Given that the current A23 has parallel sidewalls, it doesn't matter whether or not I was right claiming that my A23s a couple years ago were parallel or not. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that I was simply wrong about it. The only thing I'll point out to the "why would they do that?" question is that Velocity did not design this rim for wide tire applications and cantilever brakes. Velocity designed this rim for 700c road bikes which mainly have caliper brakes. They only agreed to manufacture some of the A23 extrusion in 650B when they were paid to do so by Longleaf and Boulder. There have been plenty of rims out there with non-parallel sidewalls in the past, but virtually all rim-brake rims today are parallel and that's a good thing.
Regarding price, the 700c version seems to go for ~$55 - $60 online from discounters. Normal retailers are in the $70 range. Longleaf sells the non-polished 650B A23 for $80 and Boulder sells the polished ones for $99. If Velocity did in fact make it a standard offering, then hopefully the volumes would get it down approaching the price of the 700c ones, or at least we'd be able to buy a non-polished one for around $75-$80 per rim. On Wednesday, November 6, 2013 5:05:26 AM UTC-8, Michael Hechmer wrote: > > Given the great adjustability of modern brake pads, I find it difficult to > believe that a canti couldn't be squared to the rim. And, even if it was > initially not square I would expect it to wear toward a flat connection, > not the reverse. It is also hard to understand why Velocity would design > such a rim, given that cantis remain the most popular choice for wide tire > applications, way more than side pulls for sure. > > Now, if only they could get the price down to something much more > affordable. Is the hi price being driven by the extra polishing? Why > polish something that runs 40 mm from the road? > > Michael > > On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 5:32:23 PM UTC-5, Jan Heine wrote: >> >> I read this thread with interest, as I am putting the finishing touches >> on the Winter issue of *Bicycle Quarterly*. This issue includes a test >> of the 650B Velocity A23 rims. I checked the brake tracks of our samples, >> and they are parallel, as they should be. So they work as well with any >> brake type as most other rims. The "aero" shape is below the brake track, >> and does not affect braking in any way. It's interesting that while there >> are so many wonderful 650B tires available, few well-designed 650B rims are >> available today. Without giving too much away, the Velocity A23 appears to >> solve that problem, finally. >> >> Jan Heine >> Editor >> Bicycle Quarterly >> http://www.bikequarterly.com >> >> Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
