Review: Undercover O'Neill Wheels

Tags: billy oneill, fish, lui summer, review, sebastian dreysse, undercover

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Not too long ago I got some of the new Undercover pro wheels which are said to be “the best wheels on the planet”. This is a pretty strong claim and made me very sceptical, especially as most of the wheels Undercover produced so far were budget products.

The first thing you realize when you see the wheels is that they come in very bright and eye catching colours. This is perfect for advertising purposes as the print will wear of anyways. I chose to ride the Billy O’Neill wheels first because I prefer wheels that are not too colourful. So I had to choose between the grey George and purple O’Neill wheels.

The new pro wheels without the Demetrios wheels

57mm and a hardness of 90a are pretty perfect. The wheel size is still small enough to skate ledges but big enough to get some speed. The 90a wear down slower than softer wheels and they are also faster than an 88a wheel. What can be a problem with harder wheels is that they have got less grip. Especially new wheels tend to be really slippery. When I was skating the O’Neill wheels for the first time it was already beginning to get dark and the ramps were a bit wet because of the dew. Still I could walk up the ramps without problems when my friends were already having problems with their wheels slipping away.

Me testing the wheels with a Kind Grind on a rail with a really rough landing that kills wheels

What really disturbed me when I took a closer look at the wheels was that there were a lot of small bubbles in the urethane. But during the testing phase I found out that you can’t feel them. They also don’t make the wheels instable or wear down faster. I was really surprised about how slow these new wheels wear down compared to other, cheaper wheels. Not only the urethane, but also the plastic core seems to be very solid. I very often had problems with cores cracking or wheels decoring. With the new Undercover wheels this is less of a problem because they have got a massive core which is way bigger than the cores of other wheel companies.

Austria's top newcomer Tim Helbock rides the new Jeph Howard wheels

Yes, they cost more than the average wheel but they are of very good quality. If you are looking for a budget product this is definitely not what you are looking for. Finally I can say that if you are willing to spend more money for better quality the new Undercover pro wheels were made for you.

Review by Lui Summer
Photos by Lui summer and Sebastian Dreysse