The top health trends are here! Professionals advise lots of skating, 8 hours of sleep per night, and maintaining a Fat Free diet. We’re here to test these claims out, especially that last one. We took the Orangatang Fat Free wheels and paired them with a variety of boards that we have at the shop to see how versatile they can be. The boards range from cruisers to dancers, downhill and, street boards. Are these small offset wheels going to be the next big thing in the health community?
Fat Free Wheels
Cruising and Carving
First things first, wheels need bearings. We chose the Fireball Dragon RACE bearings. Thanks to their special oil formula, right out of the box, we had an unmatched, smooth, fast ride.
After some vigorous carving and cruising it was clear to us that the Fat Frees and mini cruiser boards are a match made in heaven. They are soft enough to provide you with a smooth ride, grippy enough for all those gnarly tight carves and small enough to avoid wheelbite.
Choices, Choices, Choices
Orangatang Fat Frees come in four delicious flavors (durometers): Blue 77a, Orange 80a, Purple 83a, and Yellow 86a. For the smoothest ride, go with Blue 77a, but for the easiest freeride slides, go with 86a. Unsure? Try Orange 80a. That’s the most popular and “middle of the road” wheel.
All of the models are poured in happy thane, which is Orangatang’s signature formula. The Orangatang Stimulus and Durian are also poured from happy thane.
Fat Frees are a great blend of slip and grip since the core is offset. Unlike centerset wheels, which tend to be very grippy, offset wheels give riders a more controlled slide feel. This makes them good freeride wheels or even for use on surfskates.
Street Skating
Next up was the Old School Powell Peralta McGill Snake board.
We asked our warehouse wizard Bryan do to a McTwist. That’s the trick Mike McGill invented so it seemed appropriate but Bryan decided to take it to the streets instead.
He found a couple slippery looking curbs outside and threw down some slappies. As he was sliding the wheels kept turning and it was a glorious moment for all.
On our way back to the shop Bryan ollied on to a manny pad like it was second nature for him.
Bryan told us: “the Fat Frees are perfect for any street skater that wants a softer wheel to cruise around with but still be able to pop an occasional ollie”.
Longboard Dancing & Freestyle
On to bigger things, literally. We’ve set the classic Loaded Dancer, older brother of the Loaded Bhangra, from the Adam & Adam era up with the 65mm wheels to see if they are the dance partner we’ve always been looking for.
Again, the wheels did not disappoint. You can do as many crossteps, nose manuals and old school kickflips on them as you want. They will grip, flip and make you look hip no matter what.
Downhill
So far we’ve tested these wheels on a cruiser, a street deck, and a dancer. It’s time to see how they handle high speeds, tight turns and rough concrete.
He was reaching ludicrous speeds on our parking lot, but we were able to snap a picture nevertheless.
In conclusion, the Orangatang Fat Free wheels worked with all our weird shop completes, so they will most likely fit your board too. Grab yourself a set and check out some of the other goodies Orangatang has to offer!
If you have any questions let us know down below or hit us up on instagram @stokedrideshop.
