Hondasxs
Club Founder
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
When choosing a tire/wheel combo you have a lot of choices to make. One of the most common questions is what size wheels to choose. Should I choose a 12 inch rim or a 14 inch rim? While we all have our reasons to choose one over the other there are many factors to consider.
Here is a quick comparison between 12 and 14 inch wheels.
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<table>
<tr>
<td>12"Pro’s<br>
- Less expensive<br>
- Common size = more tire options.<br>
- More side wall = Softer ride<br>
- Less prone to tire pinch<br>
<br>
12" Con’s<br>
- More common look<br>
- Less handling.<br>
- Less value.</td>
<td>14" Pro's<br>
- Look good<br>
- Increase handling<br>
- Increased value of ATV/SXS<br><br>
14" Con’s<br>
- More expensive<br>
- Less side wall = Harder ride<br>
- More prone to tire pinch<br>
- Uncommon size = less tire options</td>
</tr>
</table>[/parsehtml]
Here is a quick rundown of the comparisons.
- 14’s look good. 12’s can look good too, 14’s just look better.
- Pricing, 14’s are more expensive then 12’s, but not by that much.
- 12” tires are more common and a replacement can be found more easily for both wheel and tire in a emergency situation.
- 12” tires offer more side wall then 14’s. This gives you a softer ride and better rebound when hitting objects on the trail. A 14” rim has a short sidewall thus reducing the amount of rebound available causing more pinch situations.
- 14” tires offer better handling and response when corning. This is due to the short sidewall flex.
- 14” wheels allow for more space between the knuckle and wheel. Seen as a positive and a negative. (More about this in my next post.)
- 14” wheels allow for more rim exposure allowing for more damage from rub, rocks, and objects.
Consider your tire size: Sidewall will increase with tire size. Say you took a 28” tire on 14” rims. It would have the same amount of sidewall as a 26” tire on 12” rims.
Here is a quick comparison between 12 and 14 inch wheels.
[parsehtml]
<table>
<tr>
<td>12"Pro’s<br>
- Less expensive<br>
- Common size = more tire options.<br>
- More side wall = Softer ride<br>
- Less prone to tire pinch<br>
<br>
12" Con’s<br>
- More common look<br>
- Less handling.<br>
- Less value.</td>
<td>14" Pro's<br>
- Look good<br>
- Increase handling<br>
- Increased value of ATV/SXS<br><br>
14" Con’s<br>
- More expensive<br>
- Less side wall = Harder ride<br>
- More prone to tire pinch<br>
- Uncommon size = less tire options</td>
</tr>
</table>[/parsehtml]
Here is a quick rundown of the comparisons.
- 14’s look good. 12’s can look good too, 14’s just look better.
- Pricing, 14’s are more expensive then 12’s, but not by that much.
- 12” tires are more common and a replacement can be found more easily for both wheel and tire in a emergency situation.
- 12” tires offer more side wall then 14’s. This gives you a softer ride and better rebound when hitting objects on the trail. A 14” rim has a short sidewall thus reducing the amount of rebound available causing more pinch situations.
- 14” tires offer better handling and response when corning. This is due to the short sidewall flex.
- 14” wheels allow for more space between the knuckle and wheel. Seen as a positive and a negative. (More about this in my next post.)
- 14” wheels allow for more rim exposure allowing for more damage from rub, rocks, and objects.
Consider your tire size: Sidewall will increase with tire size. Say you took a 28” tire on 14” rims. It would have the same amount of sidewall as a 26” tire on 12” rims.