Velocity Veloplugs - Gunnar Roadie Project Bike

Click on the photos to enlarge them

56 Velocity Veloplugs on the scale, 9 grams.

Before installing tubes into a clincher wheel it is necessary to cover the spoke holes to prevent the tube from pushing into the holes and being punctured. Cloth rim tape is traditionally used to do this. Plastic electrical tape works also. Some rims come with a hard plastic rim strip already installed. Velocity Veloplugs are another option. Veloplugs offer several advantages over tradition rim strips:

• Incredible blowout strength - takes well over 400psi. Tires start to fail long before the Veloplug.

• Tire mounting is easier with the Veloplug. Rim strips take up a lot of space making tires more difficult to mount. With the sleek and slippery Veloplug, a difficult to mount tire becomes easy.

• Spoke replacement is simplified as there is no need to remove a sticky strip. Just pop out the Veloplug over the offending spoke and pop it back in when repairs are complete. They can be used over and over.

• Veloplugs will not rot, slip around or retain water when moisture enters the rim.

In order to see how much weight would be saved, in a pair of wheels with 28 spokes, I weighed both a pair of cloth rim strips and 56 Velocity Veloplugs. I got a weight savings of 27 grams. Veloplugs sell for about $15.00 for 72.(enough for most wheelsets) Rim strips sale for about $5.00 a piece or $10.00 for a wheelset. So, $5.00 more for Veloplugs. Considering they are reusable, lower in weight and will last longer it is worth the difference in cost. The only downside I see is that it does take a little longer to push each Veloplug into the hole of a rim than it does to wrap a rim with a rim strip.

Two rolls of rim strips on the scale, 36 grams.

 Velocity Veloplugs installed in a rim.

I installed Velocity Veloplugs in the wheels for the Gunnar Roadie project bike. This wheelset was built with Velocity race hubs and Velocity A23 polished rims. Look for more on these wheels as they are test ridden on the Gunnar Roadie.

Click here to learn more about Velocity.

Velocity Rims, Velocity Hubs, Velocity Veloplugs

A cold winter day with snow and ice makes cyclists everywhere wish for the warm days of summer. This is the perfect time to work on your equipment so that when the weather is better nothing will stop you from riding your bicycle.I spent my time inside building a new set of wheels using Velocity Rims and Velocity Hubs. This set sports blue rims. Velocity offers many different rim designs and colors. Their rims are manufactured in Australia, but soon production will be moved to the USA. Using Velocity Rims we can make just about any style wheel with any color you can imagine. 

Velocity Hubs

This wheelset weighs 1620 grams using economy hubs and spokes. That's a reasonable wheel weight.

A pack of 72 count Velocity Veloplugs.

Veloplugs take the place of rim tape on clincher rims and save an estimated 15 grams per wheel on a 32 spoke, 700c wheel. The veloplugs have an estimated 400psi blowout strength and can be used over and over. They will not rot, slip around or retain water.

Spoke replacement is simplified as there is no need to remove a sticky strip. Just pop out the Veloplug over the offending spoke and pop it back in when repairs are complete.

Veloplugs installed in the blue Velocity Rims.

Ruffy Tuffy tires installed on the new blue wheels. These wheels will probably be put to use on my cyclo-cross bike when I want to ride it somewhere on the road and do some mild off road riding, like maybe around Salem Lake.

The front rim is a Velocity Aerohead. These are available with 18, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36

holes and in a wide variety of colors.

It's hard to see in this photo but the rear wheel is built with a Velocity Aerohead o/c (off center) rim. The Aerohead o/c has all the same characteristics as the standard Aerohead but is offset in design. This creates a more uniform spoke tension between the drive and non-drive sides of the wheel resulting in greater strength and reliability. Click here to learn more about Velocity Rims and all the Velocity Cycling Products.