It’s no secret Orangatang wheels are among the best longboarding wheels out there, being part of the Loaded Boards high-quality product ecosystem.
The Orangatang wheel lineup is quite extensive though, so choosing the right wheel for your needs can be confusing. Each of the Otang wheels is designed for specific riding styles, type terrain, and type of rider.
In this article, I try to sort through the large Orangatang wheel lineup and help you understand the characteristics and best riding use for each wheel.
Orangatang wheel lineup: target riding styles
This tables summarizes what each Orangatang wheel is best for:
| Wheel | Diam. | Carving | Freeride | Speed | Dancing | Freestyle | LDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onsens | 58mm | X | |||||
| Skiff | 62mm | X | X | ||||
| Fat Free | 65mm | X | X | X | |||
| Love Handle | 65mm | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Keanu | 66mm | X | X | X | |||
| Kilmer | 69mm | X | X | X | |||
| Stimulus | 70mm | X | X | X | |||
| 4President | 70mm | X | X | ||||
| Moranga | 73mm | X | X | X | |||
| Cage | 73mm | X | X | X | |||
| Durian | 75mm | X | X | X | |||
| In Heat | 75mm | X | X | ||||
| Kegel | 80mm | X | X | ||||
| Caguama | 85mm | X | X |
You can also view the above information as well as the additional specs of the tables below in this single Google Sheet
Orangatang wheels: pricing & detailed specs
| Wheel | Price | Duro | Width | Contact | Lip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onsens | $36 | 100a | 34mm | 19mm | Rounded |
| Skiff | $46 | 80a, 83a, 86a | 35mm | 25mm | Rounded |
| Fat Free | $47 | 77a, 80a, 83a, 86a | 45mm | 37mm | Rounded |
| Love Handle | $56 | 77a, 80a | 50mm | 50mm | Sharp |
| Keanu | $48 | 80a, 83a, 86a | 45mm | 38mm | Rounded |
| Kilmer | $52 | 80a, 83a, 86a | 46mm | 39.5mm | Rounded |
| Stimulus | $52 | 77a, 80a, 83a, 86a | 49mm | 42mm | Rounded |
| 4President | $52 | 77a, 80a, 83a, 86a | 53mm | 53mm | Sharp |
| Moranga | $54 | 80a, 83a, 86a | 44mm | 35mm | Rounded |
| Cage | $56 | 80a, 83a, 86a | 48mm | 41.5mm | Rounded |
| Durian | $55 | 80a, 83a, 86a | 52mm | 45mm | Rounded |
| In Heat | $55 | 77a, 80a, 83a, 86a | 56mm | 56mm | Sharp |
| Kegel | $60 | 77a, 80a, 83a | 56mm | 56mm | Sharp |
| Caguama | $68 | 77a, 80a, 83a | 58.5mm | 56mm | Rounded |
| Wheel | Bearing seat | Urethane | Weight | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onsens | Centerset | Durable for park & pool | 79g | Street & park focus |
| Skiff | Centerset | High traction, smooth, softer | 91g | Alternative to traditional street wheel |
| Fat Free | Offset | High traction, smooth, softer | 130g | Alternative to traditional street wheel |
| Love Handle | Offset | high-strength, high-stiffness, heat-resistant | 145g | Traction/pumping focused |
| Keanu | Centerset | Balanced traction/durability | 140g | Technical freeriding |
| Kilmer | Centerset | Balanced traction/durability | 160g | Freeride focused |
| Stimulus | Offset | High traction, smooth, softer | 160g | Slides, tricks, dancing & commuting |
| 4President | Offset | High traction, smooth, softer | 180g | Downhill or urban riding |
| Moranga | Centerset | Long slides, high durabilty | 160g | Very slidey, great for pushing |
| Cage | Centerset | Balanced traction/durability | 180g | Firm grip, high-speed slides |
| Durian | Offset | High traction, smooth, softer | 200g | High roll speed, plush feel, predictable drifts |
| In Heat | Offset | High traction, smooth, softer | 220g | High roll speed, plush feel, predictable drifts |
| Kegel | Offset | High traction, smooth, softer | 230g | High speed, rough pavement |
| Caguama | Offset | High traction, smooth, softer | 270g | high roll speed, grip, momentum |
Next, I’ll deep dive into each Orangatang wheel individually.
Orangatang Love Handle 65mm wheel review
The Love Handle is a newer, fast and lightweight wheel designed specifically for high traction: carving, pumping, surfskate, dancing, racing.
This wheel looks a lot like the 4President, only more compact (65mm vs 70mm) and MUCH lighter (145g vs 180g). Nevertheless, it has similar width and contact patch (50mm), which for the size means tons of grip.
Like the 4Prez, the Love Handle is offset – extra urethane sticks out from its core. This added to the sharp lips and wide contact patch makes for awesome grip.
