My new Rotobox RBX2 Carbon Fiber Wheels
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Function over form...
Stw, BMW is Function over form. You obviously buy a Ducati for form over function (see 35943i6943i26 HP4 vs R threads lol). These are a sin, but hey, the weight savings makes up for whatever is aesthetically displeasing I guess. Not my bike, not my call.
Enjoy the rims man! I'm entirely way too cheap to drop $4K on some rims...
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Agreed
Ride Report with Rotobox RBX2 Wheels
This weekend I finally got to get in a 60-mile ride around the few twisty roads we have here. I ride this loop almost every weekend so I have almost muscle-memory on how to take some of the turns. The OEM Supercorsa SP tires and rotors/carriers were transferred from my S-wheels to the Rotobox wheels.
I found some previous posts with wheel weights and the forged Marchesini S-wheels are actually 6.5 pounds lighter than the base Enkei-cast wheels, and my shop's scale found the Rotobox wheels to be 1 pound, 2 ounces lighter up front and 3 pounds, 2 ounces lighter in the rear for a total of 4.25 pounds lighter than the S-wheels. That doesn't quite tell the whole story as the Moment of Inertia (MOI) of carbon fiber wheels is lower than metallic wheels because there is proportionally less weight around the rim of the wheel. This translates into less force to overcome when accelerating, braking and changing direction.
So what does that really mean to the riding experience? Assuming that you're within the weight range of your suspension, simply put, these are the most effective mods that you can put on a bike in terms of performance. One of the first corners on the twisty road is a 90-degree right that I can easily knee-down at about 50 mph. As I mentioned, it is mostly muscle-memory for this road. As such, when I turned in and applied the "normal" bar pressure to keep the radius of the turn, the bike turned so quickly I almost went off the road to the inside of the turn. I had to be more careful with my bar inputs as it seemed that turning effort was at least 1/3rd less than before with the S wheels.
One of the best characteristics of the 1199 I noticed when I first rode it was the ability to change lines at will within a corner. The Rotobox RBX2 wheels have exacerbated this ability, with a feeling that I could literally put the front wheel anywhere on the road I wanted, even after the bike was turned in. An analogy that expresses the difference in steering feel is that the bike now has "High Defnintion" steering feeling and precision. The agility and responsiveness is significantly amplified with only a slight increase in instability. However, the increased instability is more likely me putting in what used to be "normal" inputs with the S wheels. I can't even imagine the difference in feel if I had mounted the Rotobox set coming from the base 1199 wheels with a whopping 9.75 pounds less rotating, unsprung-weight.
Granted, at the same time I had these wheels mounted I also had the Bitbuo ECH-29 Nitrogen-charged fork cartridges installed, which likely contributed to the "HD" steering feel. However, the sag and geometry are the same as before, so I'm confident that the decrease in steering effort and precision is due to the wheels alone.
Another aspect was braking and acceleration. I actually used the brakes much less on the run down these roads because when I rolled off (EBC set at 2 as always for me) the bike slowed enough for the turns without braking. Usually I prefer to trail-brake into turns and release the brakes right before the apex. When I did increase speed enough to require trail-braking into corners, and subsequently applied the brakes, I "oversteered" again as the brakes and reduced inertia slowed the bike down even more than expected and the steering closed the radius of the corner prematurely.
All-in-all, it made a significant difference in steering characteristics. Enough so that I need to adapt to it with more riding. After 1,000 miles, I'm sure it will be natural to me how the bike steers and brakes. However, if I was to change back I would likely find the increase in steering effort and decrease in responsiveness as a negative. In my particular case, I fell outside the parameters of the stock suspension and knew it had to be upgraded first. However, if I was within its adjustment range, I would have diverted the $3,000 of upgrades to these wheels first, as the tangible performance results may have been the same if not more. Also, with a decrease in wheel weight, the OEM damping is effectively increased as well.
More pictures on the sunny Saturday ride:
This weekend I finally got to get in a 60-mile ride around the few twisty roads we have here. I ride this loop almost every weekend so I have almost muscle-memory on how to take some of the turns. The OEM Supercorsa SP tires and rotors/carriers were transferred from my S-wheels to the Rotobox wheels.
