The last "product review in pictures" turned out so great, that we decided to do it again. This time, the products are Orangatang's 75mm "In Heats" and 70mm "4 Presidents", in their brand-new 86a durometer formula. Here goes...!:
Let's start here: Orangatang (and their sister company, Loaded) are widely known for a few really great attributes that I thought were worth a quick mention. First of all: The guys that run the programs are great, stand-up people. Secondly: Everyone thinks "outside the box" to bring the best products possible to the market. Thirdly: They excel at approaching everything they do in a unique & innovative manner... this well-made and fun little "video" that came with the press release, touting the new 86a Orangatangs (made up of single photographs edited together, to give the illusion of motion) illustrates that really, really well...
However: The video can be both quite misleading, as well as subtly telling. At first view, the average longboarder might end up saying to themselves, "Oh, wow! Look! Slide-able In Heats and 4 Presidents!" But the truth of the matter is that although these wheels will slide, when pushed hard... "a hard push" ends up being a hell of a lot more than you'd ever guess, just by watching the video.
Look at Kyle's run into the slide at :59, for example. This is where things get "telling". Note that he goes into the slide at a pretty remarkable clip. Also note that the slide is relatively short... yet, he comes out of it going way, waaay slower... nearly stopped, actually. That shows you just how much speed these wheels will scrub off, in a remarkably short distance. Indeed, most of Kyle's slides are of the quick-hit, speed-scrubbing variety.
That's pretty indicative of an exceptionally grippy wheel. And, that's exactly what these wheels are: Extremely grippy. Moreso when they're new, but still... they're clearly intended to hold the road, and hold on tight.
As such, these wheels are in no way what I would call "Freestyle Slide Wheels". You're definitely not gonna get these, to start getting all Sergio Yuppie going down your local hill. If that's your aim, you'll probably wanna get the pre-ground and cleanly radiused Durians, instead.
Nope: Any "sliding" that you're gonna be doing on these, is going to be done in the interests of slowing your fast ass down, in a mighty big hurry.
This wheel's forte, then, is all-out, blazing-fast, hair-pinned, and uber-smooth open roadways where maintaining grip, building up breakneck speeds, and keeping those speeds in check (when needed) are the ultimate goals.
These wheels are just like a "standard" In Heat and 4 President in every way, except for the colors (yellow), and the durometer (86a, instead of the "usual" 80a and 83a). Note that the In Heats still have the unique "ribbed" profile that they're known for. Both wheels use the "Happy" urethane that has made Orangatangs famous, and the innovative wheel shapes are there to promote positive rebound. Both of these wheels are highly responsive, and incredibly agile for such large hunks of urethane.
Frontal comparison of the two wheels. Again: Just like standard In Heats and 4 Presidents. And, like all Loaded and Orangatang products, the quality, fit, and finish are all superb.
Unlike most "longboard" wheels that have some sort of bevel or radius on the outside edges, the 4 Presidents and In Heats have perfectly squared, sharp, 90-degree edges. Between the durometer, the urethane formula, and this knife-edged shape... these are the attributes that make these wheels so sticky and grippy, right out of the box. But over time, they do start getting a lot more slide-friendly... ultimately yielding to a buttery, quiet, whoosh-like slide characteristic over time.
I think this grippy-to-slippy characteristic (which is common to all duros of In Heats and 4 Presidents) might have caused some confusion in the longboarding community... so we'll explain what they're talking about real quick, and why this occurs.
Take a look at the diagram above. Wheel "A" is a fairly "standard" longboard wheel. Note how the left edge is beveled, and the right edge is radiused. These bevels and radiuses allow the wheel to slide... and, slide with less effort... because the "angle of attack" of the wheel (relative to the pavement) is not 90 degrees. Indeed, a beveled wheel meets the pavement at about 45 degrees (or so), whereas the radiused wheel actually meets the pavement at something approaching zero degrees.
Thus, the beveled wheel will slide pretty easily, while the radiused wheel will slide easiest of all... assuming that everything else remains constant (urethane formula, contact patch, duro, etc).
Now, look at wheel "B". That's a brand-new Orangatang, with very sharp corners. All else remaining constant, this wheel will be the hardest to slide, as the angle of attack is fixed at a perfect 90 degrees.
Now, look at wheel C. Which represents a "broken in" Orangatang. Once the wheel is forced into a few good, hard, long slides ("forced" being a good word for it)... the edges of the wheel will ultimately get scuffed up and worn away, just due to normal wear. This leaves the wheel with a "faux bevel" so to speak, which makes the wheel easier to slide, as the angle of attack has changed considerably.
And like most skatewheels, the outer shell of the wheel tends to be harder and grippier than the inner urethane, due to the hot-molding process. Once this "hard shell" is worn through, the inner urethane tends to be a lot more "forgiving".
This is precisely what happens to the 86a O'tangs, over time. Very sticky, and nearly impossible-to-slide at first. But once they scuff up a bit, they become a bit more drift-predictable, and slide-friendly. In all cases, it still requires a bit of effort. Slide gloves are a mighty big help when you're taking O'tangs to their limits. Ample slide experience (like Kyle's) is even better.
We mounted the 86a O'tangs up on a few different setups, to see how they performed under a variety of uses. The first was this Pressure Drop RD42, with wedged and de-wedged Bennett 6.0's, and Ninja 7's. On this setup, the wheels were fast as hell... like, shot-out-of-a-barrel-fast. But, quite a bit of "chatter" came through this extremely stiff deck, which made for a not-so-smooth ride (unless you're on better-than-smooth pavement). On this sort of setup, the wheels just do not break free, regardless of how violently you pump the board. This points to possible uses as slalom wheels, where superior grip is all-important.
The next setup was the 4 Presidents on a Tunnel "Beamer" deck, with Indy 129's. We put them on this board, specifically to go "bert 'em up" a little bit (doing tons of berts on a rough concrete embankment), and speed up the "breaking-in" process. After a half-hour or so of "berting", we noticed that the slide went from all-out-impossible, to suddenly-buttery-smooth.
The last setup was on a classic Loaded Pin, with wedged Century trucks. Here, the deck absorbed a lot of those "road chatters" and resulted in a fast, smooth ride and ample slide-ability with the "broken in" 4 Presidents. However, a longer-wheelbase board (like, the Dervish) would have been even better.
I can imagine that a really good speed-setup might include something like a Landyachtz Evo with soft risers and bushings, whereas a "flex" deck would probably be the best choice for cruisers and commuters.
All in all, these are great, fast wheels for a wide variety of uses and conditions. Anything that requires "the ultimate in speed and grip at any price" will be a natural for these. Just make sure that you have your slide gloves ready and waiting, for those all-important break-in slides!
