velocity p35 rims on xt hubs= huge!

Got these bad boys today. My initial impression was that they look freaking incredible! They are hugely wide, have a nice quality look to them and have a bead profile that is very similar to my Stan's rims.

I threw an XT 11-34 cassette (expect some sort of a review of this vs. the sram 990 after I test them back to back- think I'll notice the difference?), some hayes 160mm rotors and then my 29x2.4 racing ralphs. This was with tubes for now- I need to order wider stans tape for them. It took about 30 PSI to "pop" the bead in place, but I took them up to 40 or so initially just to see the tire profile etc.. With 40 psi the tires were absolutely massive and with an appropriately rounded profile. I threw the rear on the bike and realized it was going to rub... aired it down to 15 or so and gained plenty of clearance back. This is worth noting because on my old Salsa Delgado rims I had much more room with the same tires and pressures- I take this as a good sign. In the summer I will run the more used of my racing ralphs on this set with 2.4 front and 2.25 rear. I intend this to be my 'everyday' use wheelset. The front wheel will also get a lot of miles on the front of the Marin (where the 2.4 fits just fine btw).

I race Sunday up at Hillside. I'm thinking these will make my already "good for a skinny bike" setup even better.








ooh, lastly... I have to thank Guitar Ted for his review. I often think he is too "nice" and might be a little too much in Salsa's pocket, eh? but these are better than he described them thus far. In all seriousness I do really enjoy his blog, reviews and opinions (even when I disagree).




The last few days I have not done much. I had a good work schedule for riding this week, but just didn't feel quite right. My nose has been running and I just haven't felt like I had any power, so I've stayed out of the pain cave. I've also avoided doing much of anything other than watching TV and going to work a few hrs a day. I'm hoping I can get back to feeling strong by Sunday morning and then maybe hit a couple 2-3 hr gravel rides early in the week to make up for some of this unplanned rest. Even if I have to rest further than that things are going to get pretty intense soon with CIRREM and Spring Training in Decorah (STD) both coming up very fast.

Have a good night!