Mike Molloy Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Looking at the cycle wings on an Ariel Atom I am impressed by the tyre-hugging design. The moulding also incorporates the wing stays in a nice low-profile manner. By contrast my cycle wings sit at least 2" above my 175/55/13 CR500s. Besides looking pants, they also act as air brakes. Does anyone produce a better design of wing that fits the tyre properly (but still allows the wheel to be removed, so no deep side lip)? Maybe even something like the CSR aerodynamic version, but 3/4 scale? I'd be happy with ABS or even plain old fibreglass. The DAX Rush also has a nice wing shape, but they favour bling 17" wheels and ultra low profile tyres. The "rubber-band" effect looks great but these wheels weigh a ton... 😳 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted January 29, 2007 Leadership Team Share Posted January 29, 2007 here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Molloy Posted January 29, 2007 Author Share Posted January 29, 2007 Mmmm. Look nice but if they are "designed to fit 13", 14" and 15" wheels the diameter will be way too great to allow a close fit to CR500s (524mm dia.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted January 29, 2007 Leadership Team Share Posted January 29, 2007 The other option is the DitP / K9 versions. I may have a pair up for sale soon 😬 Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Molloy Posted January 29, 2007 Author Share Posted January 29, 2007 Martin B has these on his Blackbird (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). Way too big for 175 tyres. That's why I want a 3/4 scale version! here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Mike - do you know what wing stays you have? caterham do a race 13" stay that brings verything a lot closer/better fit alternaticly if you are that way inclined you can cut and shut standard stays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted January 29, 2007 Leadership Team Share Posted January 29, 2007 Mike, those look like the Mog CSR lookalikes rather than the DitP versions? Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Molloy Posted January 29, 2007 Author Share Posted January 29, 2007 I'd happily mod the wing stays if necessary. The problem is finding a guard that has the correct radius of curvature to mount closely to the tyre. The standard one is way too big (and yes, it is the 13"/14" guard not the 15/16"). No idea what Martin's aero wings are. But anything for a CSR will be too big. Remember 175/55/13 CR500s are like rollerskate wheels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 They are not mine (K9 ) R500 Mango Madness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin b Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Mike Mine are indeed mog csr wings on adapted stays. They look ok with 185 /60 tyres , the side profile follows the wheel pretty well but they would look wrong with cr500s The csr wings are designed for slightly wider profile tyres but i'm happy with the way mine turned out. Just to check there are 2 types of 13/14" wingstay, the standard and the race The only problem with the csr wings are that they allow so much more cr#p to fly backwards. Guess you'll have to fit bigger tyres 😬 If you want any more pics just blatmail me, when I get a chance i'll add some more photos to the site. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naddy Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Mike, Have had exactly the same dilemma as you. I decided to go down the route of a cut and shut on the standard, 13inch, wingstays. I kept the standard carbon wings with their deep side lips so (as you say) that meant that the wingstays couldn't be shortened right upto the tyre because the wheel wouldn't go on or off. Since the wing is the wrong radius anyhow to be that close to the tyre I wouldnt want it any closer. this means i've got a compromise! but i'm happy with it - I can find a before and after pic i think, blatmail me if you'd like them. edited to say, if you actually find any that fit the 'little' CR500s please let me know 😬 Edited by - naddy on 31 Jan 2007 00:44:25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted January 31, 2007 Leadership Team Share Posted January 31, 2007 Mike, I'm running 175/55-13 CR500s under DiTP (K9) cycle wings - the wings are so close that the wheels need to be tilted to remove! The tyres are a very low profile but not pargicularly narrow (compared to 185 Yokos etc). Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Molloy Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Martin - always happy to hear from a fellow bird-man. More piccies of your car would be good, plus any info on trick mods (like the CSR wings). Stu/naddy - more pics of your end products would be great. My search at the moment involves scouring local trailer manufacturers and camping shops looking for small diameter plastic wings that I might be able to chop up. I also checked out RAW engineering cos their Striker RGB race car sported natty looking wings. Unfortunately they are designed for 15" wheels, so far too big... ☹️ Anybody out there a fibreglass moulding whizz? Can't be that difficult, eh? Large pic of Atom wing (front view): here Shows the way the guard is moulded around the wing-stay to allow closest possible fit. Note the design doesn't have much side lip so you can get the wheel off sideways without too much faffage. Nice side view: here These pics are of the "Brammo" US version of the Atom. Note the detail changes like the integrated roll bar and individual bucket seats. I also like the bike fairings as aero