Pig

Pig makes wheels, not decks. It’s a San Diego brand that runs from inside Tum Yeto, the distributor Tod Swank founded in 1989 that also handles Foundation, Toy Machine and Habitat — they share an address at 2096 Newton Avenue. The pig head logo is one of the few you can identify from a metre away even when the wheel has a flat spot.

History

Not much has been written about Pig, and it’s better to say so than to invent it. The oldest verifiable trace is Thrasher’s issue archive: the first PIG ad appears in the February 1996 issue, and by May that year it’s listed explicitly as “PIG Wheels”. Late in the decade the ads carry the names of Jason Maxwell (June 1998), Cairo Foster (September 1998) and Jason Adams (October 1998). The brand has quietly done its thing ever since, with parts picked up by Thrasher, Vague and Sidewalk.

The team

The current pro models the company publishes belong to Leo Romero, Braden Hoban, Myles Willard, Georgia Martin, Julian Lewis, Corey Glick, Cordano Russell, Adam Arunski and Jeremy Leabres. Vincent Nava came through before them, with a part premiering on Vague in 2020.

The wheels

The range is simple and unfussy, all in natural urethane. The Classic series runs 51 to 56 mm in 99a, the Conical 52 to 55 mm in 95a and 99a, and for softer riding there are the Rovers (59, 60 and 61 mm in 85a) and the RT’s (55 and 58 mm in 88a). Pro models repeat those same shapes with their own graphics. One detail that confuses people in shops: the same umbrella also covers Prime bearings and hardware, Toxic grip and Pig Head wax, so not everything carrying the pig logo is a wheel.

Who it’s for

A 52–54 mm Classic in 99a is a completely standard street wheel, well made and reasonably priced: if you skate street and don’t want to overthink it, it works. The Conicals give a bit more contact patch without adding weight. The Rovers and RT’s are for rough ground, cruising and filming, not for park. If you’re unsure which durometer and diameter suit you, start with the skateboard wheels guide.