Pantheon Hoku 102mm Longboard Wheels

Kings of the distance skateboarding world Pantheon Longboards have reinvented the wheel again to bring you this smooth rolling, never stopping, mega mammoth beast: The Pantheon Hoku.

Their first wheel, the Karma, came in at 92mm and it's easy to see that Jeff and Adam had done a solid amount of homework and testing before releasing the wheel.

The Hoku takes everything they learned and adds a further 10mm in diameter to get this 102mm giant. This includes:

• Nautilus core. So naughty. Mimicking the ancient marine moluscs that withstand the pressure in depths of up to 700m under the sea, designed to diffuse stress from the bearing seat out into the outer disk. You'd have to be pushing hard for this core to stop supporting you!
• Inner support lip. The wiggly bit on the inside edge of the wheel. They call it the bulge but I'd rather stay away from that terminology. Regardless, it's designed to minimise loss of energy through the wheel flexing, whilst giving enough support for the wheel to slide much smoother than big wheels are usually known for.
• Poured upside down. The inner lip is poured first, meaning the aforementioned wiggly bit is cast more precisely, and the outer lip is ever so slightly larger, further increasing grip levels.

These wheels come in at just over 300g each which is a lot if you're not used to pushing around massive wheels... but if you are, you'll be amazed at how light they are!

Compared to the Karma they will increase your ride height slightly - only 5mm, but you'll feel that over longer distances - and take slightly more effort to get up to speed. However, once you're there... they just don't stop!

The Pantheon Hoku is no doubt a specialist bit of kit, and that's why Jeff and the Pantheon team have gone so deep with the design of the wheel. The result? Well, their team riders love it. You'll have to see for yourself...