Performance wheels vs. Plaction wheels

[Akash Rastogi]

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.

I've definitely heard this issue before, quite a few times now.

Maybe someone should shoot Andy an email about it.

[Dave McLaughlin]

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.

If it is the same type tread with the same CoF then why would the style of wheel, aside from round, make any difference?

[AdamHeard]

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.

This had more to do with the diameter change I'd wager (as is true of our wheels).

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by Dave McLaughlin

If it is the same type tread with the same CoF then why would the style of wheel, aside from round, make any difference?

There should be no difference if the treads are interacting with the carpet surface in the same manner (obviously).

There are two issues I can think of that may potentially cause a difference in traction (if one exists):
1. The retaining 'rim' on the plaction wheel has the ability to make contact with the carpet and therefore absorbs some of the normal force versus the smaller 'rim' on the performance wheel. I don't think this is the case though. If I were to guess it would be due to...
2. The draft on the injection molded plaction wheel creates a minor 'V' shape in the tread groove. This may result in only the edges of each piece of tread absorbing normal force and therefor results in a virtual thinner strip of tread versus a flat tread groove in the performance wheel.

That would be my hypothesis to test if I were to do so...

-Brando

[Dave McLaughlin]

Thanks for affirming that my physics teachers have not filled my head with nonsense guys.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

This had more to do with the diameter change I'd wager (as is true of our wheels).

I believe Adam is correct.

234 Published Data a long time ago comparing various wheel diameters with the same tread and similar gearing and for some reason 4" wheels came out on top in terms of traction.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by thefro526

I believe Adam is correct.

234 Published Data a long time ago comparing various wheel diameters with the same tread and similar gearing and for some reason 4" wheels came out on top in terms of traction.

If you look at and handle 4" and 6" wheels side by side with roughtop tread, the trend makes sense. As the diameter decreases, the cleat formed by the rows in the tread becomes more and more pronounced. The more pronounced it is, the more it digs into the carpet (I believe).

We haven't proven this theory, but it has been shown that smaller wheels will get more traction (for roughtop).

[Ankit S.]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

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.

I realized that performance wheel are NOT the AM trick wheels. Fail on my part. I guess I should research before I post even if I think I know it...

My bad.

[BJT]

That tread holding edge broke on all of our plaction wheels this year too. None of them on our 2010 bot broke through a regional and atlanta, not sure what was different. I think we will be using 4 inch performance wheels this year if they are right for the game.

Originally Posted by 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.

The exact same thing happened to us!

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

If you look at and handle 4" and 6" wheels side by side with roughtop tread, the trend makes sense. As the diameter decreases, the cleat formed by the rows in the tread becomes more and more pronounced. The more pronounced it is, the more it digs into the carpet (I believe).

We haven't proven this theory, but it has been shown that smaller wheels will get more traction (for roughtop).

Why rough top only? That's what we use, but we're just curious.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

Why rough top only? That's what we use, but we're just curious.

I imagine there are other treads out there with similar effects, but we only looked at roughtop as it's what we use. The Rows of roughtop tread form cleats that interact with the carpet.

[Tom I]

In my view, weight will determine 90% of all debates with all other things equal.

My team normally pairs up some sort of high-traction wheel with omni-wheels (we call them the "your momni-wheels"). We've never had a problem with the plaction wheels from AndyMark, so while the performance wheels are nice and pretty, we normally cover them with bumpers anyways, so we go with the lighter choice (rated 0.8 lb performance vs 0.66 lb plaction). It's not an outstanding difference, but sometimes every little thing counts.

Are both the performance wheels and the placation wheels the same size? I mean if you had the same size of each and put them right next to each other, will they be the exact same? If not, is it because the wheel frame itself is bigger, or because the tread protrudes out farther?