I don't know how everyone else feels on this and this is just an opinion but to me I cannot tells. Difference between a decent pair of bearing china wheels and a good pair of Flatface or oak wheels.

It might just be that I don't take the time to notice the difference. The only thing I do notice is that some wheels are smaller or larger than others but to me most wheels ride about the same.

That being said, I want to know what your opinions are on this topic.

To me he only thing you can tell a difference between while riding is the deck you have. A berlinwood compared to a china deck is like switching from riding a bike to driving a car.

I am too cheap to know how pro trucks stack up to chinas because I haven't owned a pair of pro trucks and typically I just go for the less expensive TD longboard trucks.

But yeah, your opinions?

I have some china cnc wheels on my china trucks, setup with my g12, and they roll really nicely, to be honest. The wheels honestly aren't half bad if you try them. In fact, I just tested them against my g7's, and they actually rolled FARTHER. And the g7s are on y x4's, so yeah.. As for trucks, it's the same as you said with decks. You can really tell the difference between china trucks and brts/y's. First of all, it is quite hard to fit china trucks completely in, i just shook my g12, and I can hear the trucks shaking around, because they aren't tightened enough, even though if i tighten them anymore i might strip something. When I got my first set of brts, I could feel the difference when riding, it sort of sounds like a deeper, more solid sound, which is a great thing. So yeah, that's my take on china stuff. I like this topic, interested to see other people's responses.

Yeah man I understand ya. Like I see no difference between well tuned tdlbs and brts other than the locknuts and then smooth grind feeling. Brts are still hih quality though.Wheels definetly feel diff to me. Thrre is a big difference between china and pro wheels. They may feel similar, but from experience, bearings in china wheels will slip and fall out. You are just paying for quality. Like theres a difference of quality in a skateboard complete from walmart than one from ccs or zumiez. Stuff is def exensive,but its worth it in the long run.

Wheels like Winklers and oaks and stuff really need to be mounted to some good trucks that don't let them wobble, the difference is astounding. You won't feel the full benefit on China's. 

Oaks have a completely different feel, they are different to pop things like varial flips and tres.
In my opinion, softer wheels completely change the way you ride. 

Wheels also give different pop feeling, have different resistance on different surfaces etc. 

Fact is though, if you are happy with a stock TechDeck, use it. 
You're saving money and still having fun. 
I can honestly do everything I can do on a BW with BRTS, oaks, witchcrafts & Riptape that I can on a stock TechDeck with skate grip. I learnt everything on original TechDecks, people would laugh these days and say they were skinny and impossible to use, but they aren't. Once you get used to something you'd be surprised what you can do with it. 

I just use those things because I like the way they feel, and I'm happy to pay for it.

With wheels I can only really feel the difference between the hard/softness of the wheels. Like oak wheels are so soft and grippy, and like Joe said they totally have a different feel to them. Whereas flatface wheels are slippy and harder. I can't really find too much of a difference between flatface wheels and a solid pair of cnc wheels or something, although i haven't really rode flatface wheels too much to know, I just know there's a solid difference between soft and hard wheels. Trucks and decks I find a huuuge difference too.

I feel loads of difference between wheels. Joe pretty much said whats left to say. If your wheels aren't made for your trucks, then you wont get the full performance.

You could try and dig up some backless (Substance) wheels, where the bearings sits flush to the back of the actual wheel. Dual backless wheels often fit perfectly on china trucks, and there is no friction because of how the bearings are placed.

About china wheels (and china shit in general).. It's not the performance of the china products that makes them "wrong", it's the fact that they aren't made by fingeboarders (or people who evolve the fingerboard scene), so you are putting your money in the hands of a corporation instead of giving them to fingerboarders that will use them to develop better fingerboard products.

If you cant feel the diff.. I don't want to know you.

interesting..

The difference is bearing quality and wheel material. If you can't feel a difference between flatface g6Ds and china wheels, thats understandable, but you can't feel the difference between oaks and china wheels? I don't believe that.

parrish wrote:

The difference is bearing quality and wheel material.  If you can't feel a difference between flatface g6Ds and china wheels, thats understandable, but you can't feel the difference between oaks and china wheels?  I don't believe that.  

yes

what mikkel said.

i had a set of china wheels a couple years ago and when i got my first pair of flatface g6a's i didn't see much change other than rolling distance was longer.

on the other hand, when i put the same g6's on my ytrucks they felt completely different.

then when i tryed brts with flatface brr ed it was A LOT different.

so i think the wheels performance is really made different by the trucks or how well the wheels fit with the trucks

Thanks Adam...

I guess that makes sense since I only use china or tech deck trucks because I cannot afford ytrucks or brts. I probably should get a pair then restate my opinion.

But I don't have any money and therefore I can't buy any so I guess I can just be harassed by Trent for having an opinion until I get some pro trucks.

