Hello, Proto.

Yesterday was an exciting day here at Velocity, some of you might have seen a little of this on our Twitter. Some of you have already gotten your hands on the A23 rim and know what all the buzz is about with having a wider rim on the road.

For those of you who haven't heard: The A23 is the continuation of our belief in developing and producing wheels and rims that are the best to ride with. Using aspects of our Aerohead rim, the A23 was developed to improve ride quality, cornering and aerodynamics without sacrificing weight, stiffness or durability. Coming in at 428 grams and 3 mm wider than the Aerohead, the A23 exceeded those expectations.

Although the 20mm rim has often been the bench mark for road rim width, the 23mm wide rim partnered with a 23mm tire provides a profile similar to a tubular set-up without the hassle of glue or the risk of punctures. This partnership between tire and rim allows for the plain between the two to be virtually the same, greatly reducing drag compared to a tire on a 20mm rim. With the wider rim providing the ride quality of a tubular with a clincher tire, there is less rolling resistance. The 23mm width allows for more flexibility in tire pressure depending on conditions and course, cornering is also vastly improved, especially at high speeds, because of the tires ability to maintain shape instead of slightly rolling with a narrower rim.

Part of the excitement from yesterday, was that we have been working for months to develop and produce a hub that when partnered together with the A23 rim would make this a combination the provides the ride quality you have come to expect from Velocity, and also pushes the envelope in price/weight ratio without sacrificing stiffness.

Enter, the A23 hub. We received the first proto-types and have begun to lace them up to get some real ride time and send them out to our trusted specialists for testing. You might have noticed that we are not offering the A23 rim in an offset. The reason for this, is that in partnering the A23 rim and hub together, the offset flanges of the hub allow for a better build with even tension on both drive and non-drive side. This even tension allows for a symmetric wheel that is stronger and stiffer than a rim laced to a 'traditional' flanged hub. Along with even tension, having a larger drive-side flange means shorter drive spokes which then correlates to more rotational stiffness. In layman terms, when you want to get up and go, the wheel will go.

After all of the prototype testing is finished, the A23 wheel set will be available Spring of 2010. Coming in at around 1400 grams a set and at a price point that is definitely going to blow your socks off, we are confident that it will be the best in it's class.