Oh no - wheels yet again!!!

[RiF]

Sorry everyone but after reading much info on Blatchat I still have more questions ☹️

 

1) Re M+B r500 wheels compared to Compomotive MS.

Both are 3 piece mag wheels. It seems M+B weigh 3.5kg and the MS is 4 kg. Based on 13 x 6.5 wheels. Info gathered from blatchat not just manufacturers quoted figures.

 

Question is which are the best? For quality, long term use, etc. Weight difference is very close. Also as it has been pointed out the M+B wheels are rather unreliable on delivery Is it really worth the wait and hasle.

I know there is probably many diferent views, so lets have them My main use is on the road.

 

2) Re tyres- If I go for 13 x 185 x 60 or x 70 what real differences will I get. In laymans terms please. Will ground clearance be better, acceleration be reduced, wear improved, top speed, etc..... Previous postings gave me the impression the 70 was easily available. Oh tyres will possibly be Yoko 021's or A539 or CR500. Thats what it seems you all recommend. 🤔 🤔

 

Thanks for your assistance yet again. I am steadily getting there and learning so I may help others in the future.

 

Richard in France

Awaiting chassis to start building my Duratec 7 😬

[F355GTS]

Richard

 

I'm running the Compomotive split rims, some pics at http://www.collinsclan.co.uk/caterham2/index.html click on the thumbnails for a larger pic

 

BTW I didn't choose silver centres, my choice would have been black, but I needed them quickly and had them on the shelf, although now fitted I think they look OK

 

The Compomotives are extremely well made and use the standard wheel nuts unlike the MB's that require the sleeved type nut that are an absolute pain to fit due to variations in the (wheel) powder coat thickness and quality of nuts.

 

on tyres I'd buy the CR500's or maybe the 21's, didn't like the 539's in the wet

 

In theory 70 section will give you higher top speed, greater ground clearance and reduced acceleration, the ride might be very slightly better, the difference is 18.5mm extra clearance, Rolling radius is about 5% more on the 70's, which I am sure somebody more bright than I will come along and tell you the difference in top speed and acceleration

 

Mark

[RiF]

Thanks Mark for your reply.

 

Sounds as if the M+B wheels are really not so hot

Any other views 🤔 🤔 🤔

 

Thanks for the very clear discription regarding the tyres. I will probably go for the 70 due to the ground clearance 🤔 but acceleration is more important than top speed. Just so few places to get it flat out. Probably I would be too scared to

 

Richard in France

Awaiting chassis to start building my Duratec 7 😬

[RiF]

Mark,

Had a look at your photos. The wheels look the same to me. Very nice

 

No other comments from other members, thats unusual

 

Richard in France

Awaiting chassis to start building my Duratec 7 😬

[Chelspeed]

I've got two sets of Mike Barnby's wheels. I bought one set from Caterham parts dept and another set (different rim widths) direct from Mike.

 

Personally I prefer the look of the Barnby wheels centre to that of the compomotives (thanks for the pickies Mark) but that's just personal choice.

 

I had no problem with delivery of wheels from MB direct nor from Caterham parts dept of course! Wheel nuts are sleeved and the first set were very tight in their hole due to the paint thickness, 5 mins with a wire brush in the cordless drill sorted this out. The second set, a year newer, had none of these problems so presumably he's sorted out this problem.

 

The wheels mount very easily as the stud holes are stepped, the inner edge is stud size rather than sleeve size so the wheels sit perfectly first time even with no wheel nuts on. None of the problems I had with no old wheels of sitting down beside the wheel and lifting it exactly into position with your toes before the nuts would fit.

 

Seriously pleased with the Barnby wheels, obviously or I wouldn't have bought the second set. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. And he's a nice chap too.

[RiF]

Chelspeed, thanks for all your comments. Can I ask when you brought the set from M+B? Just many postings a few weeks ago regarding delays up to six months

 

Are you happy with the powder coating, even where you enlarged the holes for the sleeves? Are they durable and stay looking good without lots of work?

