Are off-road, all-terrain skateboard wheels worth it?
In this post, I’ll share my experience after testing the MBS All-Terrain wheels.
Who Are They Best For?
Don’t get these if you plan on riding mushy offroad conditions. If that’s what you’re going for, look into actual pneumatic wheels. These wheels powerslide fairly easily because the contact patch slopes downward.
I’d recommend it to someone who’s constantly riding in rougher conditions, wants something that’s a little more foolproof than your average wheel, and doesn’t mind the extra weight it’ll add to your setup.
Specs
Diameter: 100mm
Contact Patch: 65mm
Wheel Weight: 13.6oz / 0.385 kg
Durometer(s): 78a
These all-terrain wheels are much heavier than your average longboard wheel since they’re so large. It’s definitely gonna make your setup not as portable.
These are marketed as All-Terrain wheels, which I think automatically makes you assume that you can use them on off-road dirt trails.
I tested them on almost every type of all-terrain scenario I could imagine, so let’s start with dirt trails.
Testing on dirt trails
If the dirt isn’t compact, these wheels won’t perform well. You’ll simply sink in and barely get any speed. Obviously it depends on the decline of the hill, but the main takeaway is that you need compact dirt.
Testing on harder surfaces
The conditions where these things thrived were on harder, compact surfaces. Like gravel roads, and rough asphalt that has debris. My favorite thing to do with these was starting on pavement, picking up speed, and then briefly going offroad, throwing a slide in the dirt, and before losing momentum, transitioning back onto the pavement.
That’s where I think these make a lot of sense.
I also think they would do well on cobblestone roads and dirt bike pump tracks.
Testing their traction
You can actually slide these wheels pretty easily. That’s because there’s less of a contact patch due to the raised-up pattern. If you’re just cruising on rougher terrain, they’re probably not gonna slide out.
Bottom line
If I had to simplify my description, I’d probably just say they’re a crossbreed of an all-terrain and regular longboard wheel. Heavier on the regular wheel side, though.
As far as functionality goes, they almost remind me of the market that Shark Wheels fits into. They’re not for complete off-road conditions, but they’re in between.
Off-road urethane wheels are solid for rough pavement, cobblestone, and anything else that’s compact. You definitely don’t want to use these for mushier conditions like dirt trails because they’ll sink in.
The urethane that makes up the wheels seems to be decent. I was expecting it to be harder and not as responsive.
I’m not a huge fan of how heavy the wheels are, but there does have to be a trade-off. It doesn’t make it easy to carry for long distances.
