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Velocite’s new Venn Composite rims break the mold w/ filament wound, single strand carbon construction

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Velocite Venn Composites Rev 35 filament wound carbon fiber road bike wheels

Velocite has launched a new brand called Venn Composites to produce rims unlike anything we’ve seen before. There are two models, one using a filament wound construction and one using a continuous fiber construction to eliminate seams and misaligned patterns. We’ll start with the filament wound version:

The traditional method of making carbon fiber rims involves cutting pieces from a sheet of woven or unidirectional carbon, laying them into or over a mold, and layering those pieces in precise positions and directions to create a rim. It’s then pressed inside an outer mold, heated and cured, and then out comes a mostly finished rim.

Filament wound rims, however, pull carbon tow straight off the spool, run it through the resin and wrap it tightly around a mandrel in one continuous fiber. The strand is under constant tension, and it’s always wrapping itself in the exact spot it needs to be.

The benefits of this design are numerous. For starters, it’s mostly automated, so it’s consistent and perfect from rim to rim. Second, there’s no adverse angles to the carbon strands. Anytime a fiber is bent too severely, it creates a weak spot, and since nothing is woven on the body of the rim, there are no fibers being crimped around one another. Then there’s the efficiency. Not only are labor costs lower, material costs are, too, since there’s no scrap being cut away from carbon sheets.

From a rider’s perspective, it creates a stiffer rim that might just end up being less expensive, too…

Velocite Venn Composites Rev 35 filament wound carbon fiber road bike wheels

The graphic shown here is a generic example of the filament winding process, but it’s not representative of how they’re doing it exactly. The actual process is something Velocite CEO and R&D director Victor Major isn’t willing to divulge, but it’s similar…for the body of the rim. The rim bed and brake walls are constructed in a separate mold, and then the bead hook is machined out in a process similar to current production methods used by Reynolds and others. But, the way the rim bed is made is mostly automated and uses another process they’re not quite ready to make public.

Velocite Venn Composites Rev 35 filament wound carbon fiber road bike wheels

The body of the rim is filament wound and then co-cured to form a permanent, molecular bond with the rim bed piece to create a single piece. Major pointed out that it’s not just two pieces glued together, that the process actually creates a single piece.

Velocite Venn Composites Rev 35 filament wound carbon fiber road bike wheels Velocite Venn Composites Rev 35 filament wound carbon fiber road bike wheels

The filament wound rims are called REV 35, and they’ll offer three versions: Disc brake-only clincher, rim brake clincher and rim brake compatible tubular. Basic specs are:

Velocite Venn Composites Rev 35 filament wound carbon fiber road bike wheels

The measurements are depth x external width, so yes, they’re wide, measuring in at a massive 28mm outside width. Major says that’s the widest they could possibly go and fit into a standard road rim brake. He says they went so wide because it needed that girth to make for proper aerodynamics on such a shallow rim.

Velocite Venn Composites Rev 35 filament wound carbon fiber road bike wheels

He also says they’ll work with standard 22mm wide road tires, and a 22 or 23 (shown above) provides the best aerodynamics because it gives those size tires a nice, round profile that flows smoothly into the rim’s sidewall. Of course, you can run 25 or wider tires, too, as is popular these days, and any of the 700c rims work just fine as 29er XC rims, too. Inside width is 19mm hook to hook.

The clinchers are all tubeless compatible, using a shape that locks the bead into the side of the rim. These REVs are a bit wider than the Velocite 50’s that we covered earlier, so the inside profile was changed slightly to allow the tire to properly seat itself, but it’s very similar.

Velocite Venn Composites CTL one-piece carbon layup rims

The other new design is called Continuous Tangent Layup, or CTL. It is a separate process entirely and is a handmade rim. They use the same rim bed piece as the filament wound rims, but the body is completely different. From the outside, they look similar to other hand-laid carbon rims, but in reality they’re far from it. Rather than using multiple sheets of carbon laid into a mold to form the shape, the CTL uses a single, continuous piece of carbon that’s preformed in the rim’s shape. Multiple layers of these pieces are placed on top of each other to form the complete rim. You won’t find any seams on these rims.

From a performance standpoint, Major says they’re within 1-2% of the stiffness of the filament wound rims.

The Alter is worth calling out in that it’s 26mm wide (outside) that’s made specifically for wide tires. But wait, you say, there are plenty of wide rims out there now that everyone wants to run wider tires. Yes, but Major says what separates these is the rim profile. It’s a U-shape with flat sides, making for a very strong rim that doesn’t sacrifice stiffness or strength for aerodynamics. Since they’re made to run wide tires, those tires would destroy the aerodynamics anyway, so the shape is optimized for the task at hand. And at 405g for a tubeless-ready road-or-mountain (700c or 29er) clincher, that’s respectable.

Velocite Venn Composites Rev 35 filament wound carbon fiber road bike wheels

Beyond the stiffness mentioned above, the benefit is massive manufacturing efficiencies. For CTL, Major says the labor costs are higher up front, but once the preforms are made, they can more reliably produce rims that meet spec. Translation: Sellable yield is higher because there are fewer rejects, so the net cost for CTL rims is very close to standard layup rims. And it’ll be stronger. Not necessarily lighter (he says it’ll be about the same), but all else being equal, it’ll be stiffer both laterally and radially.

And for the filament wound rims? The yield is much higher and there are very, very few rejects. The entire process is highly accurate, so virtually every rim is within spec, and at a much higher consistency from rim to rim than with traditional layup methods.  There’s also no waste, since only the material needed is pulled from the carbon tow spool – no more, no less. The best part? Because there’s less labor and less material costs involved and it’s faster to manufacture, the net cost will be slightly less than traditional layup rims. So, better rim quality

Oh, and the filament wound rims are roughly 3-4% lighter than CTL, and this is just the first generation design.

Velocite Venn Composites Rev 35 filament wound carbon fiber road bike wheels

When will you see these? Well, we’ll see them at the Taipei show later this month and get a closer look at the construction (Major says there’ll be cutaways!). As for retail availability, that’s depends on who picks up the technology. The current plan is leaning toward doing OEM manufacturing of these rims for others, and word is he’s already received sample requests from a few wheel companies. We’ll report more from the ground in Taiwan soon…

Velocite-Bikes.com

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McClain
McClain
9 years ago

Yes; Awesome.

Nathan Miller
9 years ago

These wheels are awesome. I have been riding the proto-types for 2000km or so. Hit a massive pothole last month at 40km/hr – front wheel is still completely true. Very impressed.

culprit Bicycles
9 years ago

These wheels are great. I have been riding them for 2 months now and so has one of Culprit’s test riders. Really, beautiful and really impressed. They ride extremely well.

Rico
Rico
9 years ago

Do the rim brake versions of the Rev 35 have a carbon brake track or alu? I see photos of both.

Victor
Victor
9 years ago

@Rico, all rims are actually full carbon. I have asked our graphic artist to re-image the rim braked range. Sorry about the confusion.

The rim braking surface is actually 3k carbon fiber.

Mark Roche
9 years ago

Really looking forward to trying out these rims.

Bob Miksche
Bob Miksche
9 years ago

I”m in.. sounds like a great set of rims.. this sport keeps me broke!

JF
JF
9 years ago

No tubular disc option for CX? The wheels look awesome. Can’t wait to see pricing.

Ultraclyde
Ultraclyde
9 years ago

Wow. Looks like very impressive technology. As a 110kg rider on a serious budget, I’m pretty excited about these. Can’t wait to see more info, but if you need a heavy test rider, I’m available!

Sidebar – are any of the carbon frame manufacturers using a filament wound technique, or are they all still layup?

MS
MS
9 years ago

@Ultraclyde – I think BMC’s Impec uses this type of technology but at a much higher cost point

randall
randall
9 years ago

@Ultraclyde – I think it was Time and BMC that wove tubes…

culprit Bicycles
9 years ago

Ultraclyde, I started on these wheels at 110 kg, now back down to 102. They are very strong.

Trevor
Trevor
9 years ago

For several years now, I have run 180mm disc brakes on the road*, a setup which I absolutely LOVE. Would these rims be up to/safe/warrantied for that setup on the road? If so, what spoke count front & rear?

Thanks.

Regards,
Trevor

*XT BR-785, 180mm ICE front rotor, 25mm GP4000S.
(Yes, yes. I know, but I don’t brake hard cranked over, and I’ve lived with this and several lesser setups for 10 years now.)

CW
CW
9 years ago
hmmmm
hmmmm
9 years ago

I would like to see entire frames made using this technology: an entire frame woven in one take, of course with unidirectional pieces laid over the loom first and then the single fiber weave to be laid over that first layer…

Trevor
Trevor
9 years ago

Few quick questions if I may…
1. Are these rims safe-for/warrantied-for/capable-of-handling 180mm disc brakes* on the road?
2. If so, what spoke counts front & rear?
3. Will they be available in UD matte finish to hide them from the tea-leaves?

Thanks.

Trevor

*XT BR-785.

Trevor
Trevor
9 years ago

Oops, and…
4. What limits for rider weight and road clincher pressure?

BubbRubb
BubbRubb
9 years ago

Prepreg carbon will always be cheaper and stronger when dealing with complex shapes. It’s fine to use wound carbon in round tubes. Give these some time on market and we’ll see….

Matthew
Matthew
9 years ago

@BubbRubb

I hate to break it to you, but filament wound can be incredibly strong for even complex shapes. Hawker Beechcraft manufactures an aircraft where the fuselage is filament wound carbon fiber. Slightly more stressful environment than a bike wheel.

Victor
Victor
9 years ago

@Trevor, thank you for the questions. The Venn Rev clincher rims were actually designed for 29er use, so they are more than strong enough for road use.

1. 180 mm discs are not a problem
2. The drilling is 24/24, but of course 28/28 is even better for the wheel strength if you do not mind the weight of extra spokes and nipples.
3. No. For UD finish we have CTL rims. FW rims can be painted black, to any degree of opacity or gloss.
4. Our nominal rider weight limit is 110kg, tire pressure is limited by the tire. During testing we inflated road tubeless tires to their maximum rating where they remained inflated, leak free for several weeks.

@BubbRubb “always” is a long time 🙂 However I agree, filament winding as it is currently performed cannot observe any geometry constraints that do not result in fibers being in constant tension. Thus there is presently no possibility of winding shapes with troughs or protrusions. Winding closed loops like a front triangle is also rather tricky. My personal goal is to find a way to do this economically, without resorting to lugs and bonding of individual tubes.

Not a Carbon Expert
Not a Carbon Expert
9 years ago

I am very curious, how it is possible for a machine to filament wind the rim bed. I think this post says that these rims are one piece. I just can wrap my head around how the rim beds are wound. Can anyone enlighten me, please.

Jeb
Jeb
9 years ago

@Matthew, Nope, the Hawker-Beechcraft 4000 uses an automated tape layup (atl) machine to create it’s fuselage pieces. This is pretty standard practice in the commercial aircraft industry and uses pre-preg (resin embedded) carbon tape. The process outlined above uses carbon tow run through a resin bath. These are two decidedly different processes.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
9 years ago

@Not a Carbon Expert: according to the short description in the article, the rim body is filament would while the rim bed and hooks are made separately with a mold. The two pieces are then joined together in process that Velocity wouldn’t describe.

Pete
9 years ago

I don’t see a tubeless bead seat in the last picture showing the inside of one of these clincher rims. Will the production road and mtb rims have actual tubeless bead seats?

Victor
Victor
9 years ago

@Pete, actually it is in the photo. Due to the width of the rim it may not appear as visible as usual, but the locking structure is present and has been tested to be entirely airtight.

Micah
9 years ago

Oh, Velocite, not Velocity…

John
John
9 years ago

…testing, 123, is this thing on?…

rupert3k
rupert3k
8 years ago

Ordered their filament wound 1460g 35mm 700c db wheels.
Tough choice, the 44’s do look pretty tasty.
Really looking forward to their arrival (for a Syn build).
CHEERING!

thisiskillingme
thisiskillingme
6 years ago

@Psi Squared how does that answer @Not a Carbon Expert’s question? These bloody rims are giving me nightmares. Can someone please explain how you rotate a round closed-off mandrel?

Cory Benson
Admin
6 years ago

In reply to @thisiskillingme, @Psi Squared & @Not a Carbon Expert… The rims are indeed manufactured in two pieces – one filament wound & one molded (then machined) more traditionally. Is is the way that Velocite cures these two separate parts together that they say creates a ‘one piece’ like rim.

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