Velocity U.S.A. announced today a new 35mm wide rim co-designed by Kirk Pacenti. The rim, dubbed the P35, will be available by Interbike time and will be made for 26, 650B, and 29 inch sizes. Following are some images, and a Press release from Velocity.
Velocity is proud to announce the newest rim to join our line. The Pacenti 35 or P35 will be available in late September of 2009, just in time for the Interbike show in Las Vegas, Nevada. The P35 is named after its co-designer, frame builder and bicycle designer Kirk Pacenti, a nineteen year veteran in the bicycle industry; widely recognized for his work as a material supplier to the best custom framebuilders in the US and his development of the 650b wheel size for mountain bike use.
The P35 is designed for the cross country/all mountain rider craving a laterally stiff yet weight conscious rim that is still tough enough for the occasional Super – D race. At 35mm wide the P35 gives you one of the fattest footprints available which will float over the rough stuff and give you more bite and greater tread use through the turns. All of this and still weighing in at less than 600 grams in the 29er size! The P35 is 22mm deep with an inside width of 29.5mm which will accommodate a wide array of tire widths to cater to your riding preferences. In addition the P35 was designed to easily accommodate a tubeless application.
The P35 will be available in 26”, 650b, and 29”. 32 and 36 hole will be available in all sizes, and 28 hole will be available in 26” black only. We here at Velocity love giving you color options so you can customize your bike. You will see all sizes in black, silver, white, red and the very flashy antifreeze green. The decal bears the trusted Velocity name and flaunts the signature of its designer Kirk Pacenti.
Together we’ve made the rim you have been waiting for, and we think you are really going to like it.
Specs:
Outside Width: 35mm
Inside Width: 29.5mm
Depth: 22mmWeight
29”: 595g
650b: 570g
26”: 535gThe P35 will be available through QBP, BTI, J&B and as always direct from Velocity USA.
And a statement from Kirk Pacenti himself:
“Over the last couple years I have developed a great working relationship with Velocity USA. So when John Black asked me to take a look at a rim they were considering for production I was happy to offer an opinion.
We discovered that the features we each wanted in a new rim were very similar, so I offered John a couple rim designs I happened to be working on, and we quickly settled on the P-35™ design.
Working on the P-35™ rim with Velocity USA has been an incredibly positive experience for me; one that I hope to repeat in the near future with them. I could not be more please with the way the P-35™ turned out. Velocity nailed the execution of my design. Their craftsmanship, combined with the myriad of rim sizes, drillings, color and graphic options come together to create products that are second to none in our industry.”
Kirk Pacenti
We’ll bring more news as it becomes available.
Tubeless ready?
DOH! Sorry… I missed that ¨In addition the P35 was designed to easily accommodate a tubeless application.¨ the first two times I read it.
SWEET! Will be going on my next 29er!!!
Dave: Velocity tells me they are exploring which system they want to recommend and will release that information with the release of the P35 in late September/early October. They said that the inner rim well and overall structure was designed with tubeless in mind.
Nice, will be one of the first to garb up a pair… Would be nice if you could order it without the tire side spoke holes for tubeless
Very nice. I am definitely interested in this rim. I need to build another light, race-ish tubeless front wheel. It´s not a lot heavier than a Flow and the extra width might be worth it, especially if the rim works well in tubeless form.
Way cool. I think I’ll build up a pair of these over the winter to replace my WTB/SLX flexy flyer wheelset. If the strength-to weight is good and tubeless is easy I am all in favor of the wide rims. And they come in silver.
GT-do you know if the rim is welded, pinned or sleeved?
Are they really better than the Gordo’s or just a different option?
Thanks again!
My mind= blown.
@Willie: Pinned, but I believe it is a more durable technique being employed here. Better than Gordos? Price-wise, color-wise, weight-wise- Yes. Pick yer poison.
Enticing…
Any idea what’s the ERD for a 29er?
Price?
@RubberBoy: Sorry, no idea as yet
@Dave: Price TBA, but expect it to be in the $60-$75 dollar range per rim at least.
@RubberBoy: I e-mailed Velocity and here’s the info: ERD
650b – 560.5
29” – 598
No ERD on the 26″er version yet.
Neat idea and amazing weight given the size. But I am struggling to see a practical application. What tires are made to work with a rim this wide? Which tire has tread that extends far enough down the sidewall to take advantage of the extra width or that won’t simply become square due to the added width?
DH went through a wide rim phase back in the early 00′s and it had all the problems I mentioned above (Sun Doublewide comes to mind). In fact back then world cup racers sponsored by Mavic were not riding the flagship 321 (now called the EX 729) but chose instead to ride the narrower 521/721 (now the EX 721). This rim was so popular that it has racked up more world cup wins than any other rim ever made! The reason they ran the narrower rim was primarily because it gave the tire a more rounded profile, but there were also side benefits of it being slightly stronger (not all wide rims are strong) and lighter.
So is Kirk making a new tire then to go with the rim?
