Can anyone tell me what?s involved in upgrading from cast to forged wheels.
A dealer said the cast are actually lighter than the forged ones due to smaller brake discs. I only went for the forged because I think they look better and should be more desirable come resale time
Exactly, as I said in my post the main mass saving in a carbon wheel is in the rim and the spokes as the hub and other parts at the centre of the wheel (i.e. nearer to the axle) are aluminium.
As many of the parts around the hub such as discs, carriers and the hub itself are still alumimium then it follows that there is a much greater weight saving in the rim and the spokes which are further from the axle (or radius of gyration).
Carbon fibre is 7 times stronger than aluminium and weighs 50% less (1,800 kg/cubic metre compared to 2,700 kg/cubic metre)
As moment of inertia = mass x radius of gyration squared (or the square of the distance from the axle) then for a 50% weight saving on the rim you are looking at a 225% saving in moment of inertia - less than half the inertia making it easier to accelerate, brake or change direction of the wheels.
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