 

Thanks

 

Richard in France

Awaiting chassis to start building my Duratec 7 😬

[Chelspeed]

Ordered the front pair on 4 February '02 and fetched them on 25th. Ordered the back pair (couldn't afford all four together...) on 21 March and fetched them 6 days later on 27th.

 

Don't think these dates were necessarily how long it took I just ordered them then gave him a ring a few days before I was working in the area and arranged a day to fetch them.

 

Like all motorsport suppliers Mike Barnby will be extremely busy in say Jan and Feb as people build their car for the new season, breaking even through the year on accident damage and the odd upgrade then scrabbling around for work between August and Christmas.

 

Then of course he's got companies like caterham, I doubt they order 4 wheels a week as they finish a car, they'll suddenly phone and want a thousand wheels for Tuesday. Whether us normal punters like it or not this kind of bulk order will take precendence (it's steady money) so he can't afford to wind the big companies up however reasonable it would be to finish small orders already taken first.

 

So what I am trying to say is that just because he was busy 6 weeks ago and quoting long deliveries doesn't mean he is now, just give him a phone and have a chat. Very helpful bloke.

 

Powder coating has been fine, no sign of any flaking or peeling even where the coating is broken by the wire brushing down the sleeve-nut holes nor where I've chipped it with careless and rushed ratchets and torque wrenches changing them. Very easy to clean with the black middles, you just need to take most of the muck off but don't need to spend hours with a toothbrush like you do with some wheels designs and colours. Rims clean easily too.

 

Did you know there are a number of options? Cast middles can be bare magnesium or powdercoated black (not sure about other colours), go for the powdercoating, bare magnesium will corrode. Rims can be polished or anodised, polished is slighhtly prettier for the first few weeks but needs constant work to keep shiny. Anodised is a slightly duller silver colour, much better finish than cast, shinier finish than painted silver but not highly polished, much easier to live with than polished, claens easily, that's what I went for. Caterham sell them as race wheels (bare centres, polished rims) or road wheels (powdercoated centres, anodised rims).

 

As I said before just a satisfied customer.

[jerrypike]

got my mb wheels from caterham, delivery 6 weeks and well finished

fitting problem with the nuts as 2 were oversized (both head and sleeve) 2 hours careful hand filing with micrometer got them fitted but still had to buy 2 new ones from cat. midlands to get the long sleeve thin walled socket to fit

happy now they're on but expected more for £1,000

jerry

[scooby dooby doo]

They're a lot cheaper direct....

 

The problem is not that the wait can be very long - its that *everytime* you ring up you're told they'll be in the post that afternoon. I don't care if he's a nice bloke down the pub - that's past rude or being an honest mistake and well into *#?! *mad* @

 

And he's got both of my orders wrong so far...

 

OTOH they do seem to be the best wheels for the job - they just need to get somebody to run the business so he can go and concentrate on making and designing nice wheels.

 

 

HOOPY 500 kg R706KGU

[Mike Biddle]

You could also try Image in Birmingham, they gave me a very good service and have a big selection of styles available, with good choice of colours if powder coating is required.

 

I am very happy with the ones I bought 3 years ago.

 

 

[Trevor Phillips]

Like Mike, I've got a set of Image wheels. Excellent quality and they use standard wheel nuts.

 

What I particularly like is the immense choice that you have on the design front. You can make your car different. Weights are comparable and they give a 20% discount off list.

 

Racing pics and items for sale here

[RiF]

Very interesting you mention Image. I saw them in I think the Europa catalogue, but didn't think anyone had used them on a se7en.

 

Did you have any problems with the offset etc.? Has any one compared them in quality to Compomotive or M+B.? I will give them a ring if I can find a number on the internet.

 

Richard in France

Awaiting chassis to start building my Duratec 7 😬

[Trevor Phillips]

Quality is great. Offsets can be made to measure.

Website is here

 

Racing pics and items for sale here