Like I've been fingerboarding for a long ass time and the difference is small but for example.. the materials of the wheel give you a completely different type of grip on a different of surfaces.. my substance dual zeros are extremely slippery and hard.. BUT on glass/metal or a super smooth surface they grip a lot and squeak like oaks. Also the distance they roll is not important its how they feel when your rolling them and how smooth they feel under your fingers.. dual bearing wheels are insanely smooth in comparison to single bearing unless your single bearing wheels are quality abec7...
trucks..omg trucks
Blackriver or YTrucks bolth feel more solid.. for example on most of my decks with a set of chinas the deck sounds like mud.. like theirs no pop or its sound is deadened by the soft Zink alloy materials use in the production of china trucks.. with a set of y's or BRT the deck sound EXTREMLY solid and you can hear the crispness even as the deck rolls along a surface the sound is amplified throughout the wood just like a skateboard rolling down the street..
so yeah
penis wrinkles

Trent Witcher wrote:

so yeah
penis wrinkles  

lmfao caught me off guard

I've been fingerboarding for about 4 years and I've had a ton of setups, and I've come to the conclusion decks and wheels don't really matter that much as long as they're nicely made. I can pretty much use any size and shape (within reason) after I get used to it, if it's a quality deck. As far as wheels go, I don't think dual bearing or similar features are really worth it, pretty much negligible difference imo between them and regular bearing wheels.

theres of coarse a difference of hardness in everywheel brand or type. but overall comparing say flatface to winkler. there basically the same just different hardness and such. china to winkler. i would say you can tell a difference the minute you put your fingers on the deck and move it. chinas are just hard. non squeaking wheels.

i can feel a difference between brr trucks with flatface brr edition wheels and wides with china wheels. i can never go back.

For me: Winklers, FF wheels, etc are smoother than china wheels.
Are they so much smoother that I actually care? No.
I can ride china wheels jus as well as I use FF wheels and stuff. They are more enjoyable, but not $25 more enjoyable. (I just walked in to so many jew jokes).

Nice thread.

I was just thinking about this the other day.

Here are my thoughts.

I'll be comparing Flatface Dual Durometer wheels with standard china bearing wheels.

http://www.flatfacefingerboards.com/flatface-dual-durometer-bearing-wheels-white-turquoise/

vs.

http://www.brokenknucklefingerboards.com/?q=node/20

First off I love my flatface DD wheels. They are super smooth and great. Since the bottoms of the wheels are completely smooth this makes power slides smooth too. The bearings in them are great and which makes the deck roll pretty quietly. However I paid like almost $50 for them.

Now the china wheels just right out of the package just roll too fast for me. I remember getting some black china wheels and when I put them on my setup the board just rolled too fast and it wasn't that controllable.

So believe it or not, I took the bearings out of my china wheels and soaked them in some motor oil overnight. When I put them back in the plastic wheels all of a sudden they seemed to roll so much better and I felt as if I had more control over the deck. I think somehow the extra lubricant in them slowed them down a tad bit and they ended up feeling much better overall.

The china wheels have a small ridge on the bottom of them and thus power slides are less smooth and kind of feel weird at first, but once that wears away then they are much smoother. Now when rolled on a surface it seems like the china wheels are much louder than the flatface wheels.

I would say that while the flatface wheels are superb the china wheels are not that bad after all. I'd say that the china wheels are at least 70% as good as the flatface wheels in terms of performance and because of their comparative low price its not a bad set of wheels to have on a deck.

You can even buy these china wheels in bulk and they end up costing like 50 cents each. So I would say, would you rather pay $50 or 50 cents? At the end of the day they both get the job done.

And if anyone has some china wheels and doesn't like them try soaking the bearings in motor oil and then use them and let me know if you think they are any better.

I don't get how people can't understand that china products hurt the scene..

How are we supposed to keep the scene alive if you drain it for money, by spending your cash in china rather than on a company that actually does stuff?

Even if you don't feel the difference between a set of china wheels and a set of scene made wheels, you should have enough respect for the people that try to make this hobby more awesome, that you save up the extra cash and spend it on some wheels that are made with care.

I can feel a definite difference haha I don't know how people don't feel a difference unless they are using china wides ? Maybe that's the problem?

I know, the best way to support the scene is to buy from quality companies like Homewood and avoid that china stuff.

*logs onto Homewood site*

OMG Shop Decks only $8.99

*buys the sh!t out of them*

99.9% of shit in all American stores is china..even the building itself is built with china shit... were just fucking ourselves by buying china shit.

open your eyeballs ..its in your face

Pureskate wrote:

I know, the best way to support the scene is to buy from quality companies like Homewood and avoid that china stuff.

*logs onto Homewood site*

OMG Shop Decks only $8.99

*buys the sh!t out of them*

Homewood selling china shit is a desperate attempt to get some of the business back, that china stole from the scene. At least by buying china shit from Homewood, the profit goes into developing a brand that has pushed fingerboarding further... I still think it's a bad idea to have china products, but i can see why Homewood went that way..