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About the Mega-Tsunamis
The Rainskates Mega-Tsunamis are a 72mm tall, 46mm wide freeride wheel, with a nice and slippery contact patch of 30mm. They feature an offset core, and come in two different durometers, 82a (Magenta), and 85a (Orange). They also have some really nice cores which fit bearings super snugly, and support the wheel quite nicely when both rolling and sliding, alike.
Out of the Packaging
Mega-Tsunamis do not come pre-broken in, and therefore, the wheel still has a skin that you must wear through to unlock the true greatness within. This wheel is relatively fast wearing, and it only took a couple of slides to break through the wheel skin and into the sugary goodness that the Rainskates soft wheels are known for.
Fully Broken In
The feeling of the slide on the Mega-Tsunami was super sugary and exceptionally easy to break traction with. They dropped thane lines from the very first slide I laid down with them, to the very last. I used the Mega-Tsunamis for a great variety of things, from mellow DH runs to some pretty gnarly and steep freeride hills, they did the job, and they certainly kept a smile on my face. They excel at going sideways, and the feedback felt from them is very consistent, from high speed standers to little checks, they were very reassuring wheels.
Roll Speed
Obviously the Mega-Tsunamis were not designed with racing in mind, that being said, due to their very hard and supportive core, they are quite fast and certainly roll super smooth. I really found this to be a surprising advantage to the Mega-Tsunamis that I had not anticipate – you generally don’t need as much time in between slides to regain momentum for the next slide.
Durability
Mega-Tsunamis are not the most durable wheel out there. They lasted me a good week of some pretty steep hills though, but you can tell by the amount of thane that they leave behind each slide, that they are wearing down consistently. That being said, they definitely are not the fastest wearing wheel out there, I’d say somewhat comparable to ABEC 11 Classic thane, although I’ll have to be quite honest, and say from my personal experience I like the Mega-Tsunami thane more.
Concluding Thoughts
The Rainskates Mega-Tsunami is a great choice for any speed of freeriding. It brings big confidence with the consistent and predictable feeling slides, and big grins with the fat thane lines they dump behind them. They have pretty cool and very nice feeling cores which I attribute a lot of the wheel’s positive characteristics to. For about $45 they are a good buy and should last most riders their fair share of sessions. The Mega-Tsunamis seem to be somewhat unheard-of , and a lot of people are missing out on these excellent wheels.
