A23 "Blem" wheelsets: low price, high standards

As a testament to The Wheel Department's high standards, occasionally a rim gets rejected for minor cosmetic blemishes. Typically, we offer the rejected rims to shop employees and co-ops at a significant discount, but for a limited time we're letting everyone in on the deal.

For $199.99, you get a pair of 32 hole A23 wheels laced to our Sport hubs with Velocity stainless steel spokes and DT Swiss brass nipples, and our own Velotape rim tape already installed.

Even better, each wheelset is hand-built start to finish by our experts in The Wheel Department. You may be able to find a comparable wheelset for around the same price, but we can guarantee you that these wheels will arrive straighter, rounder and with more even tension than any wheelset at this price point.

Despite the discount, we still build these to the same standards of every other Velocity wheelset that leaves TWD. Our professional wheel builders proudly sign off each wheel, and we stand behind these like any wheel that leaves TWD. 

Run these on your road bike, cross bike, commuter, with tubes, without tubes, however you'd like. You're not just getting a great deal on a wheelset, you're getting a great deal on a wheel build. 

66 Seconds With Velocity: The Birth of a Bicycle Rim

Our last video, showcasing how The Wheel Department hand-crafts our complete wheels in Grand Rapids, Mich. got nearly 10k views -- more response than we ever imagined. Now, we'd like to offer a look at the US-based manufacturing side of Velocity USA.

The video offers a rarely-seen look into how our dedicated workers proudly hand-build our bicycle rims at our Jacksonville, Fla. factory. In 66 seconds, the video takes you from raw extrusion to a completed rim that's wrapped, boxed and ready to ship. 

66 Seconds With Velocity: The Birth of a Bicycle Rim from Velocity USA on Vimeo.

Introducing the 'upcycled' Velocity rim hanger

Velocity USA is proud to announce we're offering a new product, and its not a rim. Well, it is about a third of a rim, technically.

Normally, when we find a rim that just isn't up to our standards, it's set aside in a corner of the warehouse where it gathers dust until we decide to gather them up and bring them to the scrap yard for a little extra cash.

Convinced there was a better use for leftover Australian-made rims (we now manufacture our rims in Jacksonville, Fla.), our in-house wheelbuilders at The Wheel Department set out to find it. We posted a picture of a prototype "upcycled" hanger online, and the response was overwhelming.

Now, we proudly present the upcycled, US-crafted Velocity USA coathanger. Each hanger is handmade in Grand Rapids, Mich. out of a Velocity Deep V rim. The hook is made of two Velocity 14 gauge spokes, and affixed with two DT Swiss brass nipples. Each hanger is hand-cut, each hook is hand-bent.

We're selling the hanger individually or in packs of 4 in our online store at http://store.velocityusa.com/c/accessories_apparel.

These are time consuming to make, and frankly, when the riding season starts we're just not going to have time to make more of these. When they are gone, they're gone. Maybe they'll be back for 2015, but no guarantees.

Pardon the mess

We've been busy over the past month or so rearranging The Wheel Department, so our apologies if the phone rings a little longer from time-to-time. The changes should bring some much needed organization and efficiency improvements, as well as accommodate future growth and expansion.

It may look a little chaotic, but we assure you there's a method to our madness

Most know our own Jeff Jacobi for his stellar wheel builds, fast laps and his early 90's Camaro Z28, but he's also the mind and muscle behind the new layout. Rarely satisfied with anything "off the shelf," he's gone so far as to build a completely custom workbench for our master wheelbuilder Paul  (PVW on your wheel tag), as well as matching custom spoke racks.

Check out Cobi's handiwork:

Paul's custom bench 

Our new custom spoke rack 

We've also expanded our employee parking a bit

Happy Holidays: Save $200 on Uriel Track Special Edition Wheelset

Just as scientists assumed the Coelacanth was extinct, many believed the Velocity Uriel rim to suffer a similar fate.

Not extinct.

Then, just as in 1938 off the coast of South Africa, a stunning discovery was made in the Velocity warehouse. While on a expedition through the warehouse, a pod of Uriel rims surfaced. They were then mated to some of our tried and true track hubs, and the Uriel Track Special Edition wheelset was born.

Also not extinct. 

The Uriel is our time tested Fusion rim, drilled for paired-spoke lacing. The wheelset features 24 DT Champion spokes front and rear, and DT alloy nipples, all laced, tensioned and trued by hand in The Wheel Department. 

Weight is 950/1020g front/rear, making these a nice mid-weight option that'll hold up on the street or track. Order a pair here, there's only a few left and when they are gone, they are gone until we stumble across some more in a dark, forgotten recess.