In addition to grip, the compact Love Handle has amazing responsiveness and acceleration. If you like the 4Prez, you’ll love the Handle for its added agility and response with just as much grip when hard carving and pumping.
See the Love Handle here on Orangatang Wheels’ website
Orangatang Stimulus 70mm wheel review
The Stimulus is first and foremost an awesome freeride wheel. It’s also a very effective carving and dancing wheel due to its offset bearing seat – meaning the wheel pokes out a bit so when you turn hard, all 4 wheels stay on the ground.
The offset setting prevents the board from flipping when you’re dancing or spinning hard on the board, including at low speed.
The Stimulus also kicks out very easily and makes for buttery stand ups and other slides thanks to its rounded lips.
Check out the reviews for the Stimulus ($52) on the Orangatang website
Orangatang In Heat 75mm wheel review
The In Heat is the original race wheel, soft and gummy. It holds the lines very smoothly but is still very predictable in a drift.
Harder duros give you a bit more roll speed while softer ones hold the lines really well on a rougher pavement and give you a lot of traction.
The In Heat is offset – more meat sticking out from the core. This combines with the sharp edges to offer strong traction.
Riders like In Heat for downhill and big stand up slides with some solid grip in the beginning due to the sharp lip and wide contact patch. It’s not the best wheel for flip tricks.
Check out the reviews for the In Heat ($55) on Orangatang’s website
Orangatang 4President 70mm wheel review
The 4President 70mm wheels are similar yet different from the Stimulus. The 4Prez is wider with a 53mm contact patch vs 42mm for the Stim. As a result, it’s a little grippier and lets you shift more of your weight off your board.
The 4Prez is a great midrange downhill wheel with great roll speed and high acceleration out of corners. While not the best wheel for top speed racing, it’s an excellent freeride wheel, especially once the surface skin starts to wear off.
The super grippy sharp lip and the wide contact patch also makes the 4Prez an awesome wheel for urban slashing and street surfing (think Omakase).
Check out the reviews for the 4President ($52) on Orangatang’s website
Orangatang Durian 75mm wheel review
At 75mm the Durian is larger than the 70mm 4Prez though just about as wide at 52mm, giving it solid grip as well.
Unlike the 4Prez, however, this wheel has a rounded lip resulting in a thinner contact patch and making it a lot easier to kick out into slides. This is a great wheel for fast freeriding e.g. on a Tan Tien.
With its large diameter, high roll speed, and smooth riding feel, the Durian is also a very good option for serious pumping.
Check out the reviews for the Durian on Orangatang’s website
Orangatang Fat Free 65mm wheel review
The 65mm Fat Free is a fantastic wheel for longboards with smaller wheelbases. It gives your longboard a skateboard feel and is ideal for street tricks, grinds, jumps, and kickflips.
This wheel is also great for technical riding down smaller hills and lets you do really big stand up slides. It’s buttery smooth and super easy to kick out due its rounded lip, offset core, and 37mm contact patch which makes it incredibly slidey.
Be aware though, the Fat Free is not the best for racing and really fast riding as it doesn’t have the necessary grip for this type of riding.
Check out the reviews for the Fat Free on the Orangatang website
Orangatang Kegel 80mm wheel review
The Kegel is primarily designed for really fast downhill, but also makes an awesome technical freeride wheel, especially when new and scrubby.
This wheel is extremely grippy, especially when still new. Even after some riding, while the edges of the wheel wear out, the center of the contact patch stays fairly fresh, including the area directly over the bearings. As a result, the Kegel keeps its grips and lasts a long time.
The Kegel is the same width as the In Heat so it gives you a similar very predictable slide. The wheel snaps into a slide and pulls you back quickly, which is great at high speed. The wide core also makes for very crispy slides as it puts more pressure on the lip.
Due to its large size, the Kegel isn’t a good fit for all decks. Smaller decks like the Loaded Coyote are likely to get wheelbite with this wheel.
Again, the Kegel is primarily a high speed wheel. It’s not ideal for street tricks, or skatepark and bowl riding.
Check out the reviews for the Kegel on the Orangatang website
Orangatang Caguama 85mm wheel review
The huge Caguama wheel is designed for maximum roll speed, momentum, and grip when commuting, carving, long-distance pushing, pumping, and e-boarding.
It has the most urethane of all Orangatang wheels, allowing it to easily roll over rough pavement and big cracks and get up curbs when riding around town.
The offset core provides a lot of support, and is exposed to keep the weight of that big wheel down. The Caguama is 58.5″ wide with a 56″ contact patch, which means it gets a slightly wider and grippier as it wears down.
The edges of the Caguama are slightly rounded to avoid catching on pavement seams, allowing for smooth transitions on rough terrain and banks. The protruding inner lip, however, ensure no grip is lost through extra squish.
The Caguama is awesome for pumping thanks to the surface skin. Especially when paired with a flexy cambered board with ample wheel cutouts – such as the Loaded Icarus, Dervish, or Vanguard. The purple 83a worksgreat for long distance pushing.
