Wheels

General Composites Discussions Composites Talk
#1

Copy/Paste*

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/29/weds-creates-a-6-1-pound-full-carbon-fiber-wheel/
Weds Sports, a Japanese wheel-maker, has created a full carbon fiber wheel – rims, spokes, hub, everything – that weighs 2.76 kg. Coming out to about 6.1 pounds, that’s about half the weight of the Dymag carbon fiber wheel with a magnesium rim that you’ll find on a Callaway Corvette, and just over a pound more than Dymag’s all-carbon race-specific front wheel for a motorcycle.

According to a rough translation of Weds’ literature, they use a dry carbon fiber process that makes the wheels strong enough for… well, we’re not really sure. While the rims look absolutely ace, we can’t find any other company that makes an entire wheel out of carbon fiber, and Weds apparently hasn’t yet put them in production, which leads us to think that these babies were meant only for the scales at the Tokyo Auto Salon. But if you have $12,000 for a set of four, and you live in an area with no potholes and no curbs, these could be the rims for you.

Think it’s possible to see this actually make production?
(I’m not really new, just first post)

#2

there were 3 or 4 companies at sema last year that made full carbon wheels. I would have to look through my 2000 pics I took to see if I took any pics of them

#3

I think the design has to be redone with composite materials in mind. Just to copy the exact look of a metal wheel, is slightly daft. Just my thoughts.

#4

Okay I know its a old post but here are a couple of carbon fibre wheels I’ve had a hand in making:

1st up front wheels for a 2000hp drag car.

Also the rears for the same car. They have been used for 4 years now with no problems at all.

And there a couple of others that I can’t talk about except to say that one is 60% lighter than an aluminium rim.

#5

Moke, welcome to our forums! :cool:

#6

Agreed completely. Some Formula SAE/Formula Student teams have built full carbon wheels of varying designs with varying sucesses.

http://www.fstotal.com/teamwork/suspension/251-carbon-fibre-rims-truth-behind-the-tales-about-the-recent-hype

#7

We are currently helping our local and my old FSAE team make carbon wheels. It took them 2 year/goes at design before the 3rd time they designed carbon wheels not wheels to be made from carbon. They are like our front drag wheels with hollow spokes.

#8

great stuff
we are the Japanese BST importers,so are pretty interested in carbon wheel technology
The top(Weds) wheel was made by Dome.Pretty famous composite company(do a lot of work for Toyota and Honda)
I had their HRC bodywork on my old CBR1000RR

#9

My brother races a Drag rail in that hp class. I’d be interested in any links to more info on those.
Cheers,Vinny

#10

@moto-works: I spoke to the NZ importer and he dared work out how they are made, I got it in one and he looked less than happy. The wheels are nicely made, but there seems to be a lot of chatter about them breaking, is this the case or is it a just a few loud people?

@Worldwealth: What sort of info are you after? The fronts weigh 2.5kg (4kg for Al) and the rears are 7.5kg (heaps kg for Al). They have been designed and built to exceed the relevant FIA specs but don’t have certification due to cost and it’s not needed to run them here. They were made for my boss’s mate, but if there was enough market for them we would get the certs. There is some more info on our website: www.riverscarbon.com/carbon-fiber-race-wheels/

#11

BST’s are very safe.TUV,JWL and DOT standards(magnesium wheels such as marchesini,marvic etc aren’t TUV rated)
There was one problem with a guy with a 996 Ducati about 4 years ago(you will see those pics on the net)but not really sure what happened there,and since then 1000s of sets have been sold and raced around the glode and havent heard of any problems since(if there are I’d like to know!)
The wheels are just part of BST’s business(they are an aerospace company,part of the Thales group and connections to ACG(advanced composite group-based in the UK but have a branch in SA where the wheels are made)they also make composite helicopter blades(for the attack copter the Rooivalk

BST’s are made using T700 series prepreg(uni and 3K)and have a patent for their forming.
The wheels are incredible,extremely light and beautifully made(the hubs are very intricate and an integral part of the wheel)
Below is the the website,youtube clip and a few pics taken by me a couple of weeks ago in Japan.
By the way,the president of BST owns a Britten motorcycle(he was head of britten Europe)

http://www.blackstonetek.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM0HXrN3_yQ

#12

I thought that was the case, one guy breaks a wheel doing something dumb like jumping 6 buses and a house and all of a sudden it’s the wheels fault. Morons. The way the spokes are part of the rim and not bolted on is the right way to do it, and the hubs are an elegant way to solve the problem of different mountings.

The first time the carbon rears were used everyone told the driver that they would break and he would die as they had a mate that had a carbon thing that broke, well this happened http://www.kiwidragracing.com/multimedia/06_Dragmasters/Squig_Slide.mpg You can see the 5 M10 high tensile wheel studs shear off and shoot across the track, with no damage to the wheel.

We are moving to ACG carbon once our order arrives in January, damn being at the bottom of the world and it being hazardous air freight due to being packed in dry ice. And everyone should give Britten bikes back to New Zealand so that I can spend all day staring at it.

#13

hello. is jester back at work?? i used to sell him carbon etc while he was down in welly. didnt know you guys did those wheels. are they the ones that were in nzpc? looked like they were pressed.

#14

Hi, Jestah doesn’t work for us anymore, he can’t stand for very long or lift much because of his busted ankle but he still comes around to work on his many many projects.

Not too sure if they made the mag but they were on the website. And nope they weren’t pressed, they’re autoclaved.

#15

Since this thread seems the most appropriate place to discuss carbon fiber wheels… I found this article on TAG bicycle wheels and a cut away of how they are constructed.

I was thinking of making cf wheels for bicycles but won’t touch it if they retail at $450 a pair… just not worth the time or investment. It’s like my old boss used to say, never make it if you can buy it for less.

http://mtobikes.com/tag-wheels-to-introdue-new-carbon-fiber-and-composite-wheels-at-interbike/

#16

I have a set of the original SPIN brand of 3-spoke CF wheels. that their molds are made from in Newport.

Super tough stuff and I still ride them inn the canyons on my oldschool full suspension Cannondale Delta-V 1000.

Good stuff !

#17

About carbon or any type of composite wheels:

On bikes and motorbikes this definately works. On cars, busses and trucks there is one hitch: temperature from the brake drum. We had one company making truck wheels (weighing some 70 lbs less than an aluminium one) but they kept on having problems after emergency braking. The brake drums get so hot that they cook the composite.

I guess dragsters do not have that problem…

#18

Well, this thread is a little old, but since I saw these rims I falled in love of them! :stuck_out_tongue:

http://www.koenigsegg.com/models/agera-r/

Click on the images tab to see the rims!

Someday I should have the $$$ to buy one of these…well, enjoy the pics so far.

Regards.

Antonio

#19

It bugs the crap out of me when someone says something like worlds first hollow wheels. We made ours in 2007 and the Auckland FSAE team made some in 2009. BST have been making theirs just as long. You would think they would check these things out before making claims.