Rider Profile: Oscar Khan

Today, we start a new series on the blog appropriately called Rider Profile. A pseudo interview format with our Velocity sponsored riders from around the world. Today we feature Oscar Khan, from the U.K.. Enjoy.

Name: Oscar Beltane Tiger Khan (real name)
Age: just turned 18
Location: LONDON
Website: fixedgearlondon.com wrahw.com

Sponsors: 14 bike co, Velocity, Sadio, WRAHW, Vans, Dickies, Halo tyres, FGLDN
Cycling Specification: FGX (fixed gear freestyle)

How did you get into cycling?

OK: In the beginning I did it to get from spot to spot to skateboard but I started to ride the same spots on my bike and had just as muchfun. When I met the guys from FGLDN, I got really stoked on it and started doing it all the time.

How long have you been riding?

OK: I can't remember. I started just riding bikes about 3 and a bit years ago.

How did you get into FGFS [Fixed Gear Freestyle] riding?

OK: Mainly just hoping up and down curbs on the way to places and doing wheelies and stuff then I started being stupid and breaking my bike on stairs and stuff and needed stronger bikes.

Favorite place to ride?

OK: I really love going on trips and riding new spots, I get bored of the same old parks and spots. F*ck parks.

Tell a story of a ride or cycling experience you will never forget:

OK: Once on a trip to ride the Nike tunnel park Tom Lamarche drank like a crate of Red Bull and turned into a real skuz punk psycho, smashing cans and sh!t. Everyone got crazy and started fighting and tom threw up [hahahahahah] I smelt like red bull for days.

What are your plans for the future? (Upcoming season/year goals and aspirations)

OK: I'm going to New York in a month so anyone who wants to let me stay at their place can contact me. Aside from that I want to go Thailand to visit the Saio guys. Also I want to film something that is actually good.

What Velocity wheels are you using?

OK: P35

Thoughts on the wheels/rims?

OK: They're the widest, lightest wheels I know.

What kind of bike did you build around your Velocity wheels? (Bike Check)

OK: My custom 14 bike co frame allows me to run super fat 2.2 Halo tyres on p35s and still have loads of room. Aside from that mostly Sadio parts which are the best parts company that actually makes things specifically for fixed gear and some other miscellaneous brands for what Sadio don't (yet) make.

What do you do when your not on your bike (guilty pleasures, etc)?

OK: Smell bad, make really bad art, gatecrash partys, watch police chases from my balcony, listen to happy hardcore.

Westjam - Oscar khan & Ed Wonka from Hector Ward on Vimeo.

Frostbike Recap

Part of the Velocity crew headed over the Minneapolis to take part in QBP's annual Frostbike dealer show. We had some exciting things to announce as part of the 3 day event - incase you weren't able to go, here's a rundown...

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NEW VELOCITY BLUNT SL RIM AND WHEELSET

AVAILABLE SPRING 2011

You might have seen this mentioned over at TwentyNineInches.com on Friday. We are happy to announce the latest rim to the Velocity line, the Blunt SL. Taking the proven success of the P35 and the Blunt we have created a tubeless race day rim that is sure to elevate your riding.

Spec on the Blunt SL -

Sizes: 26" and 29er

Drillings: 28, 32, and 36 hole

Colors: Black, Silver, White

Rim: 420g

Pro wheelset:

Rims: Blunt SL 28 hole

Hubs: Velocity Lightweight ATB Disc

Spokes: Sapim CX Ray

Nipples: DT Swiss Alloy

Front Laced: 2x Disc-side, Radial Non-disc

Rear Laced: 2x Drive and Non-drive

Comp wheelsets and custom builds are also available.

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NEW LOOK SYNERGY

Same rim.
New decal.

Old meets new, new meets old. We redesigned the Synergy decal to give it a little more 'old world' flair as you bust out miles on back roads and gravel.

Whether your touring or simply out pushing yourself - it's hard to beat the Synergy!

