Skateboard Wheels: Hardness, Size and What They Mean

Walk into any skate shop – whether it’s Slam City Skates in London, Route One in Bristol, or a local independent in Manchester or Edinburgh – and you will quickly find yourself staring at a wall of wheels. Different sizes, different colours, different numbers printed on the side. It can feel like you need a degree in physics just to buy a set. You do not. Once you understand two simple measurements, the whole thing clicks into place, and you will be able to pick the right wheels for the way you want to skate.

This guide covers both of those measurements – hardness (durometer) and diameter – explains what they actually mean in practice, and gives you clear, honest advice about which wheels suit which type of riding. Whether you are just pushing around a car park for the first time or you are starting to think about trying your first kickflip, getting your wheels right will make the experience noticeably better.

Why Wheels Matter More Than You Might Think

A lot of beginners put all their attention into the deck and treat everything else as an afterthought. That is understandable – the board is the most visible part of the setup, and it is where a lot of the personality of skateboarding lives. But your wheels are your only contact with the ground. They absorb vibration, determine how fast you roll, affect how smoothly you turn, and influence how easy it is to slide or stop. Get the wrong wheels for the surface you are skating and you will fight your board constantly without ever knowing why.

Britain also presents a particular challenge here. Our pavements and tarmac are rarely the smooth, freshly poured perfection you see in Californian skate videos. Cracks, cobblestones, uneven concrete – these are the norm from Glasgow to Penzance. Wheel choice becomes even more important when the ground beneath you is unpredictable.

Understanding Hardness: The Durometer Scale

Hardness is measured on what is called a durometer scale. You will see it written as a number followed by the letter A, or sometimes the letter B. The A scale is by far the most common for skateboard wheels, so that is what we will focus on here.

The scale runs from 1 to 100, with higher numbers indicating harder wheels and lower numbers indicating softer wheels. In practice, almost all skateboard wheels fall between 73A and 101A. Anything below 73A starts to feel more like a longboard or cruiser wheel, and anything above 101A is extremely hard – used almost exclusively by technical street skaters who want maximum responsiveness on smooth concrete.

Here is the key principle: softer wheels grip more and absorb vibration, while harder wheels slide more easily and give you a more direct, responsive feel. Neither is better than the other in absolute terms. It entirely depends on what you want to do and where you want to do it.

Soft Wheels (73A-87A)

These are sometimes called “cruiser wheels” or “filmer wheels,” and for good reason. They are forgiving, quiet, and handle rough ground beautifully. If you are skating around town – down high streets, across market squares, over the kind of patchy tarmac that covers most UK cycle paths – softer wheels will smooth out a huge amount of that roughness. You will feel less vibration through your feet, maintain speed more easily over imperfections, and have a much more comfortable ride overall.

The trade-off is that soft wheels are not ideal for tricks. They tend to grip in ways that can feel unpredictable when you are trying to slide, and the extra material makes them a little slower to respond when you are doing technical footwork. For pure cruising, though, they are hard to beat.

Medium Wheels (88A-95A)

This is a genuinely useful middle ground that does not always get the attention it deserves. Medium hardness wheels offer a reasonable amount of grip, roll smoothly over moderately rough surfaces, and still allow for some sliding and basic tricks. If you are a complete beginner who is not yet sure what direction your skating will go, landing somewhere in this range is a sensible starting point. You will not be perfectly optimised for any one style, but you will have a versatile setup that lets you explore.

Hard Wheels (96A-101A and above)

Hard wheels are the standard choice for street skating and skatepark skating. They slide predictably on ledges, rails, and smooth concrete, and they give you a very direct, lively feel underfoot. The flipside is that on rough ground – and again, much of the UK counts as rough ground – hard wheels are punishing. Every crack and pebble sends vibration straight up through your board and into your feet and ankles. On a newly resurfaced skatepark floor, hard wheels feel fantastic. On a bumpy pavement, they can make skating genuinely unpleasant.

Most UK skateparks – including well-known spots like Southbank in London, Radlands in Northampton, and the many fantastic free parks that have opened across the country in recent years – have smooth enough concrete that hard wheels work very well. If you plan to skate primarily at a local skatepark, wheels in the 99A to 101A range are a completely reasonable choice.

Understanding Size: Wheel Diameter

Wheel diameter is measured in millimetres, and most skateboard wheels range from about 50mm to 60mm. Larger wheels roll faster and handle rough terrain better. Smaller wheels are lighter, sit lower to the ground, and make certain tricks easier to perform.

