Cheetah Hawgs
How manufacturing constraints and design thinking resulted in the iconic look of the world’s fastest skateboard wheels.
The Beginning
When the first urethane wheel was created in 1972, skateboarding changed forever. Replacing the traditional hard clay wheels with this new silent, smooth, and grippy compound not only transformed the sport forever, but opened the door for skaters to begin exploring entirely new terrain and styles of riding.
0-100
In 2024, Tik Tok and Instagram are rife with clips of skaters exceeding 100 kph on public roads, with cars in the oncoming lane, guard rails lining the shoulder, and all manner of obstacles that present extreme risk. Skaters require wheels that are easy to control and highly-predictable on a wide variety of surfaces and variable surface conditions.
Duality and Durometer
Just like in Formula 1, fresh tires are one of the most definitive factors in skateboard racing. Unlike tires, which are made of rubber, skateboard wheels are made of urethane. The hardness or softness of urethane is measured in a unit called durometer. Soft compounds, also described as low-durometer, provide the most grip and the slowest roll speeds. Conversely, harder urethane, or high-durometer, rolls quickly but offers less traction through corners.
Hawgs Wheels worked closely with professional athlete Dexter Manning for almost two years to create an innovative new design that would address these challenges and provide team riders with a major advantage on the world downhill circuit — The world’s first dual durometer downhill skateboard wheel.
Cheetah to Win
After countless hours of iterative prototyping and testing they were ready for production. Confident with the performance, we named them after the world’s fastest land animal, the Cheetah. All they needed now was a colorway and graphic that brought energy and excitement and a sensation of speed to the product story.
Cheetah to Win
After countless hours of iterative prototyping and testing they were ready for production. Confident with the performance, we named them after the world’s fastest land animal, the Cheetah. All they needed now was a colorway and graphic that brought energy and excitement and a sensation of speed to the product story.
Be Global
We posted clips from crews around the world to spread awareness and generate excitement in distant locations, and to entice far away communities of skaters to make the trek to Summerland, BC to participate in our event.
Ball
Is it a basketball? A baseball? A pool ball? Is it the Pepsi logo? Yes.