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Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but I'm curious. I am interested in a set if Fikse Fm5 wheels. I love the look, and in particular the deep lip of the rim.
My question is:
Why does the front 17" Fikse wheels feel like they have a deeper lip, then 18" ones? Ever time I see a pic, it looks like the 18" barely have a lip on the fronts.
Could it just be that the larger diameter wheel makes the lip look smaller? You wouldn't really know the difference unless you actually measured the lip of a 17" wheel and the lip of an 18" wheel. As far as I know, since the FM5 is a 3 piece wheel, the "dish" can be different depending on how you actually spec the wheel (width of the outer lip, and width of the barrel.) I'm sure lots of people who run 18s instead of 17s run them to clear big brake setups, so it's not really possible to have the deep dish look without the wheel hanging out past the front fenders.
Could it just be that the larger diameter wheel makes the lip look smaller? You wouldn't really know the difference unless you actually measured the lip of a 17" wheel and the lip of an 18" wheel.
You could be on to something, with that observation. A number of years ago, I had a set of CCW Classics, with the black centers on my C-5 Corvette. The front wheels were 17" and the rears were 18". The centers were the same OD, but the difference in the diameter of the barrels, between the front and rear, sort of looked weird, as there was more of the barrel visible between the OD of the center, and the bead area of the rim, on the rear wheels. The black center made it more obvious.
I wish I could find a picture of a car that has 18s and a car that has 17s with identical backspacing. That would really be a good way to figure this out. These 18's look like they have a pretty deep dish to them (the rear, that is). I'll paste the specs below.
Specs:
Front wheels
18” x 9”
Backspace: 7.00”
Offset: ET51mm
20.60lbs
Bolt Pattern: 5x130
^^ you're correct, those fronts are intended to clear big brakes. Centers are designed to be more outboard than for a standard caliper design. Unless spec'd otherwise, fronts get the 9.5" wheel with a 38mm offset treatment; 11s out back get 44mm....
02-24-2017, 11:35 AM
Fikse 17" and 18" wheel question.... 
