Stiffness of skateboard wheels.
This parameter is denoted by a number and the letter A; the higher the number, the stiffer the material. Higher stiffness allows the wheel to maintain speed better, increase wheel life, make it easier to slide (drifting, for example) and perform jump tricks more efficiently. On the other hand, soft wheels cope with small bumps in the road better, they have better grip and manoeuvrability, and they are also less noisy. Accordingly, the choice of wheel stiffness depends primarily on what surfaces it is planned to ride.
In general, wheels up to 80A can be classified as very soft, and up to 87A — are soft; such wheels are best suited for driving on not-very smooth, worn asphalt, paving slabs with an abundance of joints, etc. Indicators
88A — 95A correspond to medium hardness, such wheels are designed mainly for high-quality "urban" surfaces like a new sidewalk. Stiff wheels are marked from 96A to 99A, they are designed primarily for skate parks and other specialized surfaces, and indicators of 100A and more correspond to professional-level options.
It is worth noting that the wheels are usually made removable, and if necessary, they can be replaced with others, harder or softer. However, one must also take into account the fact that the entire design of the skateboard is usually designed for a certain stiffness of the wheels, and significant deviations from this parameter are unde
...sirable. And you should not forget about the type (see above): for example, it is hardly worth looking for especially soft wheels for a traditional stunt skateboard.The presence of
lighting in the wheels and/or deck of the skateboard. Such lighting, usually, is based on LEDs, and it can be powered by generators driven by the rotation of the wheels — this allows you to do without batteries (however, the type of power supply should be specified separately).
Additional lighting not only gives the board an interesting appearance but also contributes to safety at night — the skater becomes more visible to drivers and other road users. However, extra parts built into the wheels or deck will inevitably degrade performance. Therefore, this function is found mainly in mini-cruisers and rollersurfers (see "Type"), intended for children and adolescents and not designed for particularly extreme use; professional skateboards are generally not equipped with backlighting.
