Sunday, February 03, 2008

MPC Wheels Pt.3: Emulation is the Ultimate Accolade

Part 3 in a Series on MPC Speed Wheels and MTECH Technology



Why emulation is the ultimate accolade

The performance and results of MTECH wheels spoke for themselves. The World asked 'What are the wheels?' when Luca Presti on 5x84mm won the World Title in the 300m time trial in Italy, 2004 when few others could get grip on the Vesmaco surface. The answer was MTECH. Presti skated on the 84mm version of the Black Track, and skated the L'Aquila track like few others could.

In China 2005, Korean skaters remained on 5x84 to use the MTECH wheels on the flat 200m track in Suzhou while the 100mm MTECH was still a prototype. More titles were won, more podiums attained. 84 MTECHs were all over Korean skates, and the 84 (and a few 100mm) MTECHs were seen providing uncompromising grip on a large number of skates.

In Korea 2006, with 100mm MTECH wheels available as MPC StreetFight and MPC BlackTrack, skaters from all countries embraced MPC wheels at the World Championships. The MTECH wheel, with its unique feel, provided unmatched cornering performance on the track - and access to speeds that were confirmed by stopwatches everywhere. While that took place on the track, Gregory Duggento was breaking the World Record in the 200m on MPC Street Fight - winning in 16.209s and Patrizio Triberio was taking gold on MPC Black Track in the 500m.

In the months that followed, other wheel manufacturers set about revising their wheels to copy the engineered deformation of MTECH. Some even machined their hubs, cutting material away and weakening the structure of the hub in an attempt to replicate the footprint modulation technology that MPC wheels are built on - and calling it names like Energy Management Technology that claimed to 'turn the core of the wheel into a spring'.


Meanwhile, Nicholas Iten won the first WIC of 2007 in Seoul on the VT Marathon, MPC-equipped teams topped the WIC Team Time Trials, and Hilde Goovaerts won the WIC finale in Berlin on Storm Surge in the rain.

In Colombia 2007, by day 2 of the track championship - it was no accident that 9 of 16 World Titles had been won on MTECH wheels. MPC was again worn by the fastest in the Senior Mens 200m, with 1st and 2nd place on MTECH wheels as Wouter Hebbrecht claimed his first World Title in the 200m on MPC Black Track.

This year

As 2008 begins, more emulation of MTECH engineering enters the wheel market. Two manufacturers release new hubs that are 'designed to flex', together with promotion of 'hinge points' in hubs and adjustable 'flex bands' in tires to 'increase the footprint through flex'.

It's not new, MPC engineered it, World skaters proved it, and now the market demands it. But it's not MTECH.

Only MTECH wheels are built on the original patented MPC design.

Of course, emulation is the ultimate accolade.

View the range of MPC Speed Wheels online now

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