What happened to Rishie?
 

Just curious. Also curious where the best deal on Fikse Profil 5s might be found... :)

Re: What happened to Rishie?
 

Apparently he got tired of the peeps here and lives on NoPistons now.

Re: Re: What happened to Rishie?
 

Ah, so that's what you do when you get tired of the people here. I've been wondering... :)

he also just moved to a new shop....

here is a link....
http://groups.msn.com/AutomotiveRD/s...nw?albumlist=1

he posted a forum GB of sorts (not including Fikse) and infrequently responds

I asked about a price for some Fikse Profil 10 but never heard back from him :(

let me know what you find out

No sh!t. There's no doubt about his expertise, but his customer service is most definitely lacking - it's as if he hates money or something. I saw the same GB at the NP forum and contacted him about a set of wheels I was seriously considering buying. He wrote back initially but then left me hanging. Oh well, guess I'll take my business elsewhere!

FYI, here's what happened to Rishie's relationship with the Forum (start at the end of the thread and go back):

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...24#post2042124

7racer is right.

Rishie opened up a new shop in milpitas specializing in Japanese parts. I just bought a set of Work wheels from him. Nothing but the best service and great deals. The shop is just barely opening so you gotta expect the guy to be busy.

Jim,
Get the "speed silver" finish on the centers... trust me.

A lot of people love to embelish Rishie's abilities.

...Don't believe it...

Not only is everything most have said here true (seems to hate money, is slow to respond even if he responds, etc...) but his prices were a joke.

First off I asked him for prices on Advan Siena's, he all but replied in the thread in a roundabout way of saying they take too much effort to get and he doesn't make much off them...but what he actually wrote was some BS that they are overpriced and not worth it. After a weeks time he finally replied saying, basically, he didn't feel like taking the time to get them.

From their I thought I would make poor Rishie work a bit less, so I asked for a price and appropriate size on Volk GT-U's since he loves selling Volk's. Well, he finally got back to me after a week+ and I was shocked at his price. It was something like $2100. After about 5 minutes surfing the net I found Volk GT-U's of what he gave me for about $1800. Where was the great pricing from him that was suppose to be given to the forum people and in his own thread he started entitled "5zigen, Work, Volk, Gram Lights, Special Club deals and tire setups"???

Sorry to sound so disgruntled, but I hate seeing people rave about this guy. I don't know of one person at NP that was happy with his "thread" of deals.

You want some cool people, who will deal, check out www.gruppe-s.com They will be getting my Advans and will match/beat prices. And they won't offer their $0.02 because they are too lazy to get them.

Peter, I suppose it has something to do with upkeep? :)

BTW, the two times that I've received pricing from Rishie, I went with someone else because his quoted prices were higher. I figured I'd start with him and see if he could get a deal on the Fikses.

Jim,
The tough part of the upkeep seems to be keeping the outer rim half lips polished (they aren't clearcoated, so buy some "mothers")

My centers are the standard technipolish, which looks cool (basically a diamond-turned, clearcoated finish.)

The speedsilver is a highly-metalic paint, thats very thin, and looks almost jewel-like in person. A guy at my gym had a 19" set of profil-10's on his E46. It's gorgeous. I was impressed, and very jealous.

I'm assuming the upkeep on that finish isn't any different.

Hey Jim,
How far away is "kent, WA" from you anyway?... might as well take a field trip, and check 'em out for yourself.

Thanks Peter.

The other option that I'm looking at is Volk TE-37s (yeah, I know, they've been done to death) in 19x10.5, +42mm and 19x8.5", + 36mm. My concern is that the 10.5" isn't offered in a +45mm offset, and +42mm puts backspacing at about 7.4" and front spacing at about 4.1". Manny said front spacing in the rear was a maximum of about 4.0", +/-0.1", so that's right on the line. They'd be a heck of a lot cheaper than the Fikses, though, and I'm tired of spending money on my car. :)

GMP Performance (www.gmpperformance.com) has the 19x10.5s for $625 ea. and the 19x8.5s for $590 ea. which is about half the price of the Fikses.

Kent is about 20 minutes away as the crow flies, about 45 minutes away as the traffic crawls... :)

Fikse doesn't have a public showroom that I know of.

Hmm, thats surprising. What would it kill 'em to throw a couple wheels in the waiting room?

Anyway, surely theres a local dealer who could at least show you all the finishes.

I totally get your objection to their prices (I got my 17" used, in a trade). But if I were you, i'd look at it this way: If I were spending what you are (total) on my car, and were anticipating it possibly being in magazines, and were only buying one set (no track wheels), and generally wanted the thing to reek of quality engineering the way i know you do, I wouldn't choose wheels to be the part I skimped on.

With modulars, you can get the exact offset you want for the aggressive fitment your looking for. I know Volks are well-manufactured wheels, but I think their designs are pretty taste-challenged in most instances, and the overall look just isn't as high-quality. For the guy who matches the slots on his front and rear rotors, I think that in the end you'll appreciate the difference, since these will be the most visible upgrade on your car... if you don't buy them now, you'll end up buying twice.

I asked for some prices on some coilovers from him several times. He said on the public forum he would provide quotes and that he thought the choice was good. He even said he got a set for his car. Well I never got a price so took my money elsewhere. I don't mind not getting the quote, what I mind is being told I would get a quote and then having to bug him several times with no results.

jim,

check out Fordahl Motorsports: http://www.fordahlmotorsports.com/contact.htm

major Fikse dealer.

Same exact experience on the coilovers. Received a quote once for some wheels once and sent a response asking a more specific question on the wheels (he didn't tell me wheel width or offset) but never heard from him again.

Also went elsewhere and will everytime from now on.

Will $4,400 wheels make it any faster than $2,400 wheels? :)

That didn't work out as well as I'd hoped... :)

Nope, but neither will that (2nd) killer paint job you have... end result worth the time and $$ though.

No, let's put it this way... suppose you were buying a set of wheels that in all likelihood will just sit in the corner of your garage for the next year. Would you rather spend $4,400 or $2,400? :)

its not like jim is buying low end wheels. he is buying VOLK TE37's!!!!! get whatever you want its your car :)

Thanks... only one problem. If I buy Fikses in-state, I have to pay another 8.8% for tax... :)

Agreed on the customer service end of things.

That a dangerous line of thought, Jim. You're entire project would risk becoming irrelevant! ;)