Done a little research on the Velocity Tandem Wheelset

700C Deep V semi aero rims

Sealed cartridge bearing Velocity hubs.

Shimano 8/9 spd compatible.

The rear has 4 bearings, the front has 2.

Rear Wheel : 1316 grams

Front Wheel : 1128 grams

Weights are without quick releases.

Available for 140mm and 145mm axles, in a variety of rim and spoke colors.

Anyone have any experience with these?

I;ve used the deep v's on my single for years with 18/24 spokes. They are a little heavy, but bullet-proof. I broke a spoke a couple of years ago and they hardly came out of true. They have been excellent. We use Velocity Aero's on the tandem. They have been very good. In general I like Velocity wheels and know several riders who use them.

Frank and Terry

We have Velocity rims on White hubs, and have noted that when necessary, tires are a no hassle
change out. Single plastic pry removes tire easily and tires go back on with a minimum of fuss.
This is an unappreciated aspect of some wheels.

We have Velocity Aeroheads on our tandem. Chris King hubs, 32H front 36H rear.
Back wheel lasted just under 25,000 miles; front wheel still rolling allong.
Great value for the buck!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Back in Sept, I pulled the trigger and ordered the Velocity Wheel Set. The Stock wheels were OK, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve, so I bit the bullet.

Well, the new set arrived Sat. I was away, but my son put them in the garage. Monday I was able to find a little time to mount them. I was disappointed to find that, while they do come with skewers, they do not come with rim tape.

Pick up some good rim tape at the LBS and went to work. Put the new 700x32 tires on. The front went on just fine, but the rear took just a little coaxing. Remember that the rear is a 140 mm hub but the drops are 135. It was not a big thing as the rear always takes a little coaxing even when the hub is the same.

I was very pleased with the wheels. I was pleantly suprised to find that both hubs are disk ready. This is not mentioned in the web site where you place the order. Since the Lambo doesn't have mounts for the calipers, it's a moot point anyway. And since I live in table flat So Fla, I really don't need disks.

Speaking of brakes, the one thing I noticed was that these rims are thinner than the stock rims, so the V brakes were non existant on the initial test ride. Since the wheels were dead true out of the box, it only took a few minutes to make the necessary adjustments.

The stock wheels now have the stock 700x35s, and are reserved for the unpaved trails and roads thru the everglades. I'll probably go to 38s when the crappy stock 35s wear out.

If there is any downside, it is the cheezy Velocity decal. The good news is that there is only one, and it's easy to remove. That's too bad. Velocity has a pretty good rep, and I think they are missing an opportunity to self promote. They need to hire a good graphic designer to come up with some great designs. What would ZIPP or Mavic wheels be without the decals?

The Velocity wheel set completes the planned upgrades to the Lambo. A very unfortunate situation lead to the distruction of the Ultegra RD on my half bike, and lead to an available upgraded idler pulley. That happened last weekend, and the idler got changed last week. It's a little quieter, but no apparent improvement otherwise. Not that I would know.

Anyway, first impressions are very good. Smooth, fast and true. Great value for the $. It's nice to know I've got QR hubs now, and can stop carrying the adjustable wrench in the wedge.

Velocity makes a better product than rim tape. They are called "velo plugs," if I remember correctly. They are little plastic pieces that clip right into the spoke hole. Great product.

Rick

Indeed, and in retrospect I probably should have ordered them. But that brings up another point. Great wheel builders. Not such good marketers. I think they are loosing a lot of opportunity to build and promote their brand and products. They need a good director of marketing.

No where did their specs indicate that their tandem wheel hubs are disk compatible.

Their decals are lame. They fail to see the opportunity to build brand recognition and value by investing in a strong brand identity and decals. Think ZIPP or Mavic.

Upselling - I should have been coached a little better on the advantages of the plugs, and the great value that they represent.

Part of their problem is that the sell though dealers. Dealers need the mfgr to supply strong marketing material, training and direction.

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.

I like the Velocity Chukker rim more than I like the Deep-V for a tandem. An even deeper deep section rim and wider to boot...

We do not use rimstrip on our Velocity wheels but do use Veloplugs,
Veloplugs are a bit pricier than rim tape but are also a bit lighter; the big advantage is that tires are easier to mount with Veloplugs.

An excellent choice for off-road 29" tandems as well as on road for very heavy tandem teams and multi-seat tandems, i.e., triplets, quads, quints...

However, at 650g it's decidedly over kill for most other teams.



The Dyad (480g @ 24mm wide) is a good choice for the average size to large tandem teams who won't run tires under 25mm. Same width as the Chukker, but 3/4 the weight.



The Deep-V (520g @ 19mm wide) is a good choice for light to middle weights looking for a more performance oriented rim who won't run tires larger than 28mm.



The Fusion (475g @ 19mm wide) is a good choise for light weight teams looking for a very light but still durable performance rim who, like the Deep-V, won't be running tires larger than 28mm.



Again, one of the things that makes Velocity rims great is the incredible variety of rims they produce, e.g., the following are just for 700c

Aero
Aerohead O/C
Aerohead
B43
Blunt
Chukker
Deep V
Dyad
Escape
Fusion
Glider
Pro Elite
Razor
Synergy
Synergy O/C
VXC
Twin Hollow
P35

Yeah they have those new B43, which are 43mm deep making them a bit more aero. But, they are super HEAVY IIRC

+1 on the Chukker rims for off road tandem use!!

Tandemgeek, you indeed have a valid point. WOM marketing is the most effective method, but it can be slow and limited in scope and penetration.

I'm guilty of assuming Velocity is not meeting their sales and growth objectives. They may be very happy with both, and they may choose to limit production to focus on quality and customer service. Nothing wrong with that!

I'm happy with their product, and bottom line, that's what it's all about.

WRT Velocity's marketing: Seems to me they've got the hipster fixie segment completely locked up with their Deep V. And all they did was make an extremely strong rim in a wide variety of drillings and even wider assortment of colors. Somebody in their marketing department is thinking!

Luis

TandemGeek,

I was SOOOOO disappointed when I realized the B43 didn't have a brake compatible surface. I guess you could angle the brakes all funny (especially touring Mafac style cantis). I still don't understand why Velocity didn't engineer that rim to haver a vertical braking surface that could be optionally machined, or even not.

What a rim.

What the heck is up with the whole fixie hipster formulaic build anyway? I mean why does every hipster either have a Deep-V wheelset or an Aerospoke front and B43 rear?

If the tandem community was so formulaic, I would so make fun of all your bikes.

That being said, my secret shame is wanting a set of tandem Aerospoke wheels. Why did they ever stop making those?

Have you seen the pics of the hipster trick crowd when they destroy Aerospoke wheels? The hob completely disintegrates from the wheel. Not pretty. Think R-SYS bad, but in the middle of some bike on a handrail type trick. No time for a hairnet!