OJ Prototype

There's a lot of skateboard wheel snake oil going around in the last couple of months, or year. First, Powell came out with those Dragon wheels, who got a lot of attention from the senior skate community. Understandably, the promise of a softer wheel that slides well, while also being easier on your knees is very appealing. Shortly after that, Bones came out with their X-Formula wheels. Similar promise, softer wheel with good speed and slide performance.

Now it's OJ's turn: they came out with OJ Prototype Double Duro. A wheel that is made out of 2 different materials, a softer 95A Urethane in the center, and a harder 101A outside. It's based on their Elite formula and comes in the asymmetrical EZ shape.

While I happily ignored Powell and Bones, the OJs caught my attention and I thought I might as well give them a try.

They're expensive though, costing 30% more than other good quality wheels. But, in my age, Skateboarding is a fairly cheap hobby, I didn't really care and got a set of OJs, in size 56mm.

So far I really like them. I might even go out and say they're my favorite wheel so far. They slide really well, are super fast and I like their loud bark. It might be the urethane or the shape, not really sure about that. But I can't really tell if I actually feel the softer inner core, so no comment on that. Maybe my knees are happier, but there's not real hard evidence here. They're just an overall very solid wheel, and perform better than the 101A Nfg that I had before. Didn't think that a wheel can make a big difference, but they kind of did.

Will definetly buy then again.

Well, maybe even try Spitfires for once. Being the biggest wheel brand, I've proudly avoided them so far, for no better reason than trying to support smaller brands. Bug now I'm really curious how a set of 56mm 99D Radials would feel compared to the OJs.