Yumaoffroad
Well-Known Member
All 2016 Team SPEED Dakar here
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Robby Gordon Team Speed 2016 Dakar
- Thread starter Yumaoffroad
- Start date
Yumaoffroad
Well-Known Member
StadiumSUPERTrucks
Active Member
Yumaoffroad
Well-Known Member
Gordini to sport KMC wheels!
Bricoop
Well-Known Member
Aren't they the same wheels as before, or is he switching styles?
Chris Tobin
Well-Known Member
He ran his RGM Offroad Wheels in the past. If there is a new relationship with KMC Wheels, I hope they build him some lightweight forged wheels as apposed to the heavy cast wheels... getting 10-20 pounds of unsprung weight off each corner of the Gordini would be a great thing and make it even more nimble than before!
John Bitting
Administrator
After the 1000 we will sit down with Robby and get as much info as we can on his plans and if there will be a second vehicle this year.
Chris Tobin
Well-Known Member
Has there been a media release saying he is switching to KMC? Could simply be a vendor change for RGM in using KMC to build the RGM wheels. I have not seen a release yet and the RG website still shows all the RGM wheels and says nothing about KMC.
I did not make it to SEMA this year, was there something there? What wheels did RG run on the TT for qualifying?
Offspring
Well-Known Member
Just checked, a release was posted yesterday.
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
KMC doesn't need to build a new forged wheel for Robby. Do you think that Bryce is running the same cast wheels we buy at 4Wheel Parts on his TT?
Chris Tobin
Well-Known Member
I didn't say new... other than new relationship... I'd just like to see the Gordini get even more nimble and loosing 10-20 pounds of unsprung weight per corner would be a great improvement I would think... As long as a forged wheel is strong enough in RGs mind... He has been running the cast RGM Wheels for a reason, he may not want to go with a forged wheel. Do you think that RG can't afford to have forged wheels built if he wants?
As for Bryce, I'm not sure I have not seen his wheels up close. But from what I have been told the same cast KMC Enduro Beadlock wheels that we can buy at 4WP are being run by many teams, but I could have been misinformed as well.
Chris Tobin
Well-Known Member
That's the problem with putting press releases on the bottom of the home page... It is hard to see them when most people go straight to the forums without even really looking at the rest of the home page...
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
Are you certain the wheels RG was running were cast? I find that difficult to believe, since as you noted, cast wheels are about 20% heavier than an equivalent forged wheel. Forged wheels are stronger too, so that shouldn't be a factor. The only downside to a forged wheel is the price.
John Bitting
Administrator
The KMC was a smart business deal. I will post more about it tomorrow morning. I got a chance at SEMA to meet with KMC and Robby and was impressed. Dude thinks way outside the box and is a great business man.
Chris Tobin
Well-Known Member
I think they were... remember in the Central European Rally (the African Dakar cancellation race) when BJ was driving the second Hummer and broke a couple wheels, they sure looked cast to me... But that was a long time ago, and I could very definitely be wrong...
I also remember helping Roger and the team mount up some of the spares when I was covering the team and their prep work and the wheels were heavy. They were powder coated so I could not see the raw aluminum finish but they sure seemed like cast wheels to me... Again this was years ago and he may have changed to forged wheels since then, but I think in years past RG was running his own cast aluminum wheels, the same ones he sold to customers... And maybe that was his point back then, that he raced on what he sold...
Chris Tobin
Well-Known Member
Bricoop
Well-Known Member
^This^ 100%. Look how many deals are co-mingled in multiple endeavors. Between engineering support at Arctic Cat being coupled with SxS races in SST, to all race vehicles running Chevy power and Toyo Rubber, to starting a beverage company, to the multiple patents owned for parts. Dude is proof you don't need a college degree to accomplish incredible things...I guess being a teenage driving prodigy doesn't hurt either.
RG wheels have always been cast, as well as KMC, Methods, Ultras, Walkers, and pretty much any other desert racing wheel that ever came out accept for FST and APP. Forged wheels are much stronger and much lighter, and with that comes cost but from a safety standpoint it seems stupid to race such an extreme vehicle on anything but a forged wheel.
KMC has had a forged short course wheel for a while that has just seemed to pop up in desert racing in the last year or two with Bryce and JJ. Method I believe has a forged short course wheel but not a desert wheel still to my knowledge. Maybe KMC will produce RG's wheels now in the RG style but maybe even make them forged? Would be very cool. I believe Ultra has always been RG's wheel manufacture but I could be wrong.
KMC has had a forged short course wheel for a while that has just seemed to pop up in desert racing in the last year or two with Bryce and JJ. Method I believe has a forged short course wheel but not a desert wheel still to my knowledge. Maybe KMC will produce RG's wheels now in the RG style but maybe even make them forged? Would be very cool. I believe Ultra has always been RG's wheel manufacture but I could be wrong.
Chris Tobin
Well-Known Member
I think Method has had a forged desert wheel for a long time... And RG has a past relationship with Ultra so they could have been his vendor/manufacturer for the RGM Wheels.