Slide Perfect have TOTALLY blindsided me with this wheel – I simply expected the Pro-Fluxx to be a run-of-the-mill, wide, grippy, downhill wheel. But what I found instead was pleasantly surprising. Today’s product review is on the Slide Perfect Pro-Fluxx.
Specifications
- Diameter – 76mm
- Width/Contact patch – 65mm
- Core placement – Offset
- Duro – 78a
- Price – £39.95
Slide Perfect Pro-Fluxx Review
Summary
These wheels have the speed of a race wheel, but the slow down power of a freeride wheel. They allow you to go fast, but don’t really have the brakes to match it. This is kinda scary … but also super fun.
This also makes them surprisingly easy to stand-up slide.
To be clear, these are more of a rip and grip wheel than they are a freeride wheel – they can hold decent lines around fast corners. But if you have the skills, you can stand-up slide them.
You can stand up slide them thanks to how slidey the wheel is, the predictability, and the consistency of the urethane in the slide.
And as much as Powell makes some of the best feeling slide wheels, I can’t say I’ve ever felt a wheel that feels as good as this one.
I would recommend this wheel to someone who wants to do stand-up slides on a narrow board (like me), or just wants a fast square-lipped wheel they can go really fast on and do big slides.
Why I really like these wheels
They’re a big, wide wheel I can stick on my slalom board, get pretty good rail matching, grip fast corners, but stand up slide them when I’m feeling spicey.
They allow me to have a mix of hands down and hands up riding.
No other wheel truly allows for this type of riding -whilst still being wide enough for a DH slalom board setup. The other wheels are either too grippy, too narrow, or too slidey. The Slide Perfect Pro-Fluxx fits perfectly in a box that other wheels struggle to.
(For you rail match nerds, they track about 8.2inches wide with the 120mm wide Smokies).
For me, these wheels are unique.
Are these wheels fast?
They are quick. Very quick. I was quite impressed with the overall roll-speed. Maybe a hair slower than proper race wheels, but nothing truly noticeable. Their acceleration is quite good too and you get up to speed quickly enough (maybe not as quick to accelerate as Cueis).
The speed difference is almost negligible, but it is there.
Are they super grippy?
With skin
Even with the skin, these weren’t the grippiest wheels. They slid surprisingly easily. I honestly had no difficulty trying to control them.
The slow-down power was there, but they’re really not comparable at all to a proper race wheel.
I’d recommend these wheels to a beginner who wants a race-like wheel that is still easy to slide whilst it is fresh.
Without skin
Kinda yes, kinda no. It depends on how hard you push into them and apply your weight.
When you sit into them, they can feel kinda grippy. If you don’t, they can slide for days and barely slow you down.
And that’s where one of my biggest beef with these wheels comes into play.
Surprisingly, they do have quite a bit of corner grip (or is it edge grip?), they can hold a line pretty well. I can grip corners and not scrub. However, they aren’t as grippy as other wheels and you can quite carry as much speed into the corner …
I wouldn’t use them on certain roads
On roads that require heavy braking (long periods of sliding), I wouldn’t use these wheels. They just don’t have the slow-down power I’d need to slow down in time and simply feel comfortable about relying on them to slow me down.
You have to slide for a significant period to reduce your speed with these wheels. When I go quick with them on the more dangerous roads, I sometimes wish they could brake more. I would reach for other wheels in those cases instead of these.
Do they have loads of slowing down power?
As I have said above, not really. You have to give yourself a lot of space on the road as you are going to be sliding a lot to slow yourself down.
**video fo you doing a b8ig slide
Yes, you can simply slide earlier. But sometimes you don’t have enough room to do so.
I’d compare them to Seismic Alphas (the 80mm) in terms of how much slow-down power they have. Alphas just feel a tiny bit grippier (with more edge grip IIRC) cause of the big core and stiff lips. The lips on the Pro-Fluxx deform quite a bit and maybe that is why they’re a bit slidier? Idk…
This makes these wheels very fun
Not having a lot of slow-down power isn’t necessarily a bad thing. These wheels are super fun to skate.
They’ve been allowing me to do huge hands-down slides on my local roads.
And they’re stand-up slideable. They’re literally like a big old freeride wheel in a race wheel shape.
A weird thing
A weird thing is I felt more slow-down power when I would slide a little, vs when I would slide a lot. I believe this is a riding style issue, not a performance issue with the wheels.
I think I’d be more confident about applying weight when it was a little slide, vs a big slide where there was a higher chance of high siding. Makes sense huh …
How do they slide?
