By EBTire Reporter Kimberley Jace

Every Bicycle Tire’s own Gayle Gorlewski stopped by the Velocity headquarters just before the first of the new year to take an informal tour. 

“I spent a day looking around the factory,” Gayle said. “And I got some exciting news.”

Velocity’s M.D. told Gayle the company is preparing to move their headquarters, which is now located in an office-industrial complex just outside Grand Rapids, Mich.

“They’ve gotten a bit crammed, so they’re going to be moving to a bigger space in September,” she said.

Gayle described the scene at Velocity headquarters as “packed to the gills” with organized stacks of bicycle tire rims and a flurry of activity. “There are some very busy people there, including three wheel-builders.”

“It’s a young crew, and very energetic.” She said Velocity’s atmosphere is casual and happy; she heard a lot of laughter, even though the work pace was brisk.

There was snow on the ground the day of Gayle’s visit. Many employees bicycle to work at Velocity; even the mid-winter Michigan weather didn’t daunt them. “You can bicycle year-round if you’re tough and have the snow studs,” said Gayle. She notes that she never has to face that challenge herself, because she lives in sunny central Florida.

She said she saw every imaginable kind of rim at Velocity, in a rainbow of colors. “They’ve got lots to choose from. I saw the new blunt rims (which the company describes as “wider, stronger, and lighter”), and some really neat wheel sets they’d made with that rim.” Velocity also now has an expanded selection of 27-inch rims.

Her favorite Velocity rim is the “poison dart frog” rim pattern in green, purple, and black.

Gayle was most fascinated by the wheel builders, who let her observe as they put together both standard and custom wheel sets. All Velocity wheels are built by hand to ensure top quality control. The company even designs and builds its own manufacturing equipment.

Because it happened to be Taco Thursday, a weekly celebration at Velocity, Gayle joined some staffers for lunch at their favorite nearby Mexican restaurant, where everyone was talking about the company’s plans for the River Rat Alley Cat, a big local bike race event held every spring. They’ll be participating June 23 at Grand Rapids’ Riverside Park.

 

http://www.everybicycletire.com/Shopping/m-3-velocity.aspx (all Velocity products)

http://www.everybicycletire.com/shopping/t-Velocity.aspx (catalog, pics and more)