ROTArded Wheels

posted by Pete on February 16th, 2007

For the millions and millions of knockoff fans out there, I suggest you read below. Recently, Chris from SA sat down with Jim from Work to break down what are the possible hazards of purchasing knockoff..KNOCKOFF! Wheels.

Jim broke down key elements to why and how knockoff wheels are not the best alternative for the consumer.

1. Casting control - The wheels are obviously poorly cast, the material possibly contains air pockets that cause the wheel to have weak spot. When a wheel takes an impact, the energy travels through the wheel, and when the wheel has a weak spot it would start to fatique.

2. Design - Many copy wheels are not copied exactly the same as some originals. These are areas where consumer may over look, such as certain radius or angle on the spokes or back pad. The radius and angle plays an important part on a wheel’s strength. Example, a sharper radius corner will tend to develop crack over low radius if the corner wasn’t designed properly. So without proper engineering the wheel can fail under stress.

3. Material - Many imitation wheels out there may have done a good job copying other original design, but the materials are sometimes different. In most cases, imitation wheels use cheaper or lower grade material to cut cost. This will have devastating effect. The original designed wheel was designed and engineered with certain grade of material to support the engineering structure of the wheel. Even if a imitation wheel are copied exactly to the teeth, if the materials are not the same, the wheel will not achieve the same type of engineering integraty under stress and fail.

My thoughts - These companies who target copying original design products, sure have the talent to copy. If they would take this talent and incorporate with education and innovation, they can develop a strong brand image and company… I just can’t figuer out why they don’t?

If you don’t believe it…peep the pics below: