Velobikes New Performance Wheelset

Velobike Vega 450

Vega - The fifth brightest star visible from earth. Vega is a relatively young star in the night sky at 450 million years old. 

The Vega 450 wheelset is the first in a new range of performance track cycling wheels developed by Velobike. Not only is the Vega 450 our first wheelset, but also the first product that embodies our new interstellar naming convention. 

The Vega 450 has been developed as a performance focused spoked track wheelset for training, junior racing or four use on outdoor velodromes and crit circuits. 

Available in clincher and tubular rim options for your preference of tire choice. A wide rim profile has been selected to optimise rolling efficiency and aerodynamics with 23c and even 25c tires. An aerodynamic teardrop shaped airfoil profile is created where the tire sits inside the width extremities of the rim.

Each wheel is hand built by a professional wheel builder. Every wheel build is individually tuned to a high level of detail for an even spoke tension and wheel balance within a specified window of tolerance.

Bladed spokes from industry leaders in spoke development — Pillar have been selected for the Vega 450 wheelset as an optimal balance between tensile strength, weight and low drag performance.

The front wheel features a radial 20 spoke wheel construction that makes for a quickly accelerating and agile moving wheel, all while maintaining a minimal weight. The high quality DT Swiss high flange hub maximises rigidity and increases the overall ‘track cred’ for your ride. A narrow hub body reduces the frontal area of the wheel, thus having much less aerodynamic impact than other hubs in the market. 

For a brakeless track or fixed gear wheelset such as these, the front wheel can do-away with the traditional cross spoke pattern as torsional loads are greatly reduced when the bike isn't fitted with brakes.

The rear wheel features a 2-cross 24 spoke construction. The added spokes and 2-cross pattern over the front wheel increases the torsional strength to the under heavy accelerations. This distributes the torque forces being transferred from the hub, through the spokes out the the rim and tire at tangential angles — thus reducing torsional flex and energy absorption in the wheel.

The rear high flange DT Swiss hub feature a dual sided sprocket and lockring thread. Two sprockets can be fitted at once to the symmetrical hub design, meaning gears can be easily swapped during training or racing just by turning the wheel around. We specified these DT Swiss hubs with dual sprocket threads to increase the durability of the wheelset by distributing the use and wear on the sprocket threads, spokes, tire-to-rim interface and tire tread across both sides and directions of the wheel. If you're using a non unidirectional tire, you can get up to 2x the life expectancy out of the tread.

The Vega 450 features a pair of 45mm deep rims - made of Japanese sourced Toray carbon fibre and finished in matte clearcost over the unidirectional carbon fibres. A 3k carbon weave around the inner rim surface is perfect for a solid and strong bond between the wheel and tire. Tubular and clincher rim styles are available for your preference in tire choice. With a growing movement towards wider tires for greater rolling efficiency, we have gone for a rim profile that securely fits 25c and 23c tires - keeping the extremities of the tire inside the rims width for those aero gains. The clincher bead profile is tubeless tire compatible if that way inclined however when used with standard inner tubes, the tubeless interface ensures a more secure tire fit with clincher tires to reduce the chance of unhooking if a puncture were to occur on the banking.   

As an international requirement for all bicycle components, wheels must conform to the ISO 4210-7 standards. We have designed and built the Vega 450 series wheels to exceed the ISO strength and safety standards by more than 75%. We have gone one step further and also tested them to surpass the UCI strength requirements too.

For more information, visit the product listing here

Wheel Build Specifications:

• Front: 20H, Radial
• Rear: 24H, 2 Cross
• Maximum Rider Weight: 110kg 
• Wheelset Weight: 1898g (-/+ 2%) inc Nuts and Lock Ring
• ISO certified: Exceeds strength standards for racing bicycles
• UCI Strength Tested: Exceeds strength and quality standards set by the UCI

Rim Specifications:

• Velobike Vega 450 Rim
• Rim Depth: 45mm
• Rim Width – Internal: 19mm (clincher)
• Rim Width – External: 25mm (clincher and tubular)
• Size: 700c
• Material: Japanese T700 Toray Carbon Fibre
• Finish: UD
• Coating: Matte Clear
• Rim Type: Clincher / Tubular
• Tubeless Compatible: Yes
• Recommended Tyre Size: 23-25c

Hub Specifications:

• DT Swiss High Flange 370 Track Hub Set
• Front Hub Axle: M9mm Bolt on Axle
• Rear Hub Axle: M10mm Bolt on Axle
• Sprocket Interface: Track Specific 1.37x24TPI Thread 
• Lockring Interface: Track Specific 1.29x24TPI LH Thread
• Duel sided Sprocket and Lockring Threads
• Finish: High Polish Silver, Black Logos
• Material: Alloy with Stainless Steel Hardware

Spoke Specifications:

• Spokes: Pillar Aero 1423 Bladed Spokes
• Spoke Colour: Black
• Nipple Colour: Black
• Nipple Material: Alloy
• Nipple Type: 14mm Standard
• Spoke Interface: Greased and Thread-locked

Includes:

• Velobike Vega 450 Wheelset (Front and Rear)
• 1x DT Swiss Lockring
• Rim Tape Supplied (Clincher Only)

For more information on rim width and its relationship to rolling resistance, check out this article by Jarno Bierman from 'Bicycle Rolling Resistance'