I have many girls asking me about wheels, right now I'm on Atom wheels and have been since May 2010, a combination of G-Rods as pushers and Lowboys. I really like this combo, and it works well for me on lots of different surfaces, but I have a feeling that lots of girls wouldn't find it sticky enough, especially not on those slick sports-hall floors lots of Scandinavian girls skate on.
I think my preferred combo for those would probably be Stingers as pushers with G-Rods and if the floor was really slick I'd probably go all in on Stingers - all eight... and yes, I am on the narrower wheels. I used to be on Heartless, but they were to narrow for me when jamming, I lost too much speed, and what they made up in agility wasn't worth it. The slim Atom wheels are a little wider than Heartless and it made a huge improvement in my jamming! It was actually OMG from Five Stride who talked me into going a tiny bit wider, and I totally blew her off about it, but she is a person I really trust when it comes to gear! And it showed out to be true, it really did improve my jamming...
Another wheel I have heard lots of good things about are the Atom Poisons, and I think that those and also the Radar Ghosts are good cheaper alternatives for girls that want a cheaper sticky wheel, those wheels are so called hybrid, and can be skated on both indoor and outdoor. The Ghosts are the narrow version of the Radar Shadows and Poisons come both in narrow and wide!
I am actually quite a fan of the Radar Flat Out for minor outdoor skating and for slick indoor floors, they also come in a narrower version, the Flat Out's also make for a very good pusher wheel.
Wheel preferences can be quite induvidual, and I know girls that like their wheels to be superduper sticky and girls that like their wheels to slide, because they feel that it gives them more control. I preferred more sticky wheels when I was less skilled, and I don't mind a little more of a slide to my wheels now. Also the success or failure of a wheel depends on your skating-style, your weight and skill, just because your best friend likes a wheel does not mean you will be as crazy about it!
The best way to figure out if you like a wheel is to borrow it from a friend and see if it works for you, and in worst case buy it, and then re-sell it.... and most wheels take a couple of hours to get broken in and also used to, before you can really decide if it's a good fit for you! But I must say that both the girls at Five Stride Skateshop and Fast Girl Skates know what they talk about, and they interact with amazing derby-girls on a daily basis... and therefore are a great resource!
What do you skate on? And do you like it? And why??
