Originally Posted by
TejanoTrackie
Actually, they're not too bad when used exclusively on the track and not stored in high humidity. They do need to be revarnished periodically. I'm talking tubulars here. I also have a set of aluminum rims with wood cores. The solid wood rims are long gone, and their main fault was that they were very heavy and no better than modern aluminum rims.
In all my years, I've never seen anyone on the track using wooden rims -- and there is a strong reason for that, I believe. Wooden rims are the object of collectors and grouches -- not performance and practical-minded racers. They'll be heavy, require much maintenance, cannot be deep enough for aero advantages, and any benefit they may have would be exponentially and easily surpassed by aluminum or carbon.