Two weeks ago our crew of Basza, Petman, Szymon and I upgraded our skate setups with new wheels from Undercover. Not so long time ago I heard that Undercover wants to pure the wheels in US, in the factory which is well known for Matter speed-skating wheels manufacture. It was something to be juiced about, so I want to test the new product as soon as possible. I managed to get few sets from my sponsor theconference.org, gave them to some of my friends who were willing to help me with the test. Here you have our short opinions after 2 weeks of skating on new Undercover wheels. Szymon:
You will notice the difference in design, technology and used materials straight from the box. The wheel seems to be very durable just by holding it in your hand, it resembles old wheels used in first non UFS M12 which as we all know, lasted ages. I haven't noticed any problems with decoring, chunking etc so far, what's more they wear down super slow – really good deal even for such price.
Basza:
The first quick look at the new Undercover wheels and everybody can tell that we have a completely redesigned product. The first main difference - the core, super thick, with inside reinforcements looks really solid. The wheel is rather hard so it rolls very fast, they have no profile which results in great grip. After a week skating in parks and street there is no visible signs of any wear. So far I can tell that they can turn out to be the best wheels on the market, not to mention great design with colorful cores and urethane. The high price is reasonable.
Petman:
Thanks to my good pal Madej, I got new Undercover Demetrius George pro wheels for tests. First feelings are great – the wheels hardness makes them very fast and so far they haven't showed any wear signs. Our last session during which we were trying to find some spots for almost 3 hours in crowded streets of Katowice didn't affected the wheels at all, knowing how bad our sidewalks are. After two weeks I can honestly say that my impressions are very positive, in my opinion this product will do some buzz in our industry, proving that it is possible to produce an aggressive inline wheel which will hold up even one whole season of an average rollerblader.
Madej:
I tested the Pro model of Billy O'Neil 57mm/90A and Jeph Howard 58mm/89a. I have to admit that I didn't notice the difference between them but in colors. At first you will notice how eye-catching they are – color urethane and core. Two weeks of different surfaces, obstacles and any visible wear changes. Also the wheels are quite big which together with high hardness make them the fastest wheels I have ever skated. Of course it's too early to give them final verdict, but if they maintain as they have been doing so far, I will call them the best available wheels out there.
Text: Madej
Edit: Basza & Madej
Photo: Sieku