Black Ops Avilas

LDPanda · Black Ops Avilas

Yes, thats right! You can now order Avilas in 77a (white) or 81a (blue) in the Black Ops urethane. The 73a (red) are still the older formula.

http://www.seismicskate.com/produ...eels.html#75mm%20x%2065mm%20Avila

I really really wish i had an extra $60 right now!
Anyone want a cheap superglider? lol

angelo_pb

I received blast waves in 82 and 75. I sent thpse back to exchange for the vents. the width of the blast waves concerned me. But they looked like fun wheels. I hear about the Black Ops urethane hype. But what exactly is it? Why is it only in the harder duros?

Pureadrenalin

I think I be trying a set on my new Galac. I want to compare them to my Orangatangs.

pavedwave

I can't wait to try them -- I ordered a set of white 77a's few days ago. If they don't show up soon, I think I'll post a whiny, bitchy thread on Silverfish berating Dan Gesmer for being such a "bad businessman" Very Happy

What really sounds great is getting that cushy feeling but hopefully with a nice extra touch of rebound. The 72a / 73a's were my wheel of choice for 2006 and 2007 STP because it was such an elongated 2-day in a row ride over some seriously nasty terrain. I still think these are really an underrated and underused wheel by distance guys. The whole deal about the extra "lip" curling up under speed, you don't even get into that zone until you're doing 30mph++, which is pretty rare even on cross-state excursions. Still, it's easy enough to shave the lips off ghetto-style with a grater for those who feel it'll add a little extra grip. I'll be riding mine untouched for quite a while before I think of doing that.

Btw, that dude on the left is Skip Marcotte, a slalom bro and the guy that shaped the Subsonic Syndrome.

pavedwave

Have been finding all kinds of new love with the whites. They are SMOOTH as butter on the rough trails and I'm just loving the way they stick turns when you plant down on the rear of the board and jam the pumps hard.

I told Gesmer was looking for a wheel that was a little more "agile" than the 77 Vents, and at that time he did warn me these would be a bit heavier because they're all thane, not having the lightweight energy core. So now what I'm wondering is how the Ops Avilas at 75mm with all thane would compare with the performance of the 73mm's that have the core (and 73mm's also come in white!) But, I really don't need any more wheels for a while so that experiment will wait, unless I sell some older wheels and get the paypal slush fund up and running again.

Loving these... Very likely the choice of wheels on this summers upcoming rides.

LDPanda

LDPanda

I picked up a set of the white 77a black ops Avilas. I havent put a whole lot of time on them but enough to give some quick impressions. The good: insanely grippy, spits out rocks and sticks like no other, lots of rebound for the smoothness of the ride. The bad: the wheel hubs migh be made strangely, i can wiggle my bearings around inside the wheel even when its tightened down hard, the quality control was a lil meh on my set, not prefectly round out of the box. The ugly: my arm. I guess fresh 75's are a touch larger than my badly coned bigzigs, got nasty wheelbite with these on the first day trying them, road rash all over my right arm and my hip is just starting to return to normal human skin tones. Not the wheels fault, obviously. Overall, im really impressed by the quality of the urethane, i just wish the hubs and pour went better (and i didnt biff it quite so hard).

fuzzydeer

I love mine,
I use both black ops 77a in the rear and the blue 81a in the front.
Rolls well feels better then the old ones. although it chatters a touch when I accidentally drift them (bombing downhill and taking corners during my ldp runs.}

Moddos

I've switched from my purple/orange O'tangs to white Avilas (while waiting for replacement O'tangs from the recall), and while I certainly noticed the improve grip, I also found it a little less "alive" to ride, as if the Avilas provide less "springy" rebound than the O'tang. Does this sound plausible?

I haven't done a direct side-to-side comparison, so it might just be that I should replace my bushings -- I've been using the same OWO set for a few months now. The top barrel shows marks from the Bennett kingpin threading , maybe that has an effect too.

Riding on rougher surfaces is definitely smoother with the Avilas Smile

Somewhat incidentally, is it normal for the wheels to emit low rumbling noises caused by the side-to-side motions while pumping?
I notice it even more with the Avilas than with O'tangs; it happens when I try to pump harder (e.g. driving the rear with deep, strong pumps). I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be like that or whether I need to change my technique/wedging/something else.

jose

i also noticed a sort of rumbling sound when i do large powerfull pumps once I switched from otangs to avilas, it seems that it comes from the rear. It doesn't worry me much.

Klaus · Avila Black Ops

Hi.
Did they fix this problem with the wheel hub?

LDPanda

Im not sure there ever was a "problem" per se with the wheel hub, I think i just got a slightly wonky set. I know James has been using these all summer and fall and loving them. Personally, ive switched back to bigzigs on my LDP because I like the more predictable slide and slightly smaller contact patch on the bigzigs. Im having a set of avilas trimmed down at the moment and Ill see if i like those any better when the weather dries up enough to pump again. Also, Gesmer just released some new Avilas in the clear blackops 'thane so they look more like speedvents/blastwaves.

Klaus

Thanks LDPanda.
One more thing, how are these black ops Avilas compared to the pink Bigzigs. They have the same duro ,right? But how they feel?

LDPanda

The white avilas are 77a, just like pink bigzigs. I find the avilas to be grippier but when they do break loose, its kind of chattery, unlike the pink bigzigs which dont hold quite as well but are smooth when they break loose. I felt like the avilas were a bit heavy and maybe a little slower than bigzigs but they feel plushier and spat out rocks better. I havent put as much time on the avilas but it seemed like they wore down slower, i burn through pink bigzigs pretty fast. I would be careful about running avilas on a bennet 4.3 as they are awfully wide and you can run into truck bite or wedge bite problems. Its pretty much a toss up imo. To me it came down to a tradeoff between giving up a little bit of grip for a little smoother slide.

Klaus

Thanks

Black Ops Avilas

Avila Black Ops