Think of it this way: a larger wheel has more surface area in contact with the ground at any given moment, and it takes fewer rotations to cover the same distance. That means more speed for the same amount of pushing effort. A smaller wheel accelerates faster from a standing start but has a lower top speed and is more affected by small obstacles like stones and cracks.

Small Wheels (50mm-53mm)

These are popular with technical street skaters and people doing flip tricks and technical ground-level skating. The lower ride height gives a closer connection to the board, which many skaters find helpful for precise footwork. They are quick to spin up and feel nimble and responsive. The downside is that they catch on rough ground more easily and require more consistent pushing to maintain speed.

Mid-Size Wheels (54mm-56mm)

This is probably the sweet spot for most beginners in the UK. You get a reasonable roll speed, enough clearance to handle moderately rough surfaces, and enough versatility to skate both at the park and on the street. The vast majority of complete beginner setups you find at UK retailers like Decathlon, Skatehut, or your local independent skate shop will come fitted with wheels somewhere in this range, and that is not an accident. It is a genuinely sensible default.

Larger Wheels (57mm and above)

Once you get above 56mm or 57mm, you are moving into territory typically associated with cruising, transition skating (bowls and ramps), and longboarding. Larger wheels in this range are excellent for maintaining speed on rough ground and skating longer distances. Vert skaters – people skating half-pipes and large bowls – often prefer bigger wheels because speed is essential and the surfaces tend to be smooth. For technical street tricks, however, wheels this large can feel cumbersome and heavy.

One important practical point: if you fit larger wheels on a standard skateboard truck, you may experience something called “wheel bite” – where the wheel rubs against the underside of the deck during turns. To prevent this, you can fit riser pads between the trucks and the deck. Most UK skate shops stock these for very little money, and they are a simple fix.

How to Choose the Right Wheels for You: A Practical Guide

Rather than giving you a vague “it depends” answer, here is a straightforward set of questions to help you make a decision.

1. Where will you skate most of the time? If you are primarily at a smooth concrete skatepark, go harder (99A-101A) and mid-size (53mm-56mm). If you are skating streets and pavements, consider a softer, larger wheel (87A-92A, 56mm-58mm) for comfort and roll.
2. What do you want to learn? If flip tricks and technical skating are your goal, lean toward smaller and harder. If you just want to get around and enjoy rolling, go softer and larger.
3. How rough is the ground where you live? Honestly assess this. If your local skate spots are mostly council tarmac and patchy concrete, softer wheels will make your sessions significantly more enjoyable.
4. What is your budget? A decent set of mid-range wheels from brands like Spitfire, Bones, or OJ Wheels will cost roughly £25 to £45 in the UK. Avoid buying the cheapest unbranded wheels available – they wear unevenly and can feel unpredictable.
5. Are you buying a complete board or building your own setup? If you are buying a complete, check what wheels it comes with and do not feel obligated to change them immediately. Skate what you have, get a feel for it, then upgrade when you know specifically what you want to change.

Wheel Contact Patch and Shape

There is one more factor worth mentioning, and it is one that beginners rarely hear about: the shape of the wheel’s edge, sometimes called the contact patch. Wheels with a wide, flat contact patch grip the ground more, which gives
you more stability and a smoother ride over rough surfaces. They are popular with cruiser setups and transition skaters who want consistent grip through long carves. Wheels with a narrower, rounded edge have less surface contact with the ground, which means they release slides and grinds more easily. Street skaters tend to prefer this profile because it makes technical tricks more forgiving and lets the wheel break free cleanly when needed.

The contact patch also affects how a wheel wears over time. A flat-edged wheel tends to wear more evenly across its surface, holding its shape for longer. A round-edged wheel can develop flat spots more noticeably if you power-slide frequently or brake hard, though for most street skating this is rarely an issue in practice. If you are unsure which profile suits you, look at the side profile of a wheel before buying. Most manufacturers will describe the shape somewhere in the product listing, and it is worth paying attention to rather than focusing solely on size and durometer.

Wheel shape is rarely the first thing a new skater thinks about, and honestly there is no need to overthink it. Size and hardness will have a far greater impact on how your board feels day to day, and those are the two figures worth learning first. Once you have skated for a while and start to notice what you like or dislike about your current setup, the finer details — contact patch, core placement, urethane formula — become genuinely useful things to consider. For now, pick a wheel that suits the terrain you skate most, buy from a reputable brand, and get outside and skate.