wheels

The Olson&Hekmati Cruiser Grip wheels are available in three different colors. Each has a total height of 63 mm and width of 45 mm. Their 79a durometer, offset core, edged lips and a glossy finish offers a good amount of grip when charging your favorite roads.

Olson&Hekmati Cruiser Grip 63 mm longboard wheels features:

• Size: 63 mm
• Width: 45 mm
• Contact patch: 43 mm
• Durometer: 79a
• Core: Offset

The price is just 10 cents below 50, with a price tag of 49.90 EUR on their official website.

Olson&Hekmati Cruiser Slide 60 mm longboard wheels

If you’re more into sliding then the Olson&Hekmati Cruiser Slide wheels would be a better choice since they have a freeride shape, a rounded design, and a 79a durometer. Their 60 mm height and 40 mm width and a stone ground finish make these wheels good for learning standup slides and also tech sliding.

Olson&Hekmati Cruiser Slide 60 mm longboard wheels features:

• Size: 60 mm
• Width: 40 mm
• Durometer: 79a
• Core: Centred

The Olson&Hekmati Cruiser Slide wheels are available in three different colors and priced at 44.90 EUR.

Delta Boards

Update: Delta Boards indefinitely discontinued the production of their longboard wheels in February 2018.

Delta Boards is a German skater owned brand which amongst other things offers six longboard wheel models split into two collections, the Bluesky series, and the Inthane series. In this article, we’ll check out the Delta Boards Reifenz longboard wheels from their Bluesky series.

Delta Boards Reifenz longboard wheels

The Reifenz longboard wheels are available in two sizes, 70 mm and 65 mm, both well below 50 EUR. We’ll have a closer look at both, starting with the 70 mm model.

The Reifenz 70 mm longboard wheels are made from their Bluesky urethane with an 83a durometer and a centered core. With a 45mm width, a good rolling speed and a stoneground finish these wheels were created for leaving a great amount of thane. As a result, you can’t expect them to last as long as other more expensive wheels, but with a low price of 27.50 EUR these are still a good wheel to try out.

Dela Boards Reifenz 70 mm longboard wheels features:

• Size: 70 mm
• Width: 45 mm
• Durometer: 83a
• Core: Centred

The Reifenz 65 mm longboard wheels share the same formula and durometer as the 70 mm model but have an offset core and a width of 45 mm. This smaller model is priced at only 22.50 EUR making them the cheapest longboard wheel in this article.

Dela Boards Reifenz 65 mm longboard wheels features:

• Size: 65 mm
• Width: 45 mm
• Durometer: 83a
• Core: Offset

Lobo wheels

This Polish longboard wheel brand known as Lobo introduced their first wheel model back in 2015 in a limited handmade series fresh from Lobo’s own workshop and laboratory in the north of Poland.

If you search our website you will find that we already did some reviews for their Lobo Kraken downhill wheels and their Medusa freeride wheels with Michal “Ty Mon” Tyburski which based on Michal’s experience last ridiculously long.

Well, Lobo Wheels are currently still hard at work updating their website with their current lineup, but by the end of February / early March, you’ll get a chance to know more about their new 2018 DH Kraken and Meduza freeride longboard wheels in two durometers (77a and 81a).

Although the pictures above are from their last year’s models, you can expect the 2018 Lobo wheels to have a new core design and different color models. The expected price for their Meduza freeride wheels is 57 EUR while the Kraken downhill wheels will be price at around 65 EUR.

Long Island

Long Island is Spanish longboard brand with a wide array of longboard decks, skate accessories and currently nine listed longboard wheel models that cover most disciplines. Because there are so many wheels to chose from, I’ve chosen the 65 mm Giants for this article, but you are free to check out their other wheel models on their website.

Long Island Giants 65 mm wheels

The 65mm Giants are one of the listed Long Island’s freeride wheels. They are 65 mm high, 45 mm wide, with a contact patch of 43 mm. Rounded edges, a sideset core and a stone ground finish complete this 83a wheel.

Long Island Giants 65 mm longboard wheels features:

• Size: 65 mm
• Width: 45 mm
• Contact patch: 43 mm
• Durometer: 83a
• Core: Sideset

Based on their characteristics, these would be a good wheel for freeriding and even beginners who want to step up their stand up game.  The Giants are available on the Long Island website and numerous stores at around 35 EUR.

Mindless Longboards

Native to the UK, Mindless Longboards offer a wide array of longboard completes, trucks, wheels and even accessories that cover all riding styles and levels. Currently, their products are split into two lineups, the Mindless Classic range, and the Mindless Voodoo Magic Premium range.

For this article, I chose to take a closer look at their premium collection which includes three longboard wheel models, the Haraka, Kabila and Maji wheels described below.

Mindless Voodoo Maji 70 mm longboard wheels

The Mindless Voodoo Maji sets are made from their very own Mojo formula urethane packed into a 70 mm high and 51mm wide longboard wheel with rounded edges and a contact patch of 42 mm. These feature a stone ground finish, a pre-ground running edge combined with outer to inner rounded lips and a slightly offset core. The Voodoo Maji wheels are available in three different color/ durometers and are priced at 34.90 EUR on their official website.