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BE SEEN. BE SAFE.

Velocity Reflective rims and wheels have revolutionized the commuting, touring and recumbent markets with this reflective powder coating technology.

Continue to help promote safe cycling in your cycling co

mmunity with Velocity Halo rims and wheels!

Velocity Reflective is offered on these rims:

- Dyad : 700c : 32H 36H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall

- Fusion : 700c : 32H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall

- Deep V : 700c : 32H 36H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall

- B43 : 700c : 32H : Nonmachined Sidewall

- Cliffhanger : 26" [559] : 36H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall

- Aeroheat : 20" [406] 26" [559] : 32H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall

Can't miss this: Halo

Interbike: Day 2

You might have noticed in the last issue of BRAIN [Bicycle Retailer and Industry News], the September 1 issue on page 30, our Halo Wheelsets and Rims were highlighted in the Tech Briefs selection. If you didn't have a chance to check it out here is the copy:


Glass Bead Powder Coat Lights up Velocity Rims

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - When Ohio-based Halo Coatings added tiny glass balls to a powder coat formulation, it found the coating was highly reflective. That got the attention of Velocity, a rim maker that now has an exclusive to use the patented reflective powder coating on its rims. 'We've offered reflective rims before using 3M reflective decals, but the Halo coating is much more durable, and since it covers the entire rim, quite a bit more noticable,' said Adam Lorenz, Velocity USA's director of marketing. 'The coating doesn't affect braking, but there is a slightly different feel at the lever, so we offer many of the Halo Reflective rims with machined sidedwalls,' he added. Millions of microscopic glass beads float in liquid powder coat to provide a rim surface that reflects light back to its source. The Halo powder coated rims appear graphite in color, but reflect bright white when struck with direct light. Lorenz said the rims have been popular with commuters and recumbent riders who can run reflective rims instead of the hard-to-find 20-inch reflective tires. Velocity offers a variety of models including 20-inch, 26-inch and 700c rims with the Halo Reflective coating. The reflective powder coat increases the cost of the rim 40 to 50 percent.

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A dang fine write up to say the least and hard to say more with less words. The Halo powder coating has been an incredible addition to the Velocity line and a must for anyone who is touring, commuting or just looking to stand out... literally.

The 7 rims [Model : Size : Drilling : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall] offered in with the Halo reflective powder coating go as followed:

- Dyad : 700c : 32H 36H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall
- Fusion : 700c : 32H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall
- Deep V : 700c : 32H 36H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall
- B43 : 700c : 32H : Nonmachined Sidewall
- Cliffhanger : 26" [559] : 36H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall
- Aeroheat : 20" [406] 26" [559] : 32H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall

All of these models are instock and available through your local bicycle shop.

more polo.

6 times year one of our favorite publications comes out, Urban Velo. We really can't express how much we enjoy the magazine itself or how much respect we have for Jeff and Brad for putting it all together and how great they are to work with it. We've highlighted a number of items so far this year in it; from the Halo Reflective Rims, to our ability to custom build wheels to your exact specification and need, and last issue the Bottle Trap. In this installment, since Matt and a few others of the GR crew making it to the Midwest 8 tournament in Minneapolis and being on the verge of the North American Tournament in Madison here in July; we wanted to simply say thanks to everyone in MPLS for a stellar time and advocate a bit for more to join in on this growing subculture of cycling.

Waaay back in June, we had the privilege to be part of another bicycle polo tournament down in Indiana. It was the first ever Indiana Invitational presented by the Bloomington Bike Polo crew, held in Bloomington, IN on the Indiana University campus. With a strong showing of around 60 players representing 7 states it's easy to say that it was a success. The tournament even garnered enough attention that the local paper did a write up on it. Check it out, in what I'll call great polo fashion the article seems to give a great snap shot of the growing polo culture.

