After 2 cracks in the 18″ alloys I decided to go for a budget wheel for winter. As with everything in the world I have found that it is not what you know but who you know. Chris Meyer took me out to www.van-wonders.co.uk where I was about to get some steelies, when the owner Chris Wilson noticed he had some 15″ van wheels with legal tread on them. “You want them instead?” of course being a yorkshireman I responded with a “How much?”, “£60, and you can have them 2 brand new tyres sat over there too”….. “Deal!”.  Not your average VW wheels for looking cool, but for mountain biking venues etc these would be perfect and all proper van rated unlike the 18″s which just couldn’t take the weight.

As with everything that can be customised…eventually I decided I wanted a change…so with a little bit of help from Proudy, we sanded the wheels and set the good old hammerite on the case. “They don’t look half bad…if your a blind man on a galloping horse”…Lesson learnt…let the hammerite dry before putting a second coat on…so the first wheel came out terrible. The second one not so bad, the third one not far from perfect, and the fourth wasn’t great…the last 3 all used the same process…

Back on the van and they look mint, and they are far more comfy than any low profile wheel. WINNER. And all for a £15 tin of paint and 2 afternoons of sanding! (cheers Proudy)