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.

Hey Green Eyes!

Celeste. There is just some thing about it.

Some say it's the color of the Milan sky, some a mixture of military paints, and others the color of the former queen of Italy's eyes. [Thank you Wikipedia!] This is a timeless color that's been in our line for a number of years on our Deep V, Fusion, B43, Blunt, Aero, VXC, Aeroheat and Aerohead rims.

Regardless, all I know is our celeste comes from Australia.

Some of you have probably seen our new ad in Urban Velo. Sporting how versatile the Bottle Trap is and since we know how you love matching colors, yesterday we received the first batch of the Bottle Traps in celeste. Numbers are limited now but more are on the way!
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This Saturday is also a big day here in Grand Rapids, as it is the ribbon cutting/Mayor's Ride/'official' opening of the GR Bike Park. Join Ryan, J-Bolt and a slew of others at 9am for a trail day, then at 11am let the riding ensue!

Then Sunday, I'll be heading back to my homeland [Cedar Falls, IA] for an extended weekend and will be putting on a little urban ride with a few people; and yes, I'll be rocking the 16" folding fixie! It looks to be a good weekend here in the Midwest, so get out and ride!
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Finally a few videos for the weekend. The first two are from the Velo City 2010 Tour, the first is a recap of sorts followed by a teaser from the past LA event

The final video is from a film project in it's early stages of development. 'Career Courier' is a documentary on, you guessed it, career bicycle messengers. We're excited to be a part of this project and look forward to seeing Kenton put together his vision for the film. Share the love, click on the widget below to see the video and help support the cause.

Dirt and Polo

Busy day here at Velocity but never too busy not to show off one of our rigs... Today, we have another one of Paul's, with a short write up:

After many years of mountain bike racing and many different mountain bikes, my IRO has put the fun back in mountain biking.

IRO 29er stats:

- IRO single speed frame and fork
- Velocity Blunt wheelset
- Avid mechanical disc brakes
- FSA crank
- Ritchey handle bar
- Ritchey seatpost
- Race Face stem
- Time ATAC pedals

From racing to pulling my kids around in the trailer, my IRO makes every ride a great ride!

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Staying with the mountain theme. We recently posted over on our Facebook page a video from an early run by Ryan on the new pump track at the GR Bike Park. Lots of hard work by a group of devoted volunteers has both the pump track and the first single track loop taking shape in time for the Mayor's ride and park clean up date on May 15th.

Finally, for all of our friends across the pond. No not Wisconsin, we mean the big pond... over in Amsterdam. We've hinted at our love for bike polo here and there's a little throw down right at the finish of the Giro d'Italia this Saturday. Check out their website for more details. You'll have a chance to win some of our Deep V rims and a few of our Bottle Traps.

b is for Box... or 650B.

Another day. Another bike. Matt's bike this time:

This little gem is a Scott Reflex 40 that I picked up on a trade with Brad Bacon @ Alger Cyclery. I swapped a pair of custom coated blue argyle Cliff Hanger rims (currently residing on B-Rad's beach cruiser) as an even trade for this 26" bike. As traded it came with a rear cassette wheel and derailleur that I promptly removed and tossed in the parts bin. The current drivetrain consists of an FSA V-Drive 180mm crankset to a Shimano single cog in the rear, made possible by the fantastic Surly Singulator. I built the Blunt Pro wheels before the era of the Velocity Single Speed ATB Disc hub, so what you see here is the equally drool-worthy Lightweight ATB disc hub, spaced out for single speed use.

Since the frame is on the small side for me, I decided to cram 650b wheels into the drops. I was a bit concerned about tire clearance, or lack thereof, but after a half dozen rides, these hand built beauties are still straight as an arrow. This is especially impressive considering that I am a self proclaimed amateur ATBer and I've been slamming into sh!t left and right! The increased wheel size just barely clears the frame and fork using Pacenti Neomoto and Quasimoto tires in the front and rear respectively. The fork and front end is mainly stock, but the non conventional wheel size forced my hand into XT hydraulic discs (aww shucks). The brakes were installed, routed and bled by Dan Koert, then of Ada Bike Shop. The seat post is a Ritchey and the saddle is a Fi'zi:k Gobi XM that fit the aesthetic way to well to not try out. I'm glad I did...Wing Flex + Tail Flex = seriously easy on the cheeks. The only thing I plan on upgrading is the headset, which I continually find out of adjustment after long climbs. Gripit & Ripit!

Weekend Dose of Vitamin V

Friday! What better way to launch into the weekend with a little taste of the ol' Vitamin V, it's part of a balanced ride. Every so often we experiment with new colors and designs for a rims. Although, Ripper Orange is not a new color for us, prior to Tuesday the B43 was the only rim we stocked with it. We got a few more rims with this vibrant orange: the Blunt, Deep V, and Chukker now instock. We have limited quantities of these and based on the popularity of them, the color may last, it may not. So be the first to rock these, contact your local bicycle shop for pricing and availability.



We are also extremely excited for a new image rim, Worms. This design was exclusively made for and is distributed through Seattle Bike Supply; and available through your local bike shop. SBS will be receiving this limited edition rims at the end of next week:



As we are on the verge of another Hallmark holiday, I'll leave with a song, a song that I'm not quite sure about, but it is a song about love... Bike love that is.

