Really? You're sure about that?

Last time I checked, the best marketing a business can achieve is word of mouth recommendations by people who actually use their products... and by standing behind their product even when they really don't have any obligation.

Velocity enjoys incredible market penetration because of word-of-mouth / consumer endorsements and is one of the few firms that still makes a full range of affordable rims for every cycling discipline -- including several different rims for tandems -- in a wide variety of drillings and finishes. About the only time some other brand of rim is recommended for tandem users is when a consumer simply wants an uber-light rim, some sexy boutique wheels or they truly need some deep aero rims for racing... not just a long-lasting, reliable rim for every day use on their tandem.

As for backing their products, I just rebuilt a wheel for some friends after the sidewall began to fail. The rim had been in use for a couple years / 10k miles on their tandem. When they called me to see if I had a spare 36h Deep-V that they could use and then replace after discovering the crack in their rim I said, yes... I have a couple spares. However, before buying a new rim I suggested they contact Velocity via Email with a photo of the cracked sidewall and follow-up with a phone call to see if there was, by chance, a bad batch of rims that their rim may have been a part of. Velocity immediately offered to send out a replacement rim at no cost to replace the damaged rim. My friends were pleasantly surprised by that level of customer support.

As for their sparse and understated rim labeling, all I can say is thank goodness. I'm not sure when rim manufacturers decided that rims needed to be cluttered up with garish adverts that served no useful purpose beyond having one or two smaller labels to identify the rim's model, size and max psi, but with few exceptions one of the first things I do when I get a set of rims is to remove the decals UNLESS the rims actually look better with the decals, e.g., Topolino's actually need the graphics to balance their spokes. Thankfully, the simple yellow Velocity decals can be removed in about 5 minutes. I think I spent an hour getting the stickers and all of he adhesives off of my Rolfs.

Bottom Line: Velocity's doing just fine and meeting their business objectives.