Performance wheels vs. Plaction wheels

Which do you prefer: Performance wheels or Plaction wheels? Why do you like one over the other?

Thanks!

[IndySam]

Better how?

Plaction price is right and they perform well but performance wheels are cooler.

Originally Posted by IndySam

Better how?

Plaction price is right and they perform well but performance wheels are cooler.

Better overall, in your opinion. And I agree, performance wheels have that coolness factor about them.

[Ankit S.]

Edit 2: Disregard what follows, I thought performance wheels were something else.



For some reason, I just like the plaction wheels. For that same reason, i just don't like performance wheels. I can't explain it, but i think i like plaction wheels because they are great in traction, size, and weight. I think i dont like performance wheels because I prefer mechanums over them to do fancy tricks...

Now don't get me wrong, they both(performance vs plaction) have their advantages and disadvantages, but imo, plaction all the way <3.

EDIT: Ill think about why its like this, and if you want a better answer, hit me up at CalGames .

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by BeltSanderRocks

For some reason, I just like the plaction wheels. For that same reason, i just don't like performance wheels. I can't explain it, but i think i like plaction wheels because they are great in traction, size, and weight. I think i dont like performance wheels because I prefer mechanums over them to do fancy tricks...

Now don't get me wrong, they both(performance vs plaction) have their advantages and disadvantages, but imo, plaction all the way <3.

Plaction vs Performance has nothing to do with what you mean by fancy tricks.

Your tread it what gives you traction, not the wheel the tread goes on.

[msimon785]

Exactly. There is absolutely no difference in terms of traction. The CoF will remain subject to the tread riveted TO the wheel. The way I see it, this is an aesthetics vs cost question. While the Performance wheels have an obvious aesthetic advantage - this is undeniable, - they cost $36 / piece (with bearings). This is compared to $26 for the Plaction wheels.

In my personal opinion (and I should say that I will almost always be biased towards aesthetics), they $10 per wheel extra to get the aluminum Performance wheels is definitely worth it. Compared to the overall cost of your robot, $10*[# of wheels] is probably a minute amount of money.

That said, there are definitely situations, ie. a practice bot, in which case there would be no reason for the additional expenditure, given that the robot will likely never be in the public eye.

Just my 2 cents.

[Akash Rastogi]

It is not all aesthetics.

The plaction wheels are easier to use in a drive setup in which sprockets are mounted to either side of the drive wheel whereas performance wheels with hex or key in them are easier to use for let's say a WCD system. Performance wheels have a bolt pattern on only 1 face, so you would have to double mount sprockets in order to run the most common 6wd setup. Each wheel has its benefits. The plaction wheels require a hub if you wish to direct drive, where the performance wheels are broached if desired.

It depends on what you are designing, there's no real "which is better?" in most cases of wheel selection. Tread selection is another issue though.

Thanks for all of the answers so far! We were thinking of performance wheels because of two reasons: They look nice, and one of our placation wheels cracked last year (resulting in little to no control one match at SVR and then running over our own minibot someone knocked off. )

[AcesJames]

176 used plaction wheels for the first time in 2011, and we noticed that the little edging that runs along the outside of the wheel that holds the tread in place started to snap off after our first regional. This, of course, eventually led to tread just moving sideways and falling off the wheels. We saw instances of this on all 6 wheels on our drivetrain. So, we ended up replacing all 6 wheels.

In 2012, if our drivetrain is conducive to the use of wheels which use tread, we will most likely use performance wheels. 6 x $36 is much cheaper than 12 x $26. Just something to think about. Of course, if you want to get into which wheel is easier to mount on a certain kind of drivetrain, see Akash's post above.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Your tread it what gives you traction, not the wheel the tread goes on.

This isn't entirely true. We had measurably more traction from our Performance 4 inch wheels than our Plaction 6 inch wheels. I suspect it has something to do with the Plaction's deep tread groove.

[Nemo]

For a directly driven wheel, a performance wheel is cheaper and lighter than a plaction wheel + AndyMark hub.

[Mr. B]

We had the same problem as team 176 listed above. Wire ties and rivits helped us get through the competition

[jwfoss]

Both wheels fall into the same category: COTS wheels with replaceable tread. This category also contains the IFI/VEXPro wheels. They all provide the ability to mount up treads of your choice.

For prototyping purposes a set of Plaction wheels will allow you to try different axle sizes (1/2" or 3/8") by switching just the bearings and testing live vs. dead axles (hex or keyway) with the addition of hubs.

I like the flexibility in testing that Plaction wheels offer, but for a competition robot with a defined drivetrain the Performance wheels would be my choice (that is, if i wanted treaded wheels and was happy with only a 1" tread width)

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by jwfoss

For prototyping purposes a set of Plaction wheels will allow you to try different axle sizes (1/2" or 3/8") by switching just the bearings and testing live vs. dead axles (hex or keyway) with the addition of hubs.

FWIW, IFI wheels are pretty much the same in this regard.

[Colin P]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

This isn't entirely true. We had measurably more traction from our Performance 4 inch wheels than our Plaction 6 inch wheels. I suspect it has something to do with the Plaction's deep tread groove.

You would've been getting more torque from a 4 inch wheel than a 6 inch wheel, but I'm going to assume you knew that and agree with you that performance wheels edge out the plaction wheels due to that groove design.