Andymark Plaction wheels vs IFI wheels

[BrendanB]

We've used both in the past two years.

I'd recommend IFI wheels even though they are more money. We had some problems with plaction wheels breaking for several reasons. One major reason was that since they are a plastic hub you can't use loctite on the nuts (bad lesson learned) while you can on the IFI wheels (metal hubs!). We have also had problems after extensive use the plactions wheels will develop small cracks when exposed to harsh surfaces/falls. This year's bump didn't agree with a few of our wheels. They didn't cause a wheel to fail, but we switched them out as a precaution and won't use the ones that get damaged on a competition bot, practice only! I also like the tread attachment on the IFI wheels more. We had a few plaction treads come off during competition. The combo of rivets and compression that holds the tread in is very robust in the IFI brand!

As for integration, they are both the same. You can use the same sprockets both #25 and #35 and axles on each one.

Overall plactions will get the job done for a fraction of the cost but they are less durable than IFI wheels! As mentioned above, IFI wheels do come in varying widths which I hope our team can use in the future for more grip/pushing power.