At Velocity, we're proud of each and every rider and team that we sponsor. We've gotten more and more involved with cyclocross racing in the past few years, and one of the rising stars we've had the honor of working with is Jenny Powell of the Ira Ryan 'cross team. She's been running Major Tom Pros most of the season and kicking a lot of, well, doing really dang well out in the Pacific Northwest.
Although never requested and certainly not expected, it sure is nice to receive care packages from our sponsored riders. Jenny sent us a mix of Portland goodies in the form of caffeine, hops and receptacles for both.
Coffee from Trailhead - I'm enjoying a cup right now, it's delightful.
Too often the story ends far too early - at unexplainable moments. In one way or another we have all been affected by this reality as one of our own is taken from us.
This past week, the Cleveland, OH and the Fixed Gear Gallery online community lost one of their own - suffering the loss of one of their frequent contributors, Nick Neric (aka ClevelandFix), in a tragic hunting accident.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Neric family and Nick's wife, Stacey, as they navigate this difficult time. A online support fund has been started to help aid the family, more information can be found on the FGG site.
That's right. New colors are now available on the rims you already love! The A23, Major Tom and Blunt SL - these can be ordered through your favorite local bike shop or online through our online store.
The following colors are available on 700c A23 rims with MSW in 20, 24, 28, 32 hole:
White
Classic Red
Classic Blue
Royal Purple
Bright Gold
Ripper Orange
Bright Silver *also 36h
Cerise Pink
Celeste
The following colors and drillings are available on the Blunt SL in 26”:
White – 28, 32, 36 hole
Classic Red – 32 hole
The following colors are available on the Blunt SL 700c/29” in 28 & 32 hole:
White *also 36h
Classic Red
Classic Blue *28h only
Royal Purple
Bright Gold *28h only
Ripper Orange
Lime Green
Celeste
Over the course of the last few weeks, Mark aka Guitar Ted has been unveiling his Top Ten Products of 2011 over at Twentynineinches.com. We were privileged to have the Blunt SL to be selected at #8. Read, his final thoughts below and check out his reviews of the Blunt SL over the course of 2011 (Out of the Box, First Impressions, Mid-term, Final)
Top Ten 29″er Products of 2011: Velocity Blunt SL Wheels: by Guitar Ted
Editors Note: Yeah, yeah…..another year end review! Tis the season! So, here are my favorite things that have passed through the Twenty Nine Inches review process during the past year. I want to point out a few parameters that I used for what I chose here. 1. The product had to be in the review process during the time period of December 2010 through to the end of November 2011. Reviews that are currently in process I did not include and will be eligible for my 2012 Top Ten list.
2. They had to be products or bicycles that I personally used during this period. Nothing any of the other Twenty Nine Inches staff reviewed on their own could be considered for my list. This list doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone but me, Guitar Ted.
3. The reviewed products were provided to Twenty Nine Inches at no charge for review.(Except where indicated) I was not paid or bribed for this review. I will give/gave my honest opinion or thoughts through out.That said, let’s get on with this……
Number 8: Velocity Blunt SL Wheels: Velocity announced a new, lightweight XC racing rim for 2011 and to showcase the newer rim designed in similar fashion to the wide P-35, they sent over a complete wheelset featuring their own hubs as well. You can check out the test/review by clicking the linkshere, here, and here. Why They Made The List: The Blunt SL rims are in the same class as some other popular tubeless rim company’s offerings and are offered as complete wheels, or as a stand alone product, giving riders another great choice in tubeless rims to build up a great set of lightweight 29″er hoops. Velocity’s tubeless system works very well, and the rims performed at a high level, placing them on the list this year.
My Two Cents: The Blunt SL rims represent a perfect opportunity to build up a set of light, race worthy wheels, however, in the case of our test set, we had a wheel set that maybe wasn’t “race weight”, but had a decent weight and a nice, lighter rim spinning around out there. This made for a snappy acceleration, and the hubs, (Velocity branded), rolled very smoothly making these a lot of fun to ride as trail bike wheels. In addition, Velocity now offers the front hub with convertible end caps for compatibility with all popular axle configurations in use now.
Velocity’s tubeless kit, also used for their P-35 rims, worked perfectly well on the Blunt SL rims and my tires set up fine with zero issues over the testing period. The rims did exhibit a bit of flex under my riding, but that was to be expected for such a light weight aluminum rim. The flex wasn’t bad, didn’t detract from my riding style, and in the end, didn’t seem to affect the trueness of these rims at all.
For offering another great choice in lightweight, (soon to be U.S. made), XC/light trail rims, ease of tubeless conversion, and in a variety of drillings and build options, the Velocity Blunt SL gains a spot on this year’s Top Ten List. I also was impressed with the excellent wheel build, hub quality, and versatility of the front hub. All of this adds up to a Number 8 on my list for 2011.
