I have been going back and forth all winter on something special, Compomotives, Speedlines, Braids etc. The Konigs just make too much sense. I have been a bit of a wheel snob coming out of my VW's and honestly always thought Konig was budget or in some cases borderline crap. Once I got past my brand snobbery and gave up on a bolt pattern conversion I just caved and said don't over think it.
At least I live in nowheresville and will likely never see another set in person on a FiST or maybe any car. So thats a plus I guess.
Yeah, it
IS kind of hard to argue with $535.00 shipped a set for the Dekas, vs. $1685.00 a set for the Braids
before shipping, for a set of 16x8 wheels.
On top of that, the small distributor who handles the Braids here demands a payment
in full,
before he will even
think about ordering them for you, and then you wait for up to a half year for them to be made and shipped over on what they term a 'stock' order, even though you paid for that 'stock' ahead of time.
Given this current crisis environment, where small businesses are dropping faster than flies in a DDT fog, he could possibly go out before your order shows up, claim bankruptcy, and you are totally out your $1700.00.
(Yeah, I know that sounds cruel, and self centered/serving, since that vendor/distributor lost so much more than I, but unlike so many others on here who can
easily afford $5K+ BT upgrades, without even batting an eye, I will be
severely hurt by losing that much coin at a time.)
Having paid wheels
in hand, from a large, mostly stable/fully solvent company (Discount Tire Direct) in these catastrophic times is a deciding factor, which will most likely overwhelm and outweigh my desire for something 'different'.
They will also mount and balance the tires I want on them (225/45-16 A052s) for free, and then ship the whole assembly for free, and road force balance them for only $10.00 extra per wheel, vs. the $200.00 extra it would cost me locally for the same services, if I went the Braid route.