“Neat idea and amazing weight given the size. But I am struggling to see a practical application. What tires are made to work with a rim this wide? ”
Practical app? Snow, sand, both of which we have plenty of in Michigan. Tires? Big Apples and WTB WeirWolf LTs are both great on a KH (38 mm) rim; the new WTB/Niner Kodiak should be dandy.
@Shop Mechanic: Certainly wide rims are not for everybody, however, keep in mind that the dynamics of 26 DH and 29″er trail/AM are totally different.
I started riding Gordo rims last summer, (35mm wide) and they radically changed my riding by allowing lower pressures (with tubes) without pinch flatting or excessive sidewall flexing in hard cornering. (more like sidewall folding over, to be accurate). The tires I started out with were Racing Ralph 2.4′s and WeirWolf 2.55″ers. These tires performance was much better on the 35mm rims than the previous 28mm rims I had them mounted to.
Now I have Captain Control 2.2″ers on and the tires are really working well. I suppose for a good reference I should try the Captains now on a 28mm rim and compare.
I’m guessing some tires will work better than others, but wide rims and 29″ers are made for each other. It makes that longer contact patch wider as well.
As far as I know, KP has no plans for a wider tire.
@ GT and Jonathan, I suppose that makes sense. If you are riding in conditions/terrain that are going to be slow by nature I could see how a wider rim might make it slightly less slow.
Ted, a general question for you:
From you experience, how much every additional 1mm to the rim width adds to the width of the tire? I am considering a wheelset for a terrain dotted with sand spot. The intent is to mount 2.4/2.5 tires on the new P35. I want to guestimate the width of the tire on that rim. I wonder how much a tire like MT-King 2.4, Racing Ralph 2.4 or Weirwolf 2.55 would end up expanding on such rim.
Thanks….
@RubberBoy: I have experience with a Racing Ralph 2.4 and a WTB WeirWolf LT going from a 28mm wide rim to the Gordo, which is also a 35mm rim. The casing widths on both were in the 57mm range on the WTB rims/28mm width with tubes. After mounting the tires with the same tubes in each, my measurements went to the 60.5mm range. So with the seven millimeter change I gained 3.5mm width.
More importantly though was how the tread hit the trail and how the sidewalls were supported. The WTB rim was a base. It worked okay. With the Gordo, I immediately noticed the traction go up. I then noticed that I could corner faster as well. After a bit, I noticed my tire tracks and made note of how wide a patch I was laying down than before. This is where the increased grip came from.
The increased cornering traction was a result of better sidewall support, since the tire bead, sidewall, and tread edge were more closely in line with each other. The foundation for all of that was the rim bead, and it is my belief that this was giving me better cornering feedback and better tire traction in corners.
So, width gained is a result of a wider rim- yes- and should be noted for frame/fork clearances, but the big reason to go wider on a 29 inch wheeled trail bike is for the increased traction and cornering performance.
Ted, thanks for the reply. It is all VERY useful information.
Allow me to trouble you again before I commit to the P35: how do think it woultd affect the float? Explicitly, I ride GF rig, with 28mm Boni rims, XDX 2.1. When I try to cross sandy patches. I sink (i.e., in summer time the land is arid and the earth become considerably sandy and rather loose)
.
Thanks for pointing out the clearance issue. I will study it. If need be, I’ll get a new frame.
By the way (1): would you go with Ralphy or Wolfy?
By the way (2): I am also considering a snowbike for summer riding, although I wince at the notion of dealing with additional rotational mass of 1kg per wheel…
@RubberBoy: Float: 35mm wide rims will increase “float”, no doubt. You’ll see increased ability to stay on top of the sand, rather than cutting in to it, and the subsequent washing out problems will be much reduced.
Racing Ralphs, if you don’t have sharp rocks lurking on your trails, are amazing tires. Float for days on a wide rim, almost making you believe that they would be a great snow tire, and they almost are. (Nothing beats an Endo and the new Larry from Surly though)
Ahh! The allure of the snow bike is a powerful siren’s call. I feel it too. I want to justify the expense, but for the two to three weeks I’d actually need it here, it’s a tough sell. Still, I may actually do it someday. I don’t think I’d actually use the fat bike tires in summer here, but I would opt for a fat bike that could swap out to 29 inch wheels for sure. Sand is tough though, even real loose stuff is hard on 4″ tires, or so I’ve been told. Generally, the sand riders are doing wet sand riding. Dry sand, or very granular snow is still next to impossible on snow bikes too. (Again, from what I have read on the subject)
Thanks Ted,
That has answered my entire gamut of questions.
I wish to add a few con points for snowbikes (I will not repeat any of the valid arguments you’ve raised):
1) All of frames in the market have 100mm BB. From my research, this wide-legged posture, after several hours of riding, becomes annoying and even painful on the knees. Also, there are only two external bearing cranksets for 100mm BB in the market (and they are heavy).
2) For plowing in the snow, the headtube angle is slack by design. If you switched to 29 wheelset, the sluggish handling would carry over.
3) Unless you go with the Pugsley (porky, porky…), your hubs will be rather exotic (160mm or 165mm). High cost and limited availably go with the territory…
Still Odysseus’ sirens call and call…