OJ Wheels is one of the oldest skate wheel brands still on the market. Its first wheels, orange and wide at the base, came out around 1977 in Santa Cruz, and today the brand sells everything from 99a street wheels to soft 78a cruisers. If you’ve seen an orange wheel with the OJ name on it, it’s from this family.
Here’s what’s known about its history, what OJ means, who makes them, what its formulas and shapes are like, and which wheel makes sense depending on how you skate.
What does OJ mean?
The story goes that OJ comes from orange juice. The brand’s first wheels were a very vivid orange, and the wordplay lives on in the catalog: Super Juice, Hot Juice, Thunder Juice, From Concentrate or Resqueezed, the name of its yearly video roundup.
OJ Wheels history
OJ was born inside NHS, the company that Richard Novak, Doug Haut and Jay Shuirman founded in 1973 in Santa Cruz and which also owns Santa Cruz Skateboards and Independent. The first wheel, the Super Juice, came out around 1977: orange, small in diameter and with a wider base than average, made for ditches, banks, pools and the concrete parks that were starting to appear.
In the 80s, OJ teamed up with Slime Balls and Bullet under the name Speed Wheels, NHS’ wheel division. The three shared a type of urethane, and what set them apart was mostly the image and the graphics, which were hand drawn. The OJ II belong to that era, with models like the Team Riders and the Combos, and so does Christian Hosoi’s line, the Hosoi Rockets. Eric Dressen, Natas Kaupas and Hosoi himself appear among the skaters of the time.
With the change of decade skating moved to street and park wheels lost weight. OJ lost prominence, but NHS didn’t let it fall: in the 2000s and 2010s reissues of the 80s wheels came back and, later, new wheels with current shapes.
An exhibition at the Museum of Art & History in Santa Cruz, open until January 2022, showed the original pen and ink drawings made for the Speed Wheels wheels and t-shirts. Designer Jim Phillips, the same guy behind the Santa Cruz logo and the Screaming Hand, did much of that graphic work.
Who owns OJ?
NHS, Inc., a private Santa Cruz company that has never been sold to a big group. NHS’ Santa Cruz address appears on the wheel packaging. OJ shares a home with Santa Cruz Skateboards, Independent, Creature, Krux, Bronson, Slime Balls and with Ricta, the group’s other big wheel brand.
That’s why it’s very common to see a Santa Cruz board with Independent trucks and OJ wheels: it all comes out of the same ecosystem.
OJ formulas
The brand’s official website splits its wheels into formulas, which are the type of urethane and its construction. The number is the hardness on the A scale, which we explain in what a durometer is.
| Formula | Hardness | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| Double Duro | 99a/95a and 101a/95a | Two layers: a softer 95a core and a harder outer layer. For rough ground, without losing speed or slide |
| Elite | 99a and 101a | The top-of-the-line urethane, tested by the brand’s pros, for street and park |
| Original | 95a, 99a and 101a | The urethane of the reissues, made for skatepark |
| From Concentrate | Not listed | Entry-level urethane, for getting started |
| Super Juice | 78a | Soft cruiser wheel, rolls easily over almost any surface and avoids snagging on stones and cracks |
| Keyframe | 87a and 92a | All-terrain, a bit harder, doesn’t slide; for getting everywhere or learning |
The Double Duro are OJ’s most modern bet. They have a 95a core wrapped in a 99a or 101a layer, so the outside gives speed and grip and the inside absorbs some of the vibration. If you want to understand what the core does, check the dictionary entry on the core of a wheel.
OJ shapes
OJ differentiates its wheels a lot by shape. These are the ones on the official website, with contact patch and width in millimeters:
| Shape | What it’s like | Measurements (contact patch / width) |
|---|---|---|
| Mini Combo | Asymmetrical, rounded on the back and conical on the front | 53 mm: 20/35, 56 mm: 21/37, 58 mm: 21/38 |
| Full Combo | The widest, with lots of contact patch, and it covers the axle | 53 mm: 31/42, 56 mm: 28/42.1, 59 mm: 33/44 |
| Hardline | Wide contact patch with a conical cut for better control | 53 mm: 23/34, 56 mm: 24/35, 58 mm: 23/36 |
| Chubbies | Very wide contact patch and rounded edges | 52 mm: 21/36, 56 mm: 24/38, 58 mm: 26/39 |
| Nomads | Straight cut with a sharp edge, which locks in easily | 53 mm: 19/30, 57 mm: 21/31 |
| EZ Edge | Narrow profile with a rounded edge, agile handling | 52 mm: 18/32, 56 mm: 20/34.5 |
If you don’t know what the contact patch is, check the entry on the contact patch. To pick diameter and hardness for your style, we have the guide to choosing skateboard wheels.
Soft cruiser wheels: Super Juice and company
Within the range, the soft wheels are the best known for people who don’t skate tricks. The Super Juice at 78a measures 60 mm and also comes in a 55 mm mini version. It has a reinforced core and a shape redesigned to take hits. The Hot Juice, also 78a and 60 mm, is its classic cruiser predecessor, and the Thunder Juice goes up to 70 mm. For getting around town without feeling every paving stone, they’re among the best-known options.
80s reissues
OJ still sells versions of its old wheels, made for retro-style boards:
- OJ II Original Combo: 60 mm, in 95a or 99a.
- OJ II Team Rider: 61 mm, 97a.
- Hosoi Rocket: 61 mm, 97a, Christian Hosoi’s wheel.
They tend to come in limited runs, and some editions, like the rainbow Team Rider, were made in only 700 sets worldwide.
The OJ team
The current team is very big: the official website lists about 40 pros and more than 30 ams. Among the pros with their own wheel are:
- Milton Martinez: has the Guero in a 99a Chubbies shape and several Double Duro Mini Combo, like the It’s Us Witches.
- Jon Dickson: the 99a Cat Chubbies and an EZ Edge wheel.
- Nassim Lachhab: a 99a, 54 mm Elite Chubbies.
- Nick Boserio: a wheel built for rough streets.
Among the pros there are also Barney Page, Ace Pelka, Chris Russell, Jake Wooten, Erick Winkowski and Collin Provost, and among the ams, Bobby Long. In the Speed Wheels days, Christian Hosoi, Natas Kaupas and Eric Dressen were associated with the brand.
OJ videos
OJ posts its pros’ parts on its channel, the Cruisin’ series and a yearly team roundup called Resqueezed. In 2025 it premiered Barney Page’s part, “Pixie”.
OJ compared to other wheel brands
- Versus Spitfire and Bones: all three make street and park wheels with wide shapes and high-hardness urethane. OJ adds a line of soft cruisers (Super Juice, Hot Juice, Keyframe) and retro reissues that those two have less of.
- Versus Ricta: they’re sisters inside NHS. Ricta is better known for its soft Clouds and its street Speedrings and Naturals; OJ mixes skate wheels, cruisers and 80s reissues.
Who is OJ for?
For anyone looking for wheels with character and a lot of variety in shapes, both for street and park and for cruising around town. If you skate tricks, the Elite and the Double Duro in Hardline, Mini Combo or Chubbies are the starting point. If cruising is your thing, the Super Juice and Hot Juice at 78a are the best known. And if you like retro skating, the OJ II and the Hosoi Rocket are reissues of real wheels from the 80s.