Rides.

On Friday, we mentioned the epic 200+ mile weekend ride some of the Velocity crew was going on. From all the stories from the trip, it ended up being a great ride for all despite the rain, the mud, and the Amish. Yes, Amish. One of the riders and friends of ours, Bob, posted some of his photos over on Facebook. Check it out.

We'll be the first to boast about it, Grand Rapids has some of the best bike shops around and some of the most knowledgeable staff with a passion for all things cycling. One of those is the manager of the Village Bike Cascade, Brian Krause, who recently took gold in the mountain tandem division at this past weekend at the State Games of Michigan held here at Cannonsburg Ski Area just outside of Grand Rapids. Brian and his stoker, Nick Fortney, road to victory on a custom set of wheels we built for Brian: 700c 40 hole Cliffhangers laced up with half white and half red spokes to our tandem disc hubs. Hats off to you, maybe a precursor to Iceman this fall?

Brian and Nick weren't the only ones rocking Velocity wheels to the podium at the games; the Founders Racing Team also had a strong presence at Cannonsburg. With Nicola Fester and Sue Swinger taking Gold and Silver in the Female Expert/Elite SS, Scott Thenikl taking Gold in the sport 30-39, Josh Hogeterp taking Bronze in Expert 30-39, Wade Bagnall taking Bronze in the Expert 40-49 and Rick Plite and Dennis Murphy taking Silver and Bronze in the Expert 50+. For a full write up on the games from the Founders crew, check it out here.

This year we have also had the privilege to sponsor the Steven K Sports Race Team from out in California. The Steven K team has been ranked the #1 team in California the last 5 years, competing in a full spectrum of mountain cycling: cross-country, Super D, marathon, downhill and also cyclecross. This year, the team looks to have kicked off just as strong, claiming victory and strong finishes on some of our VXC and Blunt pro level wheelsets check out their team site along with their Facebook page.

2 for 1

There are moments, moments where the stars align and greatness shines through. Often through adversity and hard work, sometimes through a chain of 'random' events. This neither of those: the JBolt '...because we ride' photo shoot.

A simple equation: 1977 Ford E-250 van + a Milwaukee track frame X (eerily similar paint scheme + Thin Lizzy playing the background) = greatness.

Sure, first and foremost we love bikes. We ride bikes. But a van with this vintage, with this much character and a recliner in the back we couldn't help but highlight both. Today I give you, JBolt's write up on them both:

I got this bike a little over a year ago on a trade deal between Velocity and the fine folks at Milwaukee/Ben’s. I wanted a light, American made, fast, cool looking bike to zip around town on. Also, they made it in the Blatz brown and gold colorway which was the biggest selling point as Blatz is the finest American beer of all time (and hard to find in Grand Rapids). The picture of the bike is in front of my 1977 Ford E-250. They are pretty much the same paint job and both are total badass modes of transport.

Milwaukee Orange One frame/fork 62cm
Sugino Crank/Ring/B.B.
Brooks saddle
Easton Post
No name stem, bars, and pedals from the Freewheeler junkyard.
Continental Tires

The wheels on this are my favorite part. They are a classic example of “having cool stuff at your disposal and a bit of time after hours”. The front is a one of a kind black and mirror flake Deep-V modified crow’s foot laced to the Velocity Hollow Axle track hub. The rear is a Bronze Deep-V snowflake laced to a one off proto-type track hub made right here in Michigan by our good buds over at Aerospoke. That hub is by far my favorite part of the bike.

Adam also asked that I give a small write up of the van as-well. It’s a ’77 E-250 ¾ ton. I got this little lady for $900 off of Craigslist not too long ago. It came with the green faux leather recliner and foot stool, custom carpet from floor to ceiling (including the inside door panels), built in cabinets, and up to date stereo system housed inside the coffee table. It also came with a tee shirt with a picture of the van on it…. I’ve never been one to get all chubbed out by cars, but I love a good van. I love this van.

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.

Fridays are...

Fridays are... well, Fridays. Unless, that is, you went and got your face was melted off by ZZ Top like half the Velocity crew last night or you rocked a 10 mile ride on a high wheeler like Jacobi and I or you prepped for the 200+ mile weekend ride that Rach, Ryan, Jacobi, Matt and a few others are going on. Needless to say, we are firing at all cylinders today.

A riddle for you today... what is a bigger 'V' and mostly white with offsets of black?

A sweet Velociraptor wearing backpack???

No.

A variable speed white ceiling fan?

No.

A mildly awkward 'French connection Sydney stripe' V-neck cardigan?

No.

A special edition B43 Track set with it's white triple walled, 43mm deep 32H B43 rim; professionally handbuilt on black solid flange, hollow axle Velocity Fixed/Freewheel Track hubs with white 14 gauge spoke and black brass nipples; offered at a killer price through your local bicycle shop, most assuredly providing all the stiffness, rigidity, strength and bling for your fixie?

[With no attempt at another run on sentence...] YES!

Get out and ride this weekend! Enjoy it and be safe.

Name that Rim

Can you name the Velocity rim/wheel seen in these videos?

A.

B.

NYC BFF'10 Antics 2 from WRAHW on Vimeo.

C.

MaiHiro x urban1cycle x Velocity USA from greg deese on Vimeo.

D.

The wheels seen are shown below to give you a hint. If you haven't figured it out, the answer will be given on our Twitter at 3pm EST.