959 Wheels

BSTs…

I do think the Oz Gass are the best lookers, but if you’re gonna she’ll out for lightweight wheels you might as well go the whole hog .
Do not underestimate the delivery dates for wheels, you’ll be waiting bloody ages for them!

I think you’ve seen my original thread when I finally got em?


https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/at-last-the-bst’s-have-arrived….86680/

 

Think I’ll go for BSTs again when the time comes. Ran them on the 998S and zero problems.

 

By time you get them you have sold the bike

 

i know we chatter earlier mate but ive gone forged alloy on both ducs and will do with the blade.

 

Run ti disc screws in both my carbon front wheel (TKCC) and carbon (BST) rear. No issues at all.
Also the TKCC carbon hoops are lighter than BST’s size for size. BST rims don’t have a reinforced bead and the TKCC ones do.

 

The TKCC wheels are for the £72,000 M1000RR track only bike. Not the carbon hooped RR road bike. They have had structural failures; odd as the company that make those supply Porsche etc with carbon tubs for their cars (allegedly).

 

I hear a not that carbon wheels promote heat loss in tyres and on track unless you are pushing at a decent rate it’s easy for the tyre to drop temp and affect grip. Any thoughts on that?

 

Don't know about heat cycles with carbon wheels. For spirited road riding my tyres get lovely and warm. Not pushed it on track yet.
I'm slow and old so not an important consideration for me.

 

Having run both carbon BST wheels and Forged items from Dymag, OZ and Marchesini, I would definitely say Carbon if it’s within budget. All the forged wheels will still give you big improvement over the stock 959 OE wheels! But the carbon wheels are that much better again. I’ve also had zero failures or problems with carbon wheels. Only had an issue with a front Dymag UP7X that span a bearing within the wheel. The only other thing I would say is visually the carbon wheels seem to blend in. Unless your looking at the Rotabox Bullet items….. Probably the lightest Carbon wheels available, Just massively expensive but bloody lush! Secondhand is probably the best option

 

My decision making process on this was pretty simple.

Carbon fibre is a stunning material but can develop hidden stress fractures over time that can and do fail catastrophically and without warning.

I know proponents of carbon fibre won’t like to hear it but there are numerous instances of this easily available on the web. I read this back when I was looking and it was enough to put me off https://www.motorcycle.com/features/carbon-fiber-wheels-and-a-trip-to-the-moon.html. Yes it might not happen very often and lot’s have people run CF wheels without any issue - but it’s the fact it can happen at all that’s enough for me.

Modern CF wheels are the best they have ever been but they still aren’t used in MotoGP - there has to be a reason for this in a sport where money is no object.

I went with OZ GASS because they are the lightest forged alloy road legal wheel OZ do - which means although they are lighter than stock by a large margin, they are still very robust and designed to stand up to a lot of punishment.

After my recent crash I can easily inspect my wheels by eye and then pop them on a wheel balancer to check everything is still the right shape without having any doubt in my mind that their might be any hidden damage.

With CF I would be wondering - did the impact cause any damage that I can’t see?

Magnesium is the choice of racers but again it’s an exotic material and can degrade over time and although lighter than Aluminium isn’t as durable for long term use.

If you aren’t racing and don’t have bottomless pockets then forged ally is the safe choice - there’s no chance of it ever just letting go and spinning the hub out of a wheel and can even be straightened if it gets slightly bent.