Interview with Matt Ruiter from Velocity

When I heard about Velocity's forth-coming rim, the B43, I emailed them with a few questions to see what else could be learned.


Name?
Matt Ruiter

Position?
General Manager

USA or AUS?
Velocity USA - Grand Rapids, Michigan

Role in the development of the B43?
The nine of us here in the US worked together to develop a plan for the rim. I just had the opportunity to visit our factory in Brisbane, Australia (the B in B43), so I'm pretty familiar with our production processes and was able to relate that knowledge to the design of the rim.

Project Goals?
Produce a rim that can withstand the relentless abuse of progressive urban riding, utilizing design qualities that allow the rim to fit multiple niches...all while looking damn good.

Are they deep enough to be aero?
Yes. They would make a good training wheel for a road bike.

Projected final weight?
Around 730 grams.

Drilling and finishing?
24, 28, 32, 36, 48 hole in three new anodized colors: olive mist, midnight blue, and bronze. Black, white, bright silver and mill finish are also available in these drillings. Electric red, lemon yellow, electric blue, popsicle purple, bright gold, tangerine orange, lime green, titanium grey, bubblegum pink, SID blue, celeste, antifreeze green, frost blue and teal are available in 32 hole drilling only. ELVS and powder coated images can be applied to mill finish rims on a per order basis. If the demand is there, we'll keep them in stock in bigger quantities.

MSW?
Sidewalls are non machined only, but you can use rim brakes if you really want to. Non machined sidewall anodized rims actually perform quite well.

Eyelets?
As with all of our V section rims, there are no eyelets. We use extra thick aluminum through the spoke bed. Eyelets are unnecessary in these rims and would just drive up the cost.

Sold as a built wheel?
Our team of builders would love to create a custom set for you.

Who is going to be testing these on the street?
A bunch of our friends including Sam Miller and Tom LaMarche from Bootleg Sessions. Leon the Messenger from Cleveland is going to use them on his new Cicli Polito workhorse. We're thinking about building a cart for our aged shop dog Trigger, so she'll be rocking them as well.

Trigger and her rim

Release date?
We should have limited quantities available by the end of April.




And there you go.