Mindless Voodoo Maji longboard wheels features:

• Size: 70 mm
• Width: 51 mm
• Contact patch: 42 mm
• Durometer: 78a (green), 81a (purple), 82a (orange)
• Core: Offset

Cult wheels

Cult Wheels is a longboard wheel brand from the United Kingdom. It is a sister brand of Sabre trucks and Lush Longboards, managed by the Vandem longboard shop.  If you search our page you will find our review of their Cult Emperors which we did when they came out and even Tikialex’s experience putting the Cult Raptures on his street luge.

Despite having a bunch of good wheel models, for this article, I chose to focus on only one of them, the Cult Chronicles.

Cult Chronicles

If you’re looking for a good 65 mm wheel to put on your freeride setup, then you might consider trying the Cult Chronicle. All in all their width is 50.5 mm with a contact patch of 36.5 mm and a center set core.

Made from the Cult Neurothane formula in a 78a durometer and a stone ground finish, these wheels wear evenly and offer a great amount of fun putting them sideways. The Chronicles carry a price tag of 48 EUR but despite their size, they offer long-lasting fun.

Cult Chronicle longboard wheels feature:

• Size: 65 mm
• Width: 50.5 mm
• Contact patch: 36.5 mm
• Durometer: 78a
• Core: Centred

DTC Wheels

DTC Wheels originate from France and are the best known for their precision aluminum core longboard wheel models. While the price for these is higher than the average in this article, DTC enables skaters to send in their cored aluminum wheels to be reshaped with a fresh batch of urethane for less than the price of the original wheel.

However, I decided to check out their more affordable M series with a ‘standard’ plastic core which I found to be less known.

DTC M series 70mm longboard wheels

The DTC M series longboard wheels are designed with a freeride shape, a total height of 70 mm, an offset core, rounded edges and a contact patch of 36.8 mm.

DTC M series 70 mm longboard wheels features:

• Height: 70 mm
• Width: 47 mm
• Contact patch: 36.8 mm
• Durometer: Soft
• Core: Offset

The DTC M series 70mm longboard wheels offer the trusted DTC knowledge at a more affordable price of 49.99 EUR on Skate Deluxe.

Thing Wheels

Thing Wheels started their journey in France back in 2009 but put out their very first prototype a year later with the support of local partners. Since then they have been hard at work testing their numerous prototypes and by the end of 2015, they first introduced the final product on a local French freeride. Well, we first saw Thing wheels in 2016 when we visited Go Goats freeride. At the time we also posted an article about Thing wheels which you can check out here for more info.

THING ’01’ LF longboard wheels

The THING ’01’ LF longboard wheels are 70 mm high, 52 mm wide and sport a contact patch of 38 mm. The all-around shape is completed by rounded edges, thick solid lips and a big centered core to keep them rolling. This model is available in three different colors/durometers.

Thing’s own urethane formula called LEVEL FORMULA (LF) makes up the  01 LF wheels in three colors and hardness levels: violet (Hardness 2), yellow (Hardness 3) and green (Hardness 4) on a hardness scale from 1 (softest) to 6 (hardest). All of them are designed, developed and made in France.

Thing ’01’ LF 70 mm longboard wheels features:

• Height: 70 mm
• Width: 52 mm
• Contact patch: 38 mm
• Durometer: violet (Hardness 2), yellow (Hardness 3) and green (Hardness 4)
• Core: Centred

Because Thing wheels are produced in small quantities a, the price of a set is 69.50 EUR, but you should also know that these are currently available only in France via their official website.

Buddha Wheels

The Spanish Buddha Wheels are a sister brand by Hydroponic that cater to freeride, downhill and cruising needs. The wheels are made from their Technical Urethane formula also known as BuddhaThane.  As an introductory model for this article, I chose the Fukyo wheel model.

Fukyo longboard wheels

Buddha Fukyo freeride wheels are described as versatile and aggressive by the manufacturer. The wheel dimensions are a 70 mm height,  45 mm width with bevelled lips (between a Square and Rounded) and a center set core.  Its 85a durometer and BudhaThane should provide long slides without loosing grip.

Buddha Fukyo longboard wheels features:

• Height: 70 mm
• Width: 45 mm
• Contact patch: 38 mm
• Durometer: 85a
• Core: Centred

The Buddha Fukyo longboard wheels go for 44.60 EUR on the hyclothing.es online store.

Bastl Boards

Bastl Boards is a family business that calls Leipzig, Germany its home. Bastl was founded in 2008 with a simple mantra ‘’have fun skating’’. Since then the brand developed into an international team of riders while continuously collaborating with local artists.

Well besides longboard decks, their own coffee and clothing, they also have their own branded longboard wheels made in the US.

Bastl Popow longboard wheels

If you have a look at their website, you will find six different coloured wheels in a 82a and 80a durometer made from their ‘Big Smile’ formula. The Popow wheels can be mixed and matched to keep you setup colourful and fun. Despite the different colours, they all share a 65 mm height, a centerset core, rounded lips and a grounded surface.

The Bastl Popow wheels are designed for dancing and cruising, but it’s stated that you can also take them for a ride at your local freeride spot.

Bastl Popow longboard wheels features:

• Height: 65 mm
• Contact patch: 35 mm
• Durometer: 80a, 82a
• Core: Centerset

The price is 15 EUR per wheel so you can choose your own colour combination.

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Now it’s your turn…

Have you skated any of the wheels mentioned in this article? Share your experience with us and help others to know more about these European longboard wheels.

If we forgot any other brands or if there’s brands that we’re not aware of, please let us know about it via our email info@longboardmagazine.eu and we will add it to the list. Thank you.