rupintart Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) Not sure how interested you UK folk would be in getting a rim coated from the US but I figured I'd post my impressions on here too. No more grinding, no more weakened rims from grinding cause you have a full sidewall. Works just as good in wet too. I'm glad I did it. I'm so stoked to never have to grind my damn wheel again. If you want low maintenance, this is the route to go for sure. As far as pricing goes, Nigel gets a better price the bigger the batch is. My batch was a small batch of 4 rims, so my pricing was on the higher end of the scale but it's still worth doing if you never have to grind again. IMO, it pays for itself after like 2 or 3 grinds for having no hassle, let alone not weakening your rim every time you have to grind. I have nearly 20 hours on them now and the pad life isn't any worse than with a harsh grind. Below is a short vid for those of you curious as to how it sounds and works. http://youtu.be/zcC6FhYPA_c There's more on the forum below if you're wondering if it's like the plazmatic coating of the past, etc. http://www.observedtrials.net/vb/f3/nbkohrings-coated-rim-48907/ Edited January 15, 2013 by rupintart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Grinds really aren't that hard to do, I'll be sticking with them. Free too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginger allen echo Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 curious to what the bite and hold is like compared to a grind 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupintart Posted January 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) Works as good as a harsh grind and works the same when wet. The only con to this coating is it costs money to get done. It's better than a grind in every way in that you don't have to do it anymore, it doesn't wear, good for the life of the rim since it's bonded to the rim, you don't weaken your rim from grinding (flatspots, easier to knock out of true, etc), works just as well wet as it does dry, consistent. Anybody who's ridden the plazmatic coating back in the day knew how it performed, this is an improved version. FWIW, there's a past and/or current world champion using it as I type this, but contractually (sponsorship) can't publicly outright say they're running it. He's on his second set and he's ridden them on video if you pay close enough attention. That's all I can say about that. Edited January 15, 2013 by rupintart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customrider-Rhys Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 $115 dollars a rim you said on observed trials?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostrider88 Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 I believe it was 145 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Works as good as a harsh grind and works the same when wet. The only con to this coating is it costs money to get done. It's better than a grind in every way in that you don't have to do it anymore, it doesn't wear, good for the life of the rim since it's bonded to the rim, you don't weaken your rim from grinding (flatspots, easier to knock out of true, etc), works just as well wet as it does dry, consistent. Anybody who's ridden the plazmatic coating back in the day knew how it performed, this is an improved version. FWIW, there's a past and/or current world champion using it as I type this, but contractually (sponsorship) can't publicly outright say they're running it. He's on his second set and he's ridden them on video if you pay close enough attention. That's all I can say about that. Gilles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Reynolds Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Works as good as a harsh grind and works the same when wet. The only con to this coating is it costs money to get done. It's better than a grind in every way in that you don't have to do it anymore, it doesn't wear, good for the life of the rim since it's bonded to the rim, you don't weaken your rim from grinding (flatspots, easier to knock out of true, etc), works just as well wet as it does dry, consistent. Anybody who's ridden the plazmatic coating back in the day knew how it performed, this is an improved version. FWIW, there's a past and/or current world champion using it as I type this, but contractually (sponsorship) can't publicly outright say they're running it. He's on his second set and he's ridden them on video if you pay close enough attention. That's all I can say about that. and your basing this on your 20 hours experience? any surface to surface friction will cause wear on both surfaces, so i dont doubt that the nbkohring's rim coating would wear down after a certain amount of time ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostrider88 Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Gilles? Supposedly.and your basing this on your 20 hours experience? any surface to surface friction will cause wear on both surfaces, so i dont doubt that the nbkohring's rim coating would wear down after a certain amount of time ... Sure it will, but it will outlast the rim lifespan most likely, it´s pretty hard stuff or at least should be. Still wouldn´t pay even half that for it, don´t need that with vee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hahahahahahaha 100 quid you gotta be kidding me! I'd much rather grind and replace 2 new rims for that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Why? If the rim is straight why bother going through the cost and ballache of rebuilding 2 rims? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 How would a grind make my wheel out of true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostrider88 Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Why? If the rim is straight why bother going through the cost and ballache of rebuilding 2 rims? I sort of agree, but that price is just too high since there is no guarantee you won´t kill that rim after 2months doing one big move, we all know it is possible to buckle or at least dent brand new rim badly if you push hard enough. So it´s just safer bet to buy 3 rims for the price of coating imo, grinding rim once a month isn´t that hard anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 One letdown. How do you deal with contamination? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Didn't plasmatic do something like this and failed?