We contributed one of our handbuilt Chukker wheelsets to the tournament, which ended up being awarded to the MVP of the day, Ben from St. Louis Dignified Gentlemen. The Dignified Gents also went on to win the tournament by beating the Butt Suckers from Columbus, Ohio. A great day for the Lou', and from all accounts a great event and time for everyone involved. Next time hopefully it works out for us to get a team together and head down.

For more pictures from the event, check out the comment section of their post or see a few here.

Hey-lo, Halo

If you might remember, a few months back we were excited to about the release of our newest reflective rims with Halo coatings. This extremely durable graphite black powder-coated rim that shines bright white with direct light has been a solid seller for us since its release.

We've been in contact with Arleigh over at CommutebyBike.com and Bikeshopgirl.com about doing a review on the them and this past week we were finally able to get a set built up for her with some Shimano Alfine hubs. We've outfitted her with some Halo Dyad's for review and can't wait for her to get some ride time on them. Be sure to be checking out her sites and we'll be reposting her thoughts here.

Back in January when we were prepping for the Velocity Reflective release we did an ad with Urban Velo. The final product is shown above but I figured I could show you a few of the photos that didn't make the cut but are nevertheless show off the Halo powdercoating process. We didn't use any sort of back light, simply just the flash of the camera, providing what the rims look naturally when light hits them. You can see more photos of the Velocity Reflective rims in action on our Facebook page.

A little Polo talk.

As the world knows, or at least a few of us, Blogger had some issues yesterday and instead of fighting with it more, I decided to walk away from the Interweb-box so for today, let's talk a little polo. Mentioned two weeks ago, the Midwest Bike Polo Championships went down over in Minneapolis and our GM, Matt, headed over to compete with a few other of the Grand Rapids crew. It didn't take long for pictures to start to surface from this event, you can check some of those out here and here.


The GR team seems to have successfully stayed off of all photo blogs and sites on event; having only one photo of two of the 3 members caught in action, sort of.


The North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships are going on coming up here in July across the lake in Madison, Wisconsin. The Midwest Championships had 44 teams make it out and from the message boards it looks like crews from Seattle and some from the east and south will be venturing up to make this another great event.

Bicycle Friends Falling from Mr.Do on Vimeo.

Sure the video isn't from either MWBPC, NAHBPC or any of the previous years but that never hurt anyone.

Finally, this past month we were contacted by a new magazine down in Austin, The Dropout. Their latest issue was released yesterday and will eventually make it's way to view/read online. There's rumors of a Halo write up there, check it out and their previous issues.

Just when you think the world has gone to hell...

With the world we live in, it's not hard to turn on the TV and see all the horrible things that occur on a daily basis. It's easy to think that things are or have gone to hell and a handbasket. Last night, Jacobi and his wife were watching the local news here in Grand Rapids when a story of a local man who got his bike stolen from out of his front lawn.

Unfortunately, most of us have experienced having a bicycle stolen or at least losing some thing very important to us. The kicker to this story is that this man has cerebral palsy and relies on his bike to get to and from work everyday. The area of town that the bike was stolen in a highly populated. with a strong cycling community; as Jacobi told us of this story, we all knew exactly the bike that was stolen and from where, most of us even knew who he was. You can read the story from Wood TV8 here or watch the video below that shows there is still a little hope left in the world.

Within 5 minutes of the story airing people rose up, wanting to correct the wrong that happened to Nicholas Knack. Amazing. We've worked with TerraTrike/WizWheelz for around 15 years and seeing how quickly Jack and the rest of the crew worked to help out is simply an encouragement that the people who have the nerve to steal will not get the last word in situations like this.

A huge hats off to TerraTrike and the GR community!

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We also just received a few photos from the guys who we work with to get the Halo reflective coating done on our rims. The wheels shown is first Velocity Reflective wheelset we built, a B43 trackset, blacked out with the exception of the 1 white spoke through the Velocity Reflective sticker.

