We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again; the guys at 3SDM have the Midas touch when it comes to putting out some of the most popular wheels on the market.
They don’t punt out a new design every 3-days of course, in many ways that’s part of their mystique, but every time they do decide to launch a new rim it seems to become an instant classic on the street. And that’s without becoming seen as mass-market.
It’s a clever trick to pull off and, rather importantly, they don’t take the piss on the pricing either!
But, what’s this new hoop all about? Is the 0.50-SF more of the same? Well, yes and no.
You see, it’s pretty obvious that this classic, 10-spoke spider design is one of their finest yet. You can’t fault the quality and, although they only come as full-fat 20-inchers (so, you’ll be needing enough room under your arches for genuine Dubs), there’s plenty of staggered sizes and fitments available for all the larger cruisers from the Fatherland.
All this is lovely too, whoopee-do for them you might say, but we’ve seen all that stuff from these guys before. What makes this new wheel totally unique to their line-up however, is that it’s their very first ‘Spin Forged’ wheel.
Now, no matter what you call it – Spin Forging, Flow Forming, Rotary Forging, or any other number of variations – it’s the same process. Short blank wheels are cast, then the barrels are drawn up with big rollers, under immense heat and pressure, to get the final widths.
Think pottery, only with metal, and what this does is change the gain structure to produce a wheel that ultra-light, ultra-strong and ultra-pants-down-desirable.
It’s a relatively new process, only championed by a select few manufacturers over the past few years, but what it offers is a genuine, not to mention more cost-effective, alternative to full-on forged wheels.
There’s nothing not to love about the two-tone finish with these 0.50-SF jobs either, and we like the fact that they’ve embossed ‘Spin Forged’ on the barrels too, just so no one is in any doubt who’s rolling on the best hoops.
In any case, German car owners should be rejoicing right about now. Das est bloomin’ marvellous!
Sizes: 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5, 12×20
PCDs: 5×112, 5×114.3, 5×120, 5×130
Offsets: ET19-45
Priced from £325 (each)
For more info see 3SDM
