I'm guessing skids + wooden rims = catastrophic failure in fairly short order.
For a person of normal weight riding well maintained streets, they'd probably be fine.
I would compromise and get the wood-grained Velocity deep Vs.
http://www.zapatacycles.com/blog/?p=275
(They still can't cure the fail of that guy's upside down risers with no end caps, but that's not our problem.)