vermilionx

my bday gift for myself and reward for getting my 1st 2000 miles of cycling.











velocity A23 rims
velocity road hubs
sapim laser spokes

supposed to be 1470g for the set.

should be a noticeable improvement over my stock alex 200 wheels.

i can't install it though. when i looked at the youtube vids... i need a special tool.

also, i thought they would have installed the rim tape as well but i guess not. i dunno how to do that either.

so, i guess i'll be using my cage tomorrow and try to swing it by a shop to have them install the tape and move my cassette from my current wheels to this new one.

im so excited! ^_^

nastystang

very nice. enjoy them.

Clipped_in

Nice!!! ProWheelBuilder built my A23's too. You'll like 'em.

vermilionx

kewl thanks.

and im already running conti gp4ks 25s. i run them at 85 psi front and 90 rear. haven't tried lower than that.

i heard this is a great combo.

Bob Dopolina 

Nice hoops. Enjoy!

They should be a lot snappier than the ALX wheels you have now. Try a few hard jumps early in the shakedown ride. It should be fun.

Side questions: Did they come from the US or OZ? How long between order and delivery?

vermilionx

US. prowheelbuilder is based on nevada. im in LA county.

it says on fedex that it shipped 29th and i got it this afternoon 30th.

order was made on the 18th. so it did take a while.

Psimet2001 

That's actually a fabulous leadtime and one I am cleaning my queue for at the moment...but that's not exactly what BDOP was after....

Velocity A23's have been a no-show rim since Velocity moved it's factory from Australia to the US. I personally have had A23 backorders in since January. Calling every single week to check on it. Them never having anything other than a story.

This includes my call yesterday where they said they "might" have some finally coming in next week.

Great. 6 months. That's how long some builders have been waiting on the rims.

Your short leadtime from PRO means that either they had over 6 months worth of A23 inventory sitting on their shelves allowing them to flip your order in a normal build queue time or that Velocity has been fullfilling orders to larger builders throughout this whole time, ignoring the smaller builders who have had orders in for over 6 months.

Personally that's disappointing - especially since I just was able to ship an order today that a customer place in January....for an A23 build....after finally convincing him to go over to Kinlins just so that he could ride his wheels this season. Even more disappointing considering that they are my sole source for specific cross product that is a major part of my 2012-2013 cross project that I have spent $k's on in advertising alone.....

Sorry. Venting. Enjoy your wheels. You will definitely notice an improvement over the ALX wheels. You will enjoy them for a long time to come.

vermilionx

i see. sorry to hear about your troubles.

and yeah, i think i will stay on these wheels as long as they last. i doubt i'll go carbon considering the roads i ride.

Bob Dopolina 

"'Morning! Tele-Psychic."

Psimet2001 

I know....right?

Just got done vinyl lettering my car and am trying to burn a few minutes before I build 3 more wheels tonight and over a bike for a morning pickup....

....looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing tubular glue...

Gluteus

Nice.
May I ask, $?

vermilionx

485$ shipped.

Pendergast

Wouldn't the "Made in Australia" decal mean that they are old inventory?

Bob Dopolina 

IIRC they moved production of rims to the US but these were most likely old stock already built in oZ and shipped to the distribution center (wharehouse?) in the US.

The issue seems to be with the new production of rims being delivered late.

Pendergast

Don't forget to make sure everything is adjusted properly after you put the new wheels on the bike. You definitely want to make sure there's not some minor difference that that throws off the rear derailleur low limit adjustment.

specq

Congrats on the new wheels. Enjoy the ride.

But please do yourself a favor and buy the tools you need from the shop (Chainwhip and lockring tool) You'll also need a large wrench that fits the tool. I use a fairly cheap adjustable type from a hardware store. You don't need anything bike-specific for that. It just needs to fit and be big enough and sturdy enough for leverage.

I'm pretty sure you can figure out the rim tape even without a youtube video. And swapping a cassette isn't much harder.

Even if you're not confident you can do it this time, you'll probably save yourself the cost of the tools the first time you do it yourself. You might practice putting another cassette on your old wheels.

The fact that you can do it yourself will mean you'll be more likely to do it when it needs doing, instead of putting it off until you can get it to the shop, thus saving you wear and tear on the rest of your drivetrain.

And the fact that you can do it yourself will give you the confidence try other bike maintenance tasks.

If you're riding a lot, you'll soon find that you can't afford to keep taking it in to the shop (either in time or money) for every little thing that needs doing.

At least I couldn't.

rangerdavid

those wheels look nice. enjoy them!!

vermilionx

yeah. i hope i don't have to adjust much going to a wider rim.

the only thing i was expectng to adjust are the brake calipers to accommodate the wider rim.

how can i tell if i need to adjust the rear derailleur?

thanks.

pdxtex

you will know it if the derailleur is out of alignment, kachunk! yeah, sometimes the cassette and chain won't line exactly on a different wheel set, no big deal. just shift the bike in front and little cog in back and use the adjuster to fine tune the rear derailleur. the pulleys should line up with the small cog for a straight chainline. have fun.

RT

Sometimes you get lucky. I recently recycled rims and hubs and had a wheelset built. After rolling with the newer wheelset for a month, I put on the new build and didn't have to adjust anything except brake clearance. I was amazed.

Do check though.

vermilionx

what do mean by "shift the bike in front" ?

like put in the big gear? or granny gear? i have a compact crank.

pdxtex

wow, my grammar sucks!! yeah, that was a typo. i meant to say make sure the chain in on the big chainring in the front, small cog in the back, then adjust the derailleur so the pulleys line up with the back cog, ie no rubbing. i need coffee....

pgjackson

Please don't have the LBS install rim tape. Do it yourself. It's about as difficult as putting air in the tires. The tools you need to remove the cassette (chain whip and lock ring tool) cost about $30 total. It's an easy process and after you do it you will be glad you did. Plus, once you know how to do it and own the tools, you can easily keep everything nice an clean. Cassettes get nasty and you really need to completely disassemble it to get it clean.

vermilionx

I took it to a LBS. Not performance since they're too far and i only my lunch break.

They only charged me 5$ for moving the cassette and installing the tape.

Clipped_in

I've just run 23mm tires on mine and for me I don't see a need to go wider. I'm a bigger guy (190#) and I've been pumping mine to 95f-100r with plenty of comfort and no snakebites. Your setup will be a magic carpet ride...