screens! Superb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted January 31, 2007 Leadership Team Share Posted January 31, 2007 Mike, Images of my front wings: here here Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSL Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 All you need to do is cut & shut the wing stays & simply use a belt sander to remove material from the outer side of the carbon wing to allow the wheel to pass Did exactly that on my Busa car & no problem with wing strength so far upto 138mph 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Molloy Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Hi Darren. The problem is that I want a cycle guard that closely follows the profile of the wheel. I tried just dropping the standard item over the tyre and it looks awful cos the radius is too great. Looking at Stu's second photo illustrates what I mean. There muct be at least 2 inches between the tyre tread and the inside surface of the wing. BUT at that distance the radii match so it looks OK. Next stop may be a bent strip of ally painted satin black. Non-tech or what! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiF Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Although not currently in production of cycle wings we have made some prototype ones Not yet to our standard quality so not for sale and I need to finish all the side skin development (Norman is waiting 😬) first, we have made several that are not bad and certainly better than some I saw at Autosports on a new car, mentioning no names . Anyway what I will need before we kick start making is a new mould or moulds so if anyone wishes to send me any measurements, designs, ideas, etc this would help us to make something that everyone actually wants rather than something that will do. Also re the mounting, perhaps I can redesign this to go with them? No CSR designs, just simple cycle wings for the moment RiF Flying even faster in my very bright yellow 226bhp Duratec 7, with internal kevlar/carbon panels and pushrod suspension 😬 😬 😬.for pictures of 7 and carbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Molloy Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 Hi Richard. Please have a shufti at the Atom photos I posted previously. The design of the cycle wings looks particularly good to me due to the way the tubular wing stays are incorporated into the moulding. The matched radius makes them particularly tyre hugging. Any chance you could make something along the same lines? Unfortunately it wouldn't be "one size fits all"... Of course I have no idea if this design actually keeps the crap off you, but hey - if I wanted weather protection I'd fit enormous plastic mudflaps! (Or clams...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrino Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I always thought it would be neat to have wingstays of adjustable height - eg. the 2 struts/arms screwing into threads in the base to achieve a wing of differing radius from the wheel centre. Yamaham @ Keevil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickie Normuss Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 The problem with that is that as the 'arms' of the stay go up, the tops move away from each other so they wouldn't match the holes in the wing VX HPC - Loud and proud here Seek forgiveness, not permission. Rules are for the interpretation of wise men and the obedience of fools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrino Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I would use the Bonded-Bighead method. You would still need a set of bigheads for each height though. But the aim would be to have a wingstay that suits your main set of wheels, which doesn't seem to be achieved very often with the current setup (hence why I cut-and-shut my wingstays). Yamaham @ Keevil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Molloy Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 The wing mounting is another area of dissatisfaction. Using bolts eventually results in star cracks in the fibreglass. Sikaflex is a tidier solution but you need loads of goo to guarantee they stay stuck. God help you if you ever want to get the wings off again... So - we need a low profile solution that doesn't over stress the mounting points... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiddy1 Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 surely you could bond two tubes onto the underside of the wing, (or form them in carbon) then the wingstay could have rods which just slide into the tubes, you would only need a small grub screw or similar to stop the lateral movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted January 31, 2007 Leadership Team Share Posted January 31, 2007 tiddy1 - think about it carefully, it doesn't work! Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin b Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 There is always the problem of diminishing gaps adjusting the standard stays The csr wings have the rear stay fitted through the side and the front stay is just held at one side rather than going over the profile of the wing. It would be possible to Sikaflex a larger diameter tube to the wing and feed the rear stay through it with a self tapping screw or similar to hold it in place, the front fixing could be elongated to allow the front of the wing to maintain a minimal gap to the various tyres. The only problem is the side view where different diameter wheels would not produce an equal sight line around the tyre. Martin L7 BYK here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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