What are the advantages of aftermarket wheels? They may be stronger but are they lighter and I've never had any problems with stock aluminum so why bother? Looks don't matter to be because they all look the same when they are covered in mud so what are the real advantages, am I missing something?

 

I mangled my stock rims on the rocks around here.
i doubt they are lighter but I don't think they are much more.
I personally like the offset on mine , they make the atv have a wider stance and they are much stronger. oh yeah and they look cool...... but then again they won't when they get mangled.

 

The stock alum. wheels are light but usually cheap and damage easy.

 

I have ITP 12X7" "Magnum" wheels on my Ranchers (with ITP Holeshot ATR tires). These are the predecessors to the C-series rims, and way lighter than anything else on the market. So, I have to be a bit more careful when in the rocks, but the tradeoff in weight is well worth it. And, tires these days have much better rim protection than you use to get years ago, so that isn't as big an issue as it once was.

The biggest advantage is that the ITP rims have a way wider offset than stock! All utilities are narrow and tippy (particularly compared to the 50" wide desert sport bikes that I usually ride), and making the bike 4" wider makes a huge difference when riding off camber stuff. A set of wheel spacers on your stock rims would do the same thing.