We were recently called into the vast Metalsport Wheels conference room in the complex of businesses owned by Ron Loynds. I reached out to shake his hand and he pulled back. “We’ve got a mission,” Ron said. “Besides I have a cold.”
I immediately moved to the other end of the polished oak conference table.
“Would you like something to drink?” Ron asked.
“Not from you,” I said and reached for my Bikernet bandana.
“There’s a serious misconception in the industry,” Ron said, as he tried to smother a cough.
I could tell his eyes watered up and he swallowed hard. Ron owns several machine shops and metal treatment facilities, but he’s a biker at heart. He builds equipment for the oil industry and aerospace, but wakes up in the morning dreaming of custom wheels. He also manufacturers axles, kickstands, and forward controls for other names in the industry.
Plus, now he distribute VeeRubber tires west of the Mississippi. VeeRubber employes 6000 folks in Thailand and is the only manufacturer of those 26- and 30-inch tires. It is the largest employer in Thailand and manufactures tires for offroad vehicles, quads, cars, and OEM motorcycles, but we’ll get into that at a later date.
“Stay focused,” Ron said and stifling another cough.
He designed and manufactured the first 26-inch wheel with Matt Hotch for his Vincent, while coupled to a biker build-off.
“True 3D wheels cost three times what a 2D wheel costs to manufacture,” Ron said and looked at Jason Kidd, who is handling sales for Ron. “Jason receives complaining calls. They say they can buy 3D wheels for a third of the cost of ours.”
“I’ll show you the process,” Jason said, and all three of us jumped to our feet abruptly, leaving Ron on the verge of sneezing at the other end of the table.
I was with Ray C. Wheeler, the Bikernet Performance Editor. We followed Jason into the clean machine shop where he showed us the massive chunks of solid billet aluminum used for cutting 3D wheels. The notion of 3D, or three dimensional space is defined by Wikipedia as follows: Three-dimensional space is a geometric 3-parameter model of the physical universe (without considering time) in which we live. These three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and depth (or height), although any three directions can be chosen, provided that they do not lie in the same plane.
The notion in the wheel manufacturing process includes how 3D can you can go and at what cost. All 2D wheels are cut from forged blanks. They reduce the price considerably by limiting the amount of machining time and by narrowing the dimensions of the spokes or wheel interior between the rim and the hub to a maximum of 0.74 inch, whereas 3D wheel spokes can reach as wide as the rim, or 5-12 inches.
As we roamed around the shop, we began to put a visual definition together:
2D Wheels: Are wheels with a flat spoke surface, containing various cut-out configurations.
2.5D Wheels: Are wheels using the maximum width of the forged blank to create some level of protrusion, with the minimum of cost.
3D Wheels: Are wheels manufactured out of solid chunks of billet aluminum allowing the design to reach the outer limits of the rim width and beyond.
As you review these photos, you will begin to see the severe differences in cost of base material, design cost, computer-aided design (CAD) costs, machining time, hand sanding, polishing time, and chroming or powder coating. Every cost element is enhanced, sometimes three or four times as much, because of the depth and severity of the 3D design. Some 3D wheels require as much as 40 solid hours of machining. Many 2D wheels can be machined in less than an hour.
All Metalsport rotors are made of polished stainless steel. Even rotor 3D designs are more complex than their 2D sisters. The 2D version is machined from a pre-cut and drilled blank, whereas the 3D counterpart is machined from blank cuts of stainless, then drilled to enhance the design elements.
So, there you have it. Metalsport also offers a unique service. If you buy a set of custom wheels from them, for a fee, they will mount VeeRubber tires and you will receive your wheels ready to rock. Not bad. We will cover VeeRubber tires more in depth in the near future. They are the only maker of 26 and 30-inch rubbers, and many whitewall-injected sizes.
