Claviger
Aspiring Student
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2014
- Messages
- 6,934
- Location
- Olympia Washington
- Ride
- '21 Z H2, '14 R3R, '02 Daytona 955i
$3,400 or so if you buy from the right place.
I find myself at odds with the concept of a small chip causing a catastrophic failure. When done RIGHT, composites are more resilient and more robust than metal, will deform further without permanent shape change, and will give a lot of warning signs before failure. A small chip will do nothing to compromise the overall strength in a properly designed part. The things I've seen composites tolerate and remain functional despite permanent damage simply seem like science fiction.
On the other hand anecdotal evidence clearly shows that BSTs can, and have, failed with minimal/no warning.
This academic theory vs real world mismatch can only be attributed to incorrect construction/design or inaccuracy of the story leading up to a failure.
The bias against CF wheels was largely driven by motorsports where, for various reasons, many sanctioning bodies have prohibited them. Usually the arguments go something like "They're too fragile, you can't tell damage from a small impact, and it can fail later suddenly". Ya ... don't ... say? The SAME can be said for alu or mag wheels where there can be a crack that's not visible in a minor impact leading to a catastrophic failure later on.
There are two reasons I haven't yet gone to CF wheels, price and tires. While the price hurdle I can get around, I have an offer to buy a pair at cost, the tires situation is just unacceptable.
BST's bone headed decision to make them 18" instead of 17" places them right on the top of the proverbial mountain of idiots from my point of view. Anything made outside 17" at this point is simply a bad choice, I know people won't agree, I really don't care. Already the single best rear tire to fit on the BST has been canceled (Dunlop Q3), so now you're limited to very questionable choices of tire at 18", where, on the other hand, if they'd have made a 17" set you could run a Michelin Power RS rear and a Michelin Road 5 front, which both sport apex level technology, proper load ratings for the R3 in 150/70 and 240/45, and extreme speed tolerance as well as great rain grip and long life for the level of performance delivered. They're also heaps cheaper than the disasters that are Metzlers or Pirellis.
/end rant