Test: 110 mm 85 A Bont Mayhem Wheels

After the new 2012 Bont Black Ops, OLS has tested the 2012 Bont Mayhem speed skating wheels, a model designed for outdoor practice on varied road and bank track…

Par alfathor
Publié le 4 juillet 2012 - Mis à jour le 3 novembre 2020 - 14185 Lectures - 0 commentaire(s)

Test bench

According to the website of Bont, the Mayhem is designed for use on road with varied surfaces. It would then be a multipurpose wheel, following the Bont High Roller series. However, it remains an open question whether a wheel can really suit all surfaces! Destination: the local Green Lanes and the damaged roads of the sea side in the Hérault (France)…

Description

The structure of the core is identical to that of the Atom One wheels and is quite different from the design of the IQ. We know that Bont has agreements with lots of manufacturers and you can recognize the origin of the Mayhem, even if the Australian brand is careful not to communicate on that point!

If we are to believe the forums on which Alex Bont posted, the design of the wheel is close but the composition of the different parts of the wheel has been totally revised.

The core is made of 6×2 thin spokes widened in their centers, like the RollX cores.

The white polyurethane on-core is opaque with an elliptic surface that is perfectly homogeneous.

Rebound

The rebound test is satisfying, the wheel dropped at man’s height almost comes back to the starting point. The resilience* is then very good.

Set-up

The set-up is easy to handle. The bearings enter without forcing. The diameter and the bore of the core are perfectly calibrated, it is all very precise. Nothing to declare, tool not needed.

Measurements

The Bont Mayhem have a 72 mm core, a bit bigger than that of the Black Ops, for a diameter of 110 mm. They have thus a bit less polyurethane. They are more rigid and more reactive. The scale says 152 grams, i.e. 3 grams more than the Black Ops, 10 grams more than the MPC Road War and 15 grams more than the Matter Juice Hollow Core. And yet, you do not really feel it when you have them under your feet. They are labeled as 85 A, which is a bit softer than the wheels of the moment.

Grip

The grip of the Bont Mayhem is good on the varied surfaces on which we skated. On wet ground however, their grip is mediocre.

Flexibility

The core offers a great rigidity, the flexibility of the wheel particularly comes from the polyurethane strip. Then it will suit better the road than the track. It reacts better on straight lines.

Wear and tear

The wear and tear is the black spot of the wheel. Whereas Bont indicates a great life expectancy on its website, we have deteriorated the on-core a lot after 2 outings and 80 km on varied grounds. The on-core wears out unevenly with small cracks and tiny bits of material going off. Not that great for a 19$ wheel!

Maybe that the rigidity of the core engenders more pressure on the polyurethane?

Finishing

Nothing to declare: the on-core is perfectly smooth, not a single bubble and the printing is good too. We have spotted a few shavings of material on the core, but very few.

Price

With 19$ for the 110 mm wheel, the Bont Mayhem are quite expansive. They are in the high range of price as for the wheels available on the market.

Impressions of Gwendal Le Pivert after tests on track at Longjumeau (91, France)

« I tested the Mayhem during the 2012 track French Championships. I managed a time of 25 »34 at the 300 m, which brought me a second place behind Nicolas Pelloquin who won with Bont Black Ops wheels in 25 »17. The third skater ends up in 26 »00. I could also do a good performance at the 1.000 m with a 4th place. As a conclusion, I would say that this wheel has a good rolling, and contrary to the road, the wearing is good on track. »

Conclusion

We would advise the Bont Mayhem for use on smooth surfaces where its life expectancy will be reasonable, it really suffered from the 20 km of damaged road to which we subjected it. If they offer a good compromise on road, their fast degradation will make you hesitate to invest in quite an expensive wheel. On the other hand, it shows good performances on track…

* the resilience is the capacity of a material to store energy when it loses shape in an elastic way and then to release that energy when the load goes off.