That's right bitches carbon fiber Semi-wheels! "Van der Meulen describes the objective of the wheel development as "less fuel, more load," targeting its use on bulk trailers where a reduction in vehicle weight translates immediately to greater payload and revenue for the transporter."
The video of Berger's mag wheel coming apart is just about as relevant to this conversation as the two guys tossing a BST around a loading dock.
Yikes! This thread has become quite fierce... I can't speak from thorough testing, but Bryce Prince & I are competing in WERA West as well as WSMC (and AMA) as Team Rotobox / Nexx. As you may guess from the team name, Rotobox is a key sponsor and supporter of our racing efforts this season. We've had two weekends use so far which isn't really sufficient time to draw any firm conclusions. I can say from personal experience that braking, turn-in, & corner speed were all immediately better to an easily noticeable amount just from feel, not data. That being said, part of our partnership with Rotobox is to provide real-world feedback from our experience on track. Once we've gathered enough experience and data, we'll be able to provide a strong review regarding performance. In the mean time, I've emailed a link to this thread to the powers that be at Rotobox. I don't want to speak for them or imply I'm the expert behind their product. For those that would like more up-to-date info on what we're doing, check out the Team Rotobox / Nexx face tubes fan page: www.facebook.com/TeamRotoboxNexx
It's common sense logic that anyone who played with Lego as a kid could figure out. That being said I haven't seen how an RBX wheel is actually put together and the comments were never meant to be read as gospel and you know it. But thanks for attacking my character for a scenario you fabricated in an attempt to make yourself look holier. I guess you missed the rest of that paragraph where I stated neither was worth the risk or the money. Tell me where I attacked your character? Questioning your posts is something I'm allowed to do, and if you don't think so then I think you're missing the point of a public forum. The first sentence I quoted from you above is more like attacking character (although I don't mind personally, just using it to illustrate here) and to think you're the one that mentioned hypocrisy in the first place is becoming laughable now... It might not read in a rulebook exactly as such, but it is because carbon wheels cannot handle the forces exerted on them at that level of competition. Heat, G's, shock absorption, however you want to spin it. If the wheels were solid, not hollow, they'd be virtually indestructible but that defeats the purpose of the weight savings. If you truly believe a carbon wheel could handle the heat and g-forces put on them by an F1 car you are lost. Let's say they're not banned everywhere, do you see teams running them in touring cars or at Le Mans? How many non-carbon braked World/BSB/AMA Superbikes and race cars do see out there running carbon wheels? Some do, the vast vast majority do not. If they were better and safer than a forged wheel you would see every team using them but you don't. Case and point. You can't just say "It is because carbon wheels cannot handle..." as if you know the reason. I asked you to show me where any governing body stated that themselves, and you can't. Speculating is just that, not fact. Where the hell did I say they COULD handle the heat of carbon brakes?! I've not once said they SHOULD be used in MotoGP or F1, so how's that for inventing scenarios yourself? Just for the record, I don't think they should. And it is due to the heat generated by carbon brakes. I'm not saying carbon wheels are the ultimate in every situation, or course not. We're tlaking about the use of them on road bikes. I don't care about canister bottles, aircraft wheels or whatever else, I'm specifically talking about motorcycle road wheels. Please try and stick to that as I believe you have no factual argument against that here. You asked how many other classes of bikes and cars are running carbon wheels and my answer would honestly be not many. Here's why I think that: Carbon wheels are expensive. The present two main manufacturers of them have no interest in giving those wheels away on a large sponsorhip basis, large enough to support teams running in prominent classes. I know this because I have asked BST personally. I would presume Dymag feel the same, but I haven't asked them. So ultra light RACE magnesium wheels are very close to the static and inertial weight of carbon rims, but at a fraction of the cost, and sponsorship deals are out there. If you were the team manager, which would you chose to spend your budget on or even get for free? Those same RACE mag wheels aren't suitable for DOT approved road use. Need I explain why people see the benefits of using DOT approved carbon wheels on their road bikes versus any other DOT approved metal wheel? Good post, saved me from pointing that out myself. Excellent, I hope they chime in, I'd love to hear from them.
I hear a Crack? again I hear a crack. please post a pic of this wheel and a close up of this crack. Cause I can even begin to believe that while ridng a bike at 45 mph with the wind, and exhaust noise. you could hear anything that minute.
Don't really need to go any further in this thread in order to smell something fishy. Since you have pictures of the wheel, post the pictures of the bike. That's what I want to see, I want to see the damage to the bike. I currently have 8 customers on bst's. One has had them on his bike since 07, very aggressive street racer, riding throught the street of pg county Md and Washington Dc. Wheels still holding up strong, the other crack both within one months time. He on both occasions said he hit something "HARD", and when I say new I mean 2011 zx-10 new.
I'm sure it can't be any worse than a 2006 214hp Zx-10 drag bike, wheels install in 2007 and still on the bike. Here's why I can't buy the story. The Breaks are too clean, there is no secondary damage to the spokes, as in them hitting the ground or dirt embeded in them. The story goes he was going through a corner and had a throttle issue. Ok i'll bite, either way unless the engine was off as soon as the rim broke, even if you were barely on the gas in entrance or exit throttle the Rpms would have risen and thus spun up the hub damaging all of the spoke reducing them to, at a bare minimum, the circumference of the Rear caliper or the rear rotor, which ever was at the bottom lowest point of the wheel. there is no way that the spokes point at 11 and 3 o'clock would still be there. As soon as those spokes broke loose from the hub/ outter rim the engine would have spun up like you had the throttle pinned.
I didn't even need to see the photos. The moment it was mentioned that he has a "throttle issue" I knew the rest of the story was bullshit. There are only 2 throttles issues you can have. Using too much or not enough. He crashed and broke a wheel and now doesn't want or have the money to replace it. Thus the made up story of a wheel failure.
Has the owner of the wheel in the initial post said the wheel failed or is that just his theory while he tries to figure it out?