Jacobi's Tandem

Some of you might remember back in November our post from Ryan and Jacobi on their Iceman experience. For this weeks '...because we ride' post we have their Iceman Tandem rig. Jacobi was kind enough to do a nice little write up on the one race this bike competed in:

So this was going to be the year I get my wife out and do the Iceman Cometh Mountain Bike Rice. It's a 28 mile point-to-point race in northern Michigan. It's a lot of fun and a great place to see old friends and meet new ones.

Well, it didn't work out with my wifes work schedule. So I hired a surefire animal to be my stoker. Ryan Olthouse a.k.a. the bear. He is a short guy not much taller than myself but boy does he pack a punch. Out of the gate we were in the thick of a heated battle between 1-5 place. There were a total of 25 tandems racing that day and we were out for blood.

About 10 minutes into the race we were in second place behind Dan 'The Man' Janson and his wife, Tara. They were more focused on training than us, considering they have been riding the tandem all summer; compared to Ryan and I only squeaked out 5 good rides on the thing. Just as we thought we had a clear shot at second place here came Matt Gaffner pulling up on our rear. We battled with him for about an hour, pulling away at the end to take secure second place by a mere 30 seconds. Hats off to you Matt.

We finished strong and vowed to never do that again! It was a hell of a race. My Cannondale held up flawlessly and here is a rundown on my Cannondale Street Tandem Highly Modified:

Big Shock
Big Breaks
X9 Shifter
X9 Deraileur setup 1x9 [I custom made bash guard plates to guide the connector cranks so we wouldn't throw the chain]
Custom Velocity 20mm Blunt Front wheel
Custom Velocity Aeroheat 40H tandem disc in the rear.

*Every part was scrutinized for weight [~37 lbs race day] and comfort
Foam Stoker grips, oh yeah!

... because We Ride. 2 for 1... sorta.

For this weeks '...because We Ride' bicycle segment we have the head of our shipping department, Jeff Bolt and his IRO 29er. Here's a little write up from J-Bolt himself:

This is my IRO 29er. I built this up towards the end of last summer. It’s the first MTB that I’ve ever had. Ryan and Jacobi were going out a lot to the various (and great) trails in our area and it seemed like a lot of fun so I got Tony at IRO to help me out with it. I only got out on the trails a couple times last fall, but can’t wait to get out again. Since we get some brutal winters here in west Michigan I re-purposed it for the winter as a snow commuter, just trying to get the most use out of it as possible. I didn’t put much time or money into customizing this bike, I just built it as cheap as I could to see if I would really even get into mountain biking. I’m sure someday I’ll build up some uber nice 29er with a bunch of fancy components (maybe with a bigger frame), but for now this is all I need in a MTB.

Bicycle Spec:

Frame: Iro 29er (22” still a bit small for my stupid tall self)
Fork: Iro
Wheelset: Celeste Blunts laced with black DT Swiss Competition spokes and black DT nips to Velocity lightweight disc front and single speed disc rear hubs
Tires: Continental Mountain King 2.2
Pedals: Crank Brothers Egg Beaters
Crank: Iro 175mm
Chain: KMC Z chain

Freewheel: Shimano 17t
Bottom Bracket: Iro eccentric
Handlebars: Truvativ Hussefelt
Stem: Truvativ XR
Headset: FSA
Brakeset: Avid BB7 w/ 160mm rotors
Saddle: Specialized shop take off
Seat Post: Iro

Other Accessories: Black and a Celeste Velocity Velocage (R.I.P.), Planet Bike 29er Fenders (just for the winter)

Big thanks to Tony at IRO for the help with this bike he’s a good dude to deal with!

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The next bike we have is actually coming to us from our brethren in Australia. You might remember Adam Pelzer's pseudo Bianchi from last month. This morning we got a email from him saying it's time to part ways with one of his steeds.


Here's a little run down on the bike:

· DACCORDI PURSUIT BIKE

· BUILT EARLY 1980'S FOR LA OLYMPICS.

· WHITE PEARL PAINT.

· COLUMBUS SL TUBING.

· COLUMBUS TIPS.

· NO BRAKE DRILLS.

· MINT FRAME.

· WHITE VELOCITY AEROHEAD WHEELSET, 36H SEALED BEARING HUBSET FIX/FIXED.

· 520mm 24x1 1/8" FRONT WHEEL

· 622mm 700c REAR WHEEL

· SUGINO SUPER MIGHTY 52T TRACK CRANKSET

· STRONGLIGHT 1" THREADED ROLLER BEARING HEADSET

· THOMPSON 27.2mm POST

· WHITE TURBO SADDLE

· CAMPAGNOLO ITALIAN BOTTOM BRACKET

· 16T 1/8" COG

· GOLD KMC 710 CHAIN

· BULLHORNS

· SCHWALBE STELVIO TYRES

· CENTRE TO CENTRE SEAT TUBE 57cm

· CENTRE TO CENTRE TOP TUBE 55cm

NO PEDALS

RIDDEN A FEW LAPS OF VELODROME SINCE REBUILD

WILL PACK AND SHIP WORLD WIDE.

$1800 AUD

Interested? Email Adam directly here: adam@velocitywheels.com