How can alloy wheels be for race use only?

[DannyVTS]

Someone just sent me this website, to see if i liked the wheels on offer..

Anyway, they state that their wheels are for Race use only, and should not be used on the public highway

Wtf?

Is this just some way of advertising ? I cannot understand why they don't want you using their lightweight wheels on the roads..

Could be to do with not having the wheels safety tested or some weird rule? That's the first thing i thought but then surely the wheels used in racing are tested too?

http://www.panasport.com/racing.html

That's the link, let me know what you think

Danny

[kambites]

Not type approved for road use, I assume?

[eybic]

I would guess they haven't passed certain tests so they dont want to risk any issues. Surely the same would apply for racing?????

[ManOpener]

Often, race wheels will be made from lighter alloy, with little to no protection from grit/dust/water/road salt/anything else that corrodes or damages wheels.

[mrmr96]

kambites said:

Not type approved for road use, I assume?

This.

Same as the bike cans which are also marked 'competition use only' because they don't have testing/approval for road use.

[MarJay]

There are forged magnesium wheels available for motorcycles that are not approved for road use because road salt will corrode them, but the corrosion won't be immediately obvious and could seriously weaken the structure of the wheel.

If this is the case then I wouldn't want to use them on the road and that is the reason why they aren't type approved...

Other than that, an alloy wheel is an alloy wheel, and as far as I'm aware do not need to carry a CE or BSi mark or pass a type approval test to be used on the road, so I strongly suspect there is some other reason why it is not for road use...

[CraigyMc]

mrmr96 said:

kambites said:

Not type approved for road use, I assume?

This.

Same as the bike cans which are also marked 'competition use only' because they don't have testing/approval for road use.

Those look like magnesium wheels. A kerb will destroy them, they are too soft for people who like parking their vehicles.

C

[8400rpm]

It's so that you don't drive them on the potholed roads, bend one and then come back and say "My wheel got bent on a pothole, replace it please as it's obviously defective."

It's to avoid anyone assuming that there is a warranty for using it on the road. If you use it for anything other than racing, it's your problem.

From what I know, the vast majority of aftermarket parts suppliers state this, as people expect these race parts which are meant to be changed after X amount of races, to last 100,000miles of road use.