These wheels have an unbelievably consistent slide. It feels pretty much the same on different pavements.
The slide is also extremely confidence-inspiring – the only reason I’ve been able to feel confident about stand-up sliding them.
How do they feel in the slide?
These wheels feel somewhere between buttery and icey when you slide them.
The key thing about these wheels is how consistent and forgiving they are. They do not feel like they will buck you off, even if you mess up and put your weight the wrong way – they just want to keep sliding.
You can stand up slide them
First and foremost. This is actually a downhill wheel. But if you want to, yeah, you can stand-up slide these wheels. It’s a bit of an effort, but once you get the idea, it’s so fun.
You have to really lean them off and dig in your weight either on your heels or toes.
Now, I don’t think I’m the most talented downhill skater. So if I can standy these, you likely can too.
They’re very predictable
Another reason I have full confidence in doing stand-ups is the consistency and predictability that these wheels have in the slide. They have no surprises and perform consistently in every slide. They’re seriously so good for that.
If there was a poster-child for a predictable wheel, the Pro-Fluxx would be it.
They’re easy to control
And all the above just makes these wheels great to control. It’s so easy to control the angles of my slides and where I want to direct the board (and myself) with these wheels.
Are these wheels durable?
The skin on these wheels lasted quite a bit. They didn’t disappear in a few slides like the skin on Powell wheels do but lasted long enough that I could get in multiple laps on my home spot.
How did the lips hold up?
These wheels are damned durable. I’ve skated them on roads that have destroyed the lips on Magnums, Cueis, Cheetahs, etc. But these wheels barely have any wear on the lips. Seriously.
I’ve skated them just as hard or even harder, and at this point, I’m convinced the lips are indestructible.
How long will these wheels last you?
I have not skated them long enough to get a proper understanding of how long they’ll last. But I think they should be durable enough to last you a fairly long time – on par or even longer than most race wheels.
Chunk resistant?
Most soft duro, high-density wheels will chunk. I don’t think these will though …
How are they over rough roads?
They’re super good over rough roads, absorbing a ton of road vibration, mellowing out the ride, and making it more comfortable. Almost reminiscent of how 74A Magnums feel.
What I liked most was how they stay planted around the super rough corners instead of bouncing around as the 77a Cuei Killers did.
For the variety of roads we have here, these wheels are a godsend.
These wheels are gonna be great for …
Anyone who wants a:
- Wide, durable wheel.
- A forgiving sharp lipped wheel.
- Wants to mix hands down and hands up riding.
- Wants to get more confident with hands down riding.
- Is looking to do huge, long, impressive slides.
- Wants a race like wheel, that’s more forgiving.
What I didn’t like?
Sometimes, they are too slidey for how fast they go …
They sometimes slide too much. You can really get going on these wheels. But unlike race wheels which are just as fast, they don’t have a lot of slowing down power.
I wouldn’t take them down any roads that require a lot of grip for me to make it down. Where I need the wheel to stay stuck on the road and keep me from slipping off. Or any roads that have heavy braking areas.
*Video of you doign a huge slide
It might sound bad to you guys, but I’d say that the 76a Seismic Alphas were about the same. A very fast wheel that doesn’t slow you down the most (without skin). However, you simply adjust where you apply the brakes.
Tbh, if you’re a super heavy person, maybe avoid these wheels.
When you ice out it’s bad
As easy as these wheels are to control, it’s when you ice out, it’s really bad. And when you ice-out, you lose so much slow-down power and grip. They become literal ice.
*Video of you icing out
Just keep it under or over 90* and you’ll be ok.
You have to sit into them to get good braking power
If you’re looking to do aggressive hands-down riding, you need to really sit into these wheels to get good braking power. If you don’t apply your weight, you will just float.
This isn’t that bad, but the thing is you have to be on-point with your weight all the time to make them brake well.
Not all bearings worked well
Not all bearings fit well in the core of these wheels. Zealous worked ok, but when I tried non-built in bearings with a normal spacer, I got a bit of chatter and slop in the wheel. This was also the case with the Bear Spaceballs.
Though they still slide smoothly even with the slop, it can affect performance. For best results, use Zealous, or buy a precision spacer.
Catch all my other wheel reviews on this page here.
Did you enjoy my review of the Pro-Fluxx??
I hope you guys enjoyed this review. I’ve enjoyed making it, it’s been interesting and fun getting to know this wheel. If you have an experience that is dissimilar to mine, feel free to leave a comment!
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