easton ea 90 sl rebuild with velocity a23 rims

6/1/2013

John had a better run than most with these wheels, he got nearly 12k miles out of them before he started breaking spokes on both wheels, add in a worn brake track on both rims and it is time to lace new rims up. Since the hubs had recently been rebuilt there was no reason to get rid of them so I sold him on lacing in Velocity A23 rims since a large part of his long commute is very rough roads and his bike does not have room for much bigger than a 23 on the front this will improve his ride a fair bit along with be a pretty durable wheelset. Everything came together great and he can't wait till morning for his first ride.

4 Comments

dan

9/29/2014 08:34:41 am

radial for a commute on rough roads? How are u likin' the velocity's? I went w/hed

Chris Murray

9/29/2014 11:19:53 am

Honestly, radial is far from my first choice for this application but he already had the hubs and wanted to re-use them. They are straight pull hubs so you are stuck using what ever lacing method they were designed around which was radial front and 2x drive side, radial non drive side on the rear.

I personally am a huge fan of this rim, I have run it on two personal bikes and both were cross bikes that were ridden like mountain bikes, even with my 200lbs they have held up great. The set on my main commuter is around 3k miles of probably 70% dirt and still holding great.

The HEDs are also a great rim and HED is a great company just like Velocity, I personally think both both rims are very similar in quality/specs/performance, so the price difference makes me lean towards the Velocity's more often than not.

Dan Laumann

9/30/2014 12:55:25 am

Right on.

I went with Hed because, at the time, it was the only 23mm wide rim readily available. I am 200 Lbs. This year, when I needed to replace my front wheel after a pot hole incident, I went with Hed solely to match the back. My LBS assured me the the two rims were functionally equivalent, but its like $130 USD for a C2, and $82 USD for the A23!! Its nice to get the feedback from another wheel builder that the lower cost rim IS functionally eqiv. to more expensive.

But next time, if it will clear frame, (at 200 lbs on our crappy snow-belt roads) I'll go with a 25mm width w/25c tire, which may take me back to HED again. If I go 23mm, then would go with A23. Note that as of this writing (fall 2014), HED wasnt stocking Plus in lower (for front) drilling as a single rim, it s only avail in 28 and 32 hole.

FWIW, Hed doesnt have a distributor in Canada, however, HED does an OK job of dealing directly with LBS's. (Nice customer service guy, but HED wants their money in advance by credit card...weird)

Glad you're checking you're site and taking the time to write a thoughtful, well-reasoned response. If I'm in the states, and need a custy wheel, you'll be on the top of my list!

Chris Murray

9/30/2014 01:32:45 pm

HED is a pretty good company to work with!

If you are not terribly concerned with weight or tubeless compatibility you can always take a look at the Velocity Dyad as well. It is 24mm wide, incredibly strong and cheaper than the A23. It does weigh about 75 grams more though. It is designed as a very durable commuter/touring/heavy duty road/cross rim.

If you ever have something you would like but are having a hard time sourcing in Canada I can ship international, the downside being shipping cost is obviously pretty high compared to shipping within US.

Thanks Dan!

easton ea 90 sl rebuild with velocity a23 rims

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Chris Murray

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