How-To: Choosing a Downhill Wheel

What makes for a good downhill wheel? 

Slow your roll speed racer, are your wheels what you want to be trusting to take you down that curvaceous canyon road? Downhill skateboarding is no joke, and the last thing you want is to be riding the wrong gear on too intense of terrain. So, how do you know what sort of wheels are good for downhill?

First, look for a sharp lip! Round lipped wheels initiate into slides easier, while sharp lips offer more resistance and traction. Therefore, you want that extra stick and grip for taking turns at higher speeds. The sharp lips natural deformation is to flex, which will allow you to take turns while moving in lieu of forcing you to break traction. Along with that, when you do have to break traction, the lip shape will offer more resistance and slow you down quicker than a freeride wheel. Correlating with the sharp lip, you would also want a wider contact patch, somewhere in the realm of 50mm or wider.