I found some previous posts with wheel weights and the forged Marchesini S-wheels are actually 6.5 pounds lighter than the base Enkei-cast wheels, and my shop's scale found the Rotobox wheels to be 1 pound, 2 ounces lighter up front and 3 pounds, 2 ounces lighter in the rear for a total of 4.25 pounds lighter than the S-wheels. That doesn't quite tell the whole story as the Moment of Inertia (MOI) of carbon fiber wheels is lower than metallic wheels because there is proportionally less weight around the rim of the wheel. This translates into less force to overcome when accelerating, braking and changing direction.
So what does that really mean to the riding experience? Assuming that you're within the weight range of your suspension, simply put, these are the most effective mods that you can put on a bike in terms of performance. One of the first corners on the twisty road is a 90-degree right that I can easily knee-down at about 50 mph. As I mentioned, it is mostly muscle-memory for this road. As such, when I turned in and applied the "normal" bar pressure to keep the radius of the turn, the bike turned so quickly I almost went off the road to the inside of the turn. I had to be more careful with my bar inputs as it seemed that turning effort was at least 1/3rd less than before with the S wheels.
One of the best characteristics of the 1199 I noticed when I first rode it was the ability to change lines at will within a corner. The Rotobox RBX2 wheels have exacerbated this ability, with a feeling that I could literally put the front wheel anywhere on the road I wanted, even after the bike was turned in. An analogy that expresses the difference in steering feel is that the bike now has "High Defnintion" steering feeling and precision. The agility and responsiveness is significantly amplified with only a slight increase in instability. However, the increased instability is more likely me putting in what used to be "normal" inputs with the S wheels. I can't even imagine the difference in feel if I had mounted the Rotobox set coming from the base 1199 wheels with a whopping 9.75 pounds less rotating, unsprung-weight.
Granted, at the same time I had these wheels mounted I also had the Bitbuo ECH-29 Nitrogen-charged fork cartridges installed, which likely contributed to the "HD" steering feel. However, the sag and geometry are the same as before, so I'm confident that the decrease in steering effort and precision is due to the wheels alone.
Another aspect was braking and acceleration. I actually used the brakes much less on the run down these roads because when I rolled off (EBC set at 2 as always for me) the bike slowed enough for the turns without braking. Usually I prefer to trail-brake into turns and release the brakes right before the apex. When I did increase speed enough to require trail-braking into corners, and subsequently applied the brakes, I "oversteered" again as the brakes and reduced inertia slowed the bike down even more than expected and the steering closed the radius of the corner prematurely.
All-in-all, it made a significant difference in steering characteristics. Enough so that I need to adapt to it with more riding. After 1,000 miles, I'm sure it will be natural to me how the bike steers and brakes. However, if I was to change back I would likely find the increase in steering effort and decrease in responsiveness as a negative. In my particular case, I fell outside the parameters of the stock suspension and knew it had to be upgraded first. However, if I was within its adjustment range, I would have diverted the $3,000 of upgrades to these wheels first, as the tangible performance results may have been the same if not more. Also, with a decrease in wheel weight, the OEM damping is effectively increased as well.
More pictures on the sunny Saturday ride:
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awesome read and congrats to the improvements!!!
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Awesome, I had the pleasure going from the base wheels to my BST's. When I first put them on and drove off I thought my rear wheel came off because it was so light back there. I agree there is a huge huge amount of difference in handling. Flicking becomes so effortlessly and diving into corners is really quick, braking later than normal and accelerating quickly. I actually had to relearn the bike handling characteristics and it took me a while to set up the suspension rebounding and compression to compensate for the light wheels but once the suspension is dialed in its awesome and it is the best mod you can do to your bike. I'm glad you post from going from S wheels to Carbon I have been curious to see how much of a difference it makes. Thanks and great post.
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Yes. It absolutely will from the engineer's perspective.
The big question is will I notice the difference!
The comment was made because someone spouted off about BST's advertised weight. Why rely on ads when you can rely on a scale?
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Really, I can show you an elephant on a scale that weighs 0 lbs.
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Ok, not sure if I read this right, but the S wheels are 4.2 lbs lighter than the CF wheels. If that's the case, I'm on a liquid diet for 2 weeks and losing 6 lbs and saving my money on a nice Miley Cyrus wrecking ball paint job on my Pani, definitely going to turn heads...
I like CF, but I think i would go with Marchesini M10RR Corse Moto 3 in Gold if I could afford them.
I like CF, but I think i would go with Marchesini M10RR Corse Moto 3 in Gold if I could afford them.
