The selection of available 650b rims has diminished recently. So the arrival of the new VO Diagonale rims comes at a good time. The new rims are named after Les Diagonales de France, which I wrote about in this post. From the name you can guess that these are strong rims suitable for loaded touring as well as commuting and cyclo-touring.
- Triple box section alloy
- Stainless steel eyelets
- Highly polished top and sides
- 25mm wide
- About 550g
- ERD 570mm
- Available in 36h and 32h (but only 36h in this shipment)
- In testing with Panaracer Col de la Via and Grand Bois tires we found the fit to be just a little loose, exactly like the fit on Velocity rims, but a little looser than on the old Rigida and Weinman rims.
In the future we will be stocking 650b wheels using these rims, and also some Velocity rims.
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20 comments:
what's your guess at the cost of a VO 650b wheelset?
The wheel sets with Velocity rims will probably be around $265. VO rim wheels may be a little less. It all depends on the hubs.
Excellent -- I see the Polyvalent Complete taking shape before my eyes.
The link to your old post about the Diagonales doesn't work.
Those, with a SON hub in the front and a Phil in the back would be the shiniest wheelset on Earth.
Thanks Patates. Fixed.
I would consider my next build to be 650B but I love the Col de la Vie tire and "a little loose" sounds bad/dangerous. Does anyone else run 650A with Col de la Vie? That's what I run currently (on a 650B frame, no prob) and the fit/look/size is excellent. CR18s are available in polished, FWIW.
Do you have any plans for a 27x1 1/4 VO rim?
Anony 3:44,
Having fought to get tires on some pre-hook rims, "A little loose" sounds good to me.
The Velocity rims that have the same fit as the VO rims have been used for millions of miles and I've never heard of a problem. We overinflated the tires on our rims to check for problems: none.
Except for historically accurate restorations, I think that most folks with 27" wheels would do well to consider a switch to 700c. So I'm not sure if there is enough demand for new 27" rims to justify the tooling costs.
It's about time someone made a polished 650b rim! Looks excellent, Chris.
-Ben
Do the VO 650b Diagonale rims have double eyelets?
When you start making complete 650b wheels any thoughts about making a 3 speed hub rear 650b wheel (as you do for 700c)available?
Seems like the Polyvalent would make an excellent 3/5/8 speed IGH bike
Ryan
Which is likely the stronger rim, the Velocity or the VO?
Any thoughts as to offering a pre-built fixed gear 650B wheel set?
Will the next batch be exactly the same in terms of "looseness" or is the spec changing? I accept that these will be fine, but I had a bad experience with the CR18s which were reported as "tight" - I found them unusably tight - I had to take great pains not to shred my Col de la Vies when removing them (and I literally grew up in a bike shop and have mounted and removed many many hundreds of tires in my time...)
Thanks,
Erik B.
Looks like polished Alex DM18s to me. Not a bad thing as they're the best value rim for utility cycling available today. $20 or less with the plain extrusion. If it takes raising the price and a polish to make folks appreciate this basic rim, why not. ;-)
We don't plan any changes to this rim.
This is not an Alex rim.
I don't know if there is enough demand for a fixed 650b rim.
Are the sides machined or not? I guess they ain't?
Can you tell me why the Diagonale 700c costs less than the RAID rim? Similar profile, double eyelets, high polish... The only difference I can see is the width/weight.
Thanks.
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