That’s what she said… Thanks to Jussi over at Fixed Gear Blog and Tricktrack, I now can post about the new Velocity rims that are due out soon.
“We are working hard on getting this rim to market. If all goes as planned, they should be readily available this spring. It is called the B43, because it is 43mm tall, making it 1mm taller than our very worthy and formidable competition.
It’s hard to compare it to the Deep V. The B43 will be heavier than the Deep V, it’s hard to say how much yet.
As for multiple drillings of the B43, we do plan on that, you guys doing tricks have been evolving and you’re at the point now where you are doing some rather insane manuevers. We were not thinking of going down to a 28h though. Less spokes is usually indicitive of some one wanting light weight, the B43 will not be light.
It is a work in progress, we have actually received two different batches of extrusion and we are not quite satisfied yet. We are seriously considering modifying the design again and making the B43 wider. Can you imagine a 43mm tall rim by 24mm wide with 48 holes?!?! I’d say that would be just about bullet proof.
We definitely plan on doing a variety of drillings, at least 32h, 36h, and 48h. 650c will happen eventually. A variety of colors too. While they won’t be the lightest rim on the planet, they shouldn’t be a boat anchor either. The final product should be somewhere between 710 to 730 grams. We could make it lighter, but durability is our main concern.
As for price, it looks like we’ll at least be competitive. Making good rims is not a cheap endeavor, sure we could source them out and have them made in China, but that would be selling out in my opinion.”
I could honestly care less about the depth thing; I know the Velocity rep is taking stabs at the H+Son rims. Deeper for being “aero” on the street doesn’t make much sense to me. All I want are some wide rims that won’t break. Right now I’m back to Deep Vs because I broke everything else I tested. Sure, I was wrong. I can admit when I’m wrong. No problems there. What I don’t like about the Deep V is the width. I want to be able to run 35c tires on them without having the bead pop off and backfire like an old Cadillac. If they were about 3mm wider, I’d say the Deep V was a pretty durable rim.
Tony and I are testing out some Alex G600s right now. They literally look like tanks. About 100 grams heavier than Deep Vs but double walled and wider. Basically twice the material. I retrue my wheels regularly after riding hard on them, but maybe I’ll have to true them less now?
We’ll keep you posted on how the Alex rims hold up…
