Velocity A23 Rim - 700, Rim, Black, 32H, Clincher, Asymmetric

The original wheels on my 2003 Trek Alpha 1000 had got to the point where they could no longer hold true after a truing so I bought a pair of Velocity A23s with an offset spoke hole drilling for the rear and had a bike shop hand build the wheels in a 3 cross pattern using my original hubs. The bike rode well and no longer had problems with spokes breaking. On the Staten Island Bike Tour this past April I crashed the bike while taking a turn too wide and too fast fortunately I fell on soil rather than concrete but the front rim was dented when it hit the concrete curb. Later when I put the bike on the work stand I noticed the rear wheel had l a very slight dent but not enough to upset the bike in any way so I bought this rim as a spare in case it is no longer available when I really need it. I believe the offset drilling keeps a more even spoke tension on both sides of the rear hub compared to standard drilling. The front A23 was scrap and I replaced it with a factory made Mavic Ksyrium which I bought on sale.;

Pretty good lightweight rims made in USA. The spoke holes require something other than the standard rim tape. I used 1" Gorilla tape recommended by a professional wheel builder and it works well. These rims are not as stiff or well balanced as others in their class such as the DT Swiss 411 making them more difficult to build up. You can also feel this flexibility on the road and it results in more truing needed. The welded area is a bit heavy and added weights in the form of nuts on the tube stem are needed to balance the wheel. The triangle shape of the rim is not as aero as a rounded shape in general. Velocity has a bunch of good wheels for different purposes but this is not one of their best. The OC option is good.;

Best wheels out there. Love them;

Solid rim so far after 200 miles of road and gravel. A wide rim tape is a must as the spoke holes are sharp and off center. I used Velox 22mm which is more common on mountain bike rims.;

These are good quality light but strong rims that are made in the US. I built both a front and rear wheel and used the offset version for the rear. I am not rating them 5 stars because the inner spoke hole drillings are not deburred. On the non offset rim a deburring tool or large drill bit can be used. The offset wheel is such that a normal deburring tool won't work. Normal rim strips don't work well again particularly for the offset. I used Stan's no tubes rim tape (21mm) and have not had any issues since. I am building another set of wheels and will probably use these rims again. I was very happy except for the minor issue with the spoke drillings.;