Jimmy - Perhaps I wasn't clear, but my shop's scale showed that the Marchesini forged S wheels are 4.25 pounds heavier than the Rotobox Carbon Fiber Wheels (includes bearings and spacers with no rotors mounted to either set)
I also like a bit of color in my wheels and the CF wheels simply look black from 10 feet away.
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ah, Touche...
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I prefer BST by far.
Nice bike!!!!
I think these Rotobox wheels look cool. That's what I like about them..in that from a designer's standpoint, not everybody will like them. I like the fact that these are a contrast of what's out there with the usual thin spokes. I bet these look even better in person. Just my opinion.
Mike
Mike
Hi guys,
Some Rotobox dealers and distributors have launched a campaign in the forums against BST, posing as end-users, after years of fruitless attempts of getting onto the market with their eastern Russian wheels.
They tried before in the past, many years ago, and failed, because of their inferior quality.
Here's an exerpt from SportRider.com
"...during our racetrack laps was a distinct feeling as if the front wheel was almost flexing at the apex of corners when the front end was heavily loaded. We also noticed that the front end moved around a lot more in the faster, bumpier turns on the track, with Bradley even complaining that “it felt like the front end was going to push or fold; you definitely have to ride the wheels with some reservation there.” No amount of chassis fiddling could quell the problem, and it zapped enough confidence that lap times were basically the same as stock.
Could this have been an anomaly with our particular set of wheels? Maybe, but at $4100 per set, that’s an awfully expensive chance to take. SR...."
The stories that are spread about BST using only a coat of carbon are not just malign, but absolute rubbish.
Ducati has been using BST on MotoGP level, not a thing that would be happening if these wheels were inferior to the high-end Marchesini's.
The fact that the interior rim does not have a second cosmetic layer to hide the bumpy surface has noting to do with quality and has 0 effect on wheel weight balance. They don't add the cosmetic layer as to save further weight.
Like was stated on this forum already, the weight comparisons that Rotobox makes are false.
If none of this data is enough, consider the warranties offered, and what they mean in reality.
Besides 2 years all-round warranty from BST, proven to be impeccable, there is the important wheel-replacement policy that is extended to the customers that were unlucky enough to crash.
Here in Taiwan we are offered BST replacement front wheels for 650usd, inc. 16% taxes and international shipping.
BST has been proven with a worldwide 10-year track record, something that can not be said by these astro-turfing Ruskies.
BTW, I am an Ohlins/BST distributor of many years, and if you think I am biased, you are probably right. That, however, does not invalidate the hard data.
Some Rotobox dealers and distributors have launched a campaign in the forums against BST, posing as end-users, after years of fruitless attempts of getting onto the market with their eastern Russian wheels.
They tried before in the past, many years ago, and failed, because of their inferior quality.
Here's an exerpt from SportRider.com
"...during our racetrack laps was a distinct feeling as if the front wheel was almost flexing at the apex of corners when the front end was heavily loaded. We also noticed that the front end moved around a lot more in the faster, bumpier turns on the track, with Bradley even complaining that “it felt like the front end was going to push or fold; you definitely have to ride the wheels with some reservation there.” No amount of chassis fiddling could quell the problem, and it zapped enough confidence that lap times were basically the same as stock.
Could this have been an anomaly with our particular set of wheels? Maybe, but at $4100 per set, that’s an awfully expensive chance to take. SR...."
The stories that are spread about BST using only a coat of carbon are not just malign, but absolute rubbish.
Ducati has been using BST on MotoGP level, not a thing that would be happening if these wheels were inferior to the high-end Marchesini's.
The fact that the interior rim does not have a second cosmetic layer to hide the bumpy surface has noting to do with quality and has 0 effect on wheel weight balance. They don't add the cosmetic layer as to save further weight.
Like was stated on this forum already, the weight comparisons that Rotobox makes are false.
If none of this data is enough, consider the warranties offered, and what they mean in reality.
Besides 2 years all-round warranty from BST, proven to be impeccable, there is the important wheel-replacement policy that is extended to the customers that were unlucky enough to crash.
Here in Taiwan we are offered BST replacement front wheels for 650usd, inc. 16% taxes and international shipping.
BST has been proven with a worldwide 10-year track record, something that can not be said by these astro-turfing Ruskies.
BTW, I am an Ohlins/BST distributor of many years, and if you think I am biased, you are probably right. That, however, does not invalidate the hard data.
Last edited:
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