Photos by Hugh Forte

We shot the picture below for a new magazine out of Austin, TX: The Dropout. In their next issue there should be a little segment on the Velocity Reflective rims and wheels that we're looking forward to being a part of.



Have a great weekend everyone, get out and ride and work on your skids...

Introducing Velocity Reflective

A few months back we began to look into redeveloping a new reflective surfaced rim. Our previous design, the ELVS, had been an extremely popular rim and we have been very pleased with them. In our desire to continue to innovate and improve, we set out to find an equally durable reflective process that allowed for us to machine the braking surfaces with better precision and ease.

Enter the Halo Reflective Powder Coating Process. The Velocity Reflective rims use a process from Halo Coatings, who have developed this powder coating process for a number of different applications including: highway safety, bicycle, motorcycle, and fishing applications, fencing solutions, and a number of other industrial applications. The powder coating process allows us to traditionally machine the sidewalls of the rims for braking and provide a surface that will hold up to the normal wear and tear of riding.

Part of the beauty of launching this new reflective rim is being able to offer it has a specific wheelset. As with all of our wheels and builds we can customize them to your specific needs and desires. Our standard build for the Velocity Reflective series is offered with black Velocity hubs [track, road, mountain, all depending on application], black brass nipples, and black 14g spokes with one white spoke going through the Halo reflective sticker [shown to the right] which is offset 1 spoke hole from the valve.

Below is the second Velocity Reflective set built. This is a Fusion track wheelset, with our upgraded Hollow Axle, Solid Flange Hubs with the standard Velocity Reflective build of one white spoke. Sharp to say the least:

Shown below, are the 7 different models of rims offered with the Velocity Reflective Design. The first 2 showing the rims in natural light, appearing black graphite to the eye:



The following 2 photos show how the reflective powder coating works. When direct light is shined on the rim, the rim shines bright white, providing an eye catching rim that helps to alert fellow riders and automobiles of your presence:



The 7 rims [Model : Size : Drilling : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall] offered in with the Halo reflective powder coating process go as followed:

- Dyad : 700c : 32H 36H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall
- Fusion : 700c : 32H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall
- Deep V : 700c : 32H 36H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall
- B43 : 700c : 32H : Nonmachined Sidewall
- Cliffhanger : 26" [559] : 36H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall
- Aeroheat : 20" [406] 26" [559] : 32H : Machined Sidewall/Nonmachined Sidewall

All of these models are instock and available through your local bicycle shop.

Rach's Green Steed

Today, we have a new contributor for our 'because we ride' series, Rachel. She is by no means new here at Velocity and is our resident nurse/stellar wheelbuilder when she's not off working her full time job saving lives at the hospital. Enjoy:


The bikes we ride... I have a few of them... maybe more than a few, but of the few I have, this bike is, by far, my favorite. I like to call it my green steed. Velo City Cycles would term the bike Sofa King. Really it's the most superb and comfortable riding steel road/fixie bike I own and was built by the awesome dudes and dudets at Waterford Precision Cycles in Wisconsin.

Not only do I like rollin' with steel, but I also like rolling with the Velocity wheels. Wheels, in my opinion, can make or break your riding experience! I've had nothing but Velocity Wheel's on this bike. Started out with a pair of gold Aeroheads with bladed spokes. It was love at the first ride. A wheel that was straight as an arrow, sturdy as a beast, and proved to be the strongest wheel I have ever ridden.Upon finding this love for Velocity wheels and having access to so many different color options, I decided I would like to be more visible since the Sofa King has become my main form of transportation. Therefore, I switched to the ELVS Deep V, the first reflective rim at Velocity Wheels. Whenever a car shines it's lights on my ride and me, it reflects the intense love I have for cycling making cars aware of my presence. With success of such a great rim, we at Velocity wheels have made massive improvements in our reflective rims, and now carry the Halo, which is available in many different style of rims. I already have plans on building up a new wheelset for my steed!

So there you have it... just one of my steeds cruising down the road with the nothing but the best... Velocity Wheels that is!