Veltec Sports entereed into a Joint Development Partnership (JDP) with wheel manufacturer Cole USA.
The project will bring Cole's patented DSA (Dynamic Spoke Alignment) technology for road and MTB wheels to market in North America for the first time.
Under the terms of the Joint Development Partnership (JDP) agreement,
Veltec will enlist selected retailers' product review and design input
beginning October 2006 as the wheel line's features, pricing, and
graphics are finalized for the North American market. These retailers
may then be offered exclusive or semi-exclusive retail territories for
the 2007 selling season.
In addition to Veltec's exclusive resale distribution for North America,
Cole wheels are planned as OE equipment on a number of prestigious
“boutique” bike brands.
“Cole's patented core technologies and production base have already been
tested, proven and fully in place in Europe for the past two years, says
Veltec product manager James Winchester, “so we can move very quickly.”
The finalized Cole line will be available for sale to consumers this
spring with a full five-year warranty on the wheel itself and two years
on the freehub. Even better, Winchester says, “All Cole wheels-even
carbon and magnesium-are 100% bike shop serviceable with standard
tools.”
What makes Cole wheels different and/or better? “They've approached the
age-old spoke/hub problem spoke in an entirely new and different way,
using a double-threaded spoke, standard rim nipple, and a movable 6mm
alloy cylindrical pin in the Cole SS and DS hub flange”,
Winchester says. “The design allows Cole wheels to achieve a number of
advantages over standard spoke wheels, including consistently higher
tension, improved fatigue and durability, and perfect alignment.”
Because of its patents (US 7, 070, 245, B2 and a half-dozen others
worldwide), Cole's proprietary technology cannot be copied by
competitors. The wheels are targeted at road and mountain applications
covering full range or price points including magnesium and carbon rim
technologies.