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostrider88 Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) He mentioned plasmatic in his 2nd post Edited January 15, 2013 by ghostrider88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupintart Posted January 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) The material is bonded to the rim via very high heat so it's more or less part of the rim now. I can see that it would make people stand-off-ish to it because it's an added expense, but like you just pointed out you would have to replace 2 more rims AND you would be grinding ever couple of weeks. Meanwhile I'm still using one rim and never had to touch an angle grinder and still have better wet performance than you would AND spent the same amount of money over all (less money than you if you account for the time it takes to grind and/or pay to build your wheels.) If you don't care for the expense, say so. Don't bag on a product that you (not you specifically, generally speaking) have no experience with especially since very experienced riders are having great success with. If it's too rich for your blood, that's fine....many things are beyond many people's budget and it's to be expected that not everybody would want/afford it. This is simply an alternative to those that are can afford and/or are willing to explore other options. It's part of the reason the trials community is so far behind the rest of the cycling community, people are quicker to hate on new things rather than experiment or actually improve on things. That $145 price is on the high end if not topped out because the guy coating prefers large batches, so the price drops the more rims he has. That $145 price is the top of the scale if your rim were the only one in a batch (like mine practically was). Plazmatic didn't fail at it, nobody bought it because people were too cheap to spend $150 on it 10 years ago. The plazmatic rims that were coated, most of them are still kicking around fyi. And considering inflation, it being cheaper now (and improved upon) says it's a viable option now. Most of the reason people buckle rims is because the sidewalls are half the thickness they originally were from grinding over the weeks and/or months. Grinding significantly reduces the vertical and lateral strength and almost exponentially reduces the lifespan of the rim from increases in the stress/fatigue per volume of material. It's simple physics. If something isn't as thick as another, it's not as strong with the same forces applied. Never mind the fatigue factor of aluminum of being under stress and tension constantly. As far as contamination, since the material is bonded to the rim, you don't have to worry about solvents deteriorating the adhesion, so Simple Green or any household cleaner will do the trick. Edited January 15, 2013 by rupintart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 You are very persuasive, makes me want to do it now just to try it out. I think if it was £40 per rim I'd give it a go but it's a little bit too high, do you think the prices will ever come down? And why is it priced so high? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FamilyBiker Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 i like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny00135 Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 to be fair, using the fact the rim is weakened as a reason to do this isn't very good... after all, grinding doesn't take away much material, it only condition's the surface. I'd be lying if I said it didn't weaken the sidewalls but even after they've been weakened they still hold up to the forces trials put on them (in my experience). As for saying the trials community is far behind everyone else, if it isn't broken, don't fix it! We all love grinds, they work well and I've never had any problems with buckling/ the wheel going out of true because of one... Also, when the brakes are applied it causes friction, Friction wears down surfaces.. I can't get round the fact these don't wear down, surely they will eventually wear down? giving you a smooth plastic braking surface? That's the bit which is putting me off... Looks like an interesting alternative but it sounds a little too good to be true :/ 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Reynolds Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Also, when the brakes are applied it causes friction, Friction wears down surfaces.. I can't get round the fact these don't wear down, surely they will eventually wear down? giving you a smooth plastic braking surface? That's the bit which is putting me off... You explained it far better than me I'd never go for something like this, even if it was a sensible price, because im bashy as f**k, so im always going to dent/flat spot a rim to death way before grinding it till its too thin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valk Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 You explained it far better than me I'd never go for something like this, even if it was a sensible price, because im bashy as f**k, so im always going to dent/flat spot a rim to death way before grinding it till its too thin No point spending twice the price for a rim that you'll end up bending anyways. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooo Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Looks really good, I guess people that ride for fun (like me) won't like it, just because of cost. But any professional rider should be interested, consistency is so important in being successful at any sport. Plus £100+ isn't really that much if you have spent in excess of £2k on a new bike build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Reynolds Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 No point spending twice the price for a rim that you'll end up bending anyways. Boom! exactly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 I think the price is almost a moot point at the moment. Current price works out to be £90. Thats the most expensive it'll ever be... As with all these things, the more people who use it, the cheaper it becomes. People are willing to spend £700+ on frames when a perfectly useable new one can be had for £300, people will buy titanium freewheels for very little weight saving, etc. I don't see how spending £90 for a trouble free rim is extortionate like y'all are saying. Having said that, I understand some people are bashers and destroy rims, fair one this isn't for you. I have also never tried it but going on what matey says it seems legit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts