Like so many manufacturers, our rim supplier moved production overseas. What's kind of shocking is what sea they moved over. Sorry Australia, but Velocity put their entire factory on a boat and shipped it to Florida.
Velocity's first product was a water bottle cage. 25 years later they're an industry leader and the only aluminum rim made in America. How's that for humble beginnings?
The Rims
Remember the Play-Doh pasta maker? You jammed chunks of Play-Doh in the top then pushed down on the lever and out came strings or shapes? That's extrusion.
Like this, but with big kid toys
The first step in rims is to create the basic rim shape through aluminum extrusion. Instead of pasta or stars, Velocity has their own die shapes for each rim. Metal goes in and 10 foot rim extrusions come out. Next the straight aluminum is coiled into a spiral and cut into individual hoops. Each open hoop is then joined with an interior sleeve that is chemically welded and baked to become a solid rim.
Last, holes are drilled for the spokes and depending on the style, it is either machined for a silver braking surface, or anondized for coloring.
TL;DR? Here it is in a 66 second video.
The Story
Founded outside Brisbane, Australia in 1989 by two American brothers, Velocity picked the whole operation up and moved to Florida in 2012. The U.S. was their largest market and provided access to higher quality raw materials.
Velocity set themselves apart by offering lots of permutations - about 800 different size x color x configuration possibilities for custom wheel builders. Our favorite, and the wheelset upgrade offered on all our bikes, the Deep V is strong and splashed with beautiful colors. Win win.
All this from about 25 very talented employees. In fact, the beautiful video included above was made by Austin, one of Velocity's 25. Cool, right?
The Result
Strong, sexy wheels with a lifetime guarantee. Velocity performs extensive quality checks throughout the process and backs up each rim for life.
We build wheels with Deep V's because no other rim offers the same combination of quality and customization. All you have to do is pick the color. We'll take care of building a durable wheel, and Velocity will take care of producing a peerless rim.
You can bolt a pair of Velocity's on to your single speed bike in any of 6 colors here.
P.S. We're looking for help from someone who loves to help. Answer 10 questions and you could be our newest staffer. Click here.