MattGS300

Kind of an odd question but I searched and couldn't find a reliable answer. So here goes:

I am looking to reduce unsprung weight on my GS for obvious reasons. Right now have stock 6 spoke rims and some god awful generic tires the prior owner put on. Keeping weight in mind, I was looking at as light of a rim as possible which caused me to think. Is it a bad thing to go too light??

The GS s not exactly a featherweight and I saw a set of Enkei rims on tire rack that weighed in at about 18 lbs. Add the new tire with a weight of about 21 lbs, I'm looking at a total of 39 ls per corner. I'm guessing the stock rim is about 25 lbs plus the generic tire at about 23-25 lbs, making the total between 45 - 50 lbs per corner.

Thanks for any input. Let me know if I am totally overthinking this - LOL

Mandrake

You're thought process is logical but it's more about how the wheel is made than just how light it is. This video might be relevant:


A lot of the Taiwanese and Chinese wheels fall into that category and there are endless pictures of broken knock-off rims.

Schmidt wheels from Germany are also known for having a nearly indestructible radinox lip and had their own interesting way of testing it which became kind of famous in the 90's:
There's debate as to whether there is any truth in the videos however.

So yes, it's completely possible to get a strong and light wheel if it has a good design and construction. One of the biggest factors is the kind of casting they do with the aluminum alloy.

MattGS300

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

The battle is real - low weight rim, good construction, not made in china, look good - lots of things to remember - LOL

Mandrake

Sometimes a decent compromise is to go with a smaller wheel. You'll find that the weight of the tire doesn't go up much but the weight of the wheel does go down so there's a decent compromise somewhere between 21" and 16".