Fluid Vs Featherlite Review
**Canadian Roll has a whole new review system, I will mark things out of “8 wheels“, I chose 8 as a nod to rolling’s early days and the 8 down movement. The closer a product gets to 8 wheels the better the product performed.**
I just received 2 brand new sets of frames, one set the Kizer Fluid Gonzo frames, and the other Ground Control Chris Haffey Featherlites, because these frames have been compared to one another so much I decided to write a double review. This is an initial review and will focus on the frames build, in about 2-3 weeks I will write a full review on the Featherlites, and because I have already rode the Kizer Fluid team frames for months will post up that review around the same time.
Weight.
Right out of the box I could tell that the Featherlites hype was not a placebo effect, when people tell you that these frames are light they aren’t lying. I held both the Fluid frame and the Featherlight in my hand and could feel that the Ground Control frames were substantially lighter. In fact, the only way for both frames to feel the same in my hand was to take out all the hardware from the Kizer frame and leave the hardware in the Ground Control frame. This may be a good or bad thing to people, because some people like their frames to have a little weight so they can feel their grinds, but to me I enjoy having the lighter frame.
Design.
After noticing the weight difference on the frames, the next thing that caught my eye was that the Fluids side walls were much thicker then the Featherlites and judging by the wear on my Fluid team frames the extra thickness adds durability and longevity to the frame. This may be a major downside to the Featherlites, but having said that, these are the thickest side walls anyone has ever seen on a Ground Control frame and my generation 3s frames lasted a long time (Gen 3s had the 2nd biggest side walls).
The next difference is the recessed holes for the bolts. The Kizer frames have deep recessed holes for the bolts to fit, and this helps when your frame wears down and the bolts begin to grind against objects. Consequently, the Ground Control frames have stuck with their same formula and do not have deeply recessed holes, on past Ground Control frames this has lead to me grinding on the metal bolts.
The H-block on both frames have roughly the same width, but the Featherlite H-block is substantially raised when compared to Fluids deep grove. This is a matter of preference, but after skating Ground Control Generation 2s, 3s and,dual injections and switching to Kizer I must say I preferred the deep groove over the raised one, because I felt more locked into my royals, unitys, savannahs, and front sides.
The overall design for both frames is appealing to me, one solid frame with no extra junk you don’t need. The Fluid frames looks solid and so do the Feathlites, but I must say the Featherlites have the recessed section where Ground Control took out material and it looks good, so much so that I am going to have to say the Ground Control frame actually looks a bit better.
Hardware.
What can I say, Ground Control finally got metal hardware….finally.
Overall.
Overall, the weight of the Ground Control frames impressed me and so did the overall look of the frame (Ground Control finally has the right idea, one solid frame with no extra crap). The side walls, the raised H-block and the lack of deeply recessed bolt holes concerns me. For the Fluid frames, the weight has never bothered me, but they could use to shed a few ounces (but not if the frame becomes weaker), the H-block fits my style perfectly and the thick side walls make these frames almost perfect.
The initial score I give the Featherlites 6.5 / 8 wheels (81%)
The Initial score I give the Fluid frame 7.5 / 8 wheels (93%)