Also, the Caguama has a very unique 3D faceted face!
Check out the reviews for the Caguama on Orangatang’s website
Orangatang Kilmer 69mm wheel review
The 69mm Kilmer wheel is designed for fast freeriding. It’s highly predictable and reacts consistently regardless of type of pavement, deck, or temperature. Its really good roll speed allows you to go into turns very fast.
The Kilmer is part of Orangatang’s centerset series. It has a big core support and the very slidey and consistent “Peachy Thane” urethane formula.
The Kilmer is built like tank and incredibly durable thanks to the big core support that allows the wheel to wear down very evenly.
The Kilmer performs best with low degree trucks for going fast and sliding. It can also be paired with very turny trucks, and can be a good wheel for dancing. Riders enjoy riding the Kilmer with the Tan Tien or the Fattail.
Check out the reviews for the Kilmer on the Orangatang website
Orangatang Skiff 62mm wheel review
The Skiff si designed primarily for street skateboarding. It’s a small and lightweight, street-inspired wheel with a small (25mm) contact patch for slashing and very easy sliding. A highly versatile freestyle wheel.
It’s a good alternative to a traditional street wheel which allows for faster and rougher riding. This wheel’s light weight makes it super easy to flip a board around.
The rounded lips, narrow patch, and stoneground finish make for long and buttery smooth slides all the way to the core, leaving colored thane lines from the start.
The Skiff is fast rolling and has decent grip and cushioning for its size. Although is has relatively little urethane, the centerset core support makes it last longer than a regular street wheel.
The heavily rounded lip also keeps the wheel from getting square as you get close to the core.
A great wheel to use on a smaller or medium-sized deck for fast freestyle riding.
Check out the reviews for the Skiff on the Orangatang website
Orangatang Cage 73mm wheel review
The Cage is the biggest of the Orangatang centerset wheels – which also include the Skiff, Kilmer, and Onsense. The core positioning along with the massive 73mm diameter give this wheel incredible roll speed.
This wheel is designed for super fast freeriding, and lets you easily throw big stand up slides before going into high speed corners, similar to snowboarding.
The 41.5mm contact patch is the widest of the centerset wheels, giving the Cage the most grip among them. The contact patch is smaller than similar sized offset wheels (e.g. the Durian) to make up for the high grip and allow for “slidiness”.
The Cage is a great freeride wheel that slides very predictably, wears evenly, and lasts forever. Also makes a very good cruiser wheel.
Check out the reviews for the Cage on Orangatang’s website
Orangatang Keanu 66mm wheel review
The Keanu is another wheel in the centerset series. These wheels can easily be flipped for even wear due to their big centerset core. When riding, they don’t poke out of the deck as much as an offset wheel.
The Keanu’ contact patch is the narrowest of the series at 38mm. This wheel is small and light, making it very good for freestyle tricks e.g. 360 shuvits.
It also makes a great fast freeride wheel namely on a smaller decks like the Coyote, due to the fast-rolling and slidey Peachy Thane formula used in all Orangatang’s centerset wheels. The formula is also very durable.
The Keanu is not the best for rough terrain and offroad riding due to its smaller size.
Check out the reviews for the Keanu on Orangatang’s website
Orangatang Onsens 58mm wheel review
The Onsens is Orangatang’s skatepark wheel designed for street, ramp, transitions, bowl, and tech sliding. It comes in a single 100a durometer.
The ultra-high density Perky Thane urethane formula is flatspot resistant – unlike most traditional street wheels which flatspot immediately. The wheel doesn’t change shape even when doing tech sliding.
The Perky Thane combined with the larger 58mm diameter (vs 52-54mm for most street wheels) make for a very fast wheel in the bowl.
The Onsens grips really well including in a dusty park and allows for nice lines in the bowl. The stoneground contact patch allows for smooth slides in the park. The roundover lips prevents the it from hanging up on big copings.
Check out the reviews for the Onsens on Orangatang’s website
Orangatang Moronga 72.5mm wheel review
The Moronga has a similar diameter to the Cage (72.5mm vs 73mm) and is also a centerset wheel. The main difference between them is the contact patch: the Cage is the widest whereas the Moronga is the narrowest at 35mm.
As a result, the Moronga slides super easy. This is reinforced by the Euphorethane formula used in this wheel, Orangatang’s densest for highest speed and easiest sliding. Another difference with the Cage which is made out of Peachy Thane.
The Moronga is a great wheel for freeride, flatland, and fast sliding. Also great for pushing and getting around town.
Check out the reviews for the Moronga on Orangatang’s website
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Photo credits:
(1) Featured image: “Alex Tongue steezy orange shoelace drift” by Barbara Britvin (Loaded Boards)
(2) “Invisible Ollie” by Pierre-Yves GUYOT (Loaded Boards)
