Vital MX Pit Stop: Talking Wheels At Dubya USA 5

Interesting thoughts Lucky. Do you know of any Factory Teams that run stock wheels?

Do you know ANYONE putting more stress on a wheelset than the factory guys? Obviously those guys doing what they do put super stress on their equipment. They are pounding their equipment day in & day out too. But 99% of MXers don't even get close to such abuse yet people go out and buy fancy coloured wheels.

Weight on wheels is the most overlooked area! A typical Talon wheelset weighs 2,5 kilos (!!) more than a stock Honda wheelset!!!! Wheels must be accelerated to get them spinning...heavier wheels need more energy to get up to speed ---> you actually LOOSE POWER with heavy wheels!! There is absolutely no benefit of running a CNC'd hub. Or have you ever seen a broken cast hub??? They do CNC as the mold for doing cast hubs would be much too costly. CNC is cheaper Spokes: again - why would the OEMs offer expensive double butted spokes when they could put cheap straight-gauge spokes instead?? Did you ever ask yourself? Cheap straight gauge spokes are cheap and much heavier and much less unforgiving. You are more likely to break a straight gauge spoke than a double-butted spoke. The flex the double-butted spokes offer is needed to absorb peak stress! Stock rims are indeed softer but again-they are also lighter and i can only insist you guys keep rotating mass as light as possible. A typical set of aftermarket wheels weighs just so much more. Let's talk about suspension for a second: more unsprung weight....that's making for less sensitive suspensions as each, the forks and rear shock, have to move over 1 kilo/ 3 lbs more up & down...a heavier wheel can't follow the ground as good as a light one. It's as easy as that. You see guys concerning more about color options than about performance....for me an absolute waste of money and one of the biggest downgrades on your bike!

I've seen quite a few broken cast hubs this year alone. On three OEMs in particular.

great video! Background music is annoying and so is the echoing voices. Lav Mics are cheap, guys.