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Name: Karen
Status: Educator
Grade: 4-5
Location: FL
Country: United States
Date: November 2007
Question:
How does the size of skateboard wheels effect its speed?


Replies:
Hi Karen,

In an ideal world, where wheel bearings have no resistance at all to rotation, and both pavement and wheels were hard and perfectly smooth, wheel size would not make any difference to a skateboard's speed.

But in reality, small wheels turn faster, and the bearings in a faster rotating wheel will have increased drag. Smaller wheels will also be more affected by small bumps in the pavement than large wheels, and so small wheels will encounter more drag than large ones.

Regards,

Bob Wilson.

Not at all, on a smooth surface. On a bumpy surface, a large wheel averages over bumps better than a small wheel, and might allow the board to move more controllably at high speed.

Tim Mooney


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