Design and development of the Velites Fire 2.0 jump rope: the real story (told by its inventor)

Fire 2.0: the real story (told by its inventor)

Many people don't know it, but the Fire 2.0 wasn't born “from scratch”. It was born from a very specific decision: listen to what training was telling us, no excuses, and turn it into design.

Hi, I'm Matías Hernández, founder of Velites and inventor of the Fire 1.0 and the Fire 2.0. When we launched the Fire 2.0 in 2016, Velites had been operating for a relatively short time: the company was founded in July 2015 and, since then, we had had the Fire 1.0 on the market for about 8–12 months. That first Fire, which many knew at the time as VROPES Fire, was already, in fact, an evolution of the rope that started it all: the Earth, our first “real prototype” when we launched Velites.

Photo Velites Vrope Earth 1.0

And then the inevitable conclusion arrived: if we wanted to help athletes master double unders (double jumps) and sustain triple unders consistently, we needed a speed rope designed to work even when technique begins to break down from fatigue.

From Fire 1.0 to Fire 2.0: improvements born from its predecessor and athlete feedback

The Velites Fire 1.0, also known as VROPE Fire, “worked well”. But real use, true training, always leaves clues. The recurring feedback was clear:

• The handles could be lighter
• The rotation of the bearing could be smoother
• There were “decorative” parts (the plastic plug)
• And the most human thing of all: people lost the Allen key

Photo Velites Fire 1.0 

That last point was decisive. We realized something that seems small until it happens to you: if you lose the tool, you lose the adjustment… and if you lose the adjustment, you lose the session. And then we asked the question that triggers many good decisions:

Why not carry the Allen key inside the handle?
If there was already a plug that contributed nothing, why not turn it into a solution?

That is how one of the functional signatures of the Fire 2.0 was born: the Allen key integrated into the handle, so the adjustment tool doesn't depend on memory, a pocket, or luck.

Video Set Up Fire 2.0

(Curious anecdote: our athlete Dani Camacho always says that idea was his. It amuses me because I don't remember it being exactly like that. And the best part is that that doubt is probably proof the process was correct: conversation, testing, improvement. At Velites, the product isn't invented in silence.)

What already came from the Earth 1.0 rope and the Fire 1.0 rope (and what we refined in Fire 2.0)

Before the Fire 2.0 we had already solved important foundations, those that make the difference in durability and feel:

• Aluminum handle, to avoid the typical breakages of plastic handles when use is serious
• A geometry designed so that cable and handle work with a clean angle (90°) : cable well positioned, efficient rotation, better control in doubles and triples
• Obsession with system balance: that the rope “responds” the same every time

In the Fire 2.0 rope we refined what matters most when you jump fast:

• From the cable 2.5 mm we moved to 2.0 mm as standard
• We improved the coating with a harder, faster nylon (less air friction)
• We improved the spin with a high-speed double bearing, for a more stable and clean rotation

And yes, we also made an improvement that seems aesthetic until you have it in hand: colors. Fire 1.0 was silver. Fire 2.0 was released in silver, red and black, with a matte finish that felt “premium” without trying to “be premium”. It was simply coherent with the product.

2016: public debut at La Caja Mágica and leap to the CrossFit Games

The Fire 2.0 was not presented in an “easy” context. It was presented where a rope cannot fake it: in competition.

We presented it for the first time in 2016 at La Caja Mágica (Madrid) during the meridion regionals of the time.

YouTube (Adrienn Banhegyi - 2016)

And then, that same year, we took it to the 2016 CrossFit Games in Carson, United States.

That journey was no accident: we wanted real validation, in real hands, with people who train and compete enough to notice every detail.

To see public proof on video, here are two key pieces:

YouTube (CrossFit Games 2016)

Weights and cable system: when a rope becomes a systemAlthough the Fire 2.0 was launched in 2016, it was designed to evolve from the start. And that evolution arrived in 2018: we made it weight-adjustable.

Why add weights to a rope you've just lightened? Because by reducing weight you gain speed, yes, but you can lose something useful in warm-ups, learning and technique: feedback. And feedback accelerates progress.

We tested different ways of adding weight, and we settled on three weights per handle:

• 25 g
• 50 g
• 100 g

That progression worked for a very practical reason: you increase load clearly (doubling) without falling into weights that add nothing or weights that turn the rope into something else.

How it's used in practice:

• 50 g or 100 g with cable 2.5 mm: more inertia, more control, ideal for starting or for technique under fatigue
• 25 g with faster cables (1.8 mm or 2.0 mm): more feedback without killing speed; helps with rhythm and triples

And to complete the system, the Fire 2.0 was designed compatible with three types of cable:

• 1.8 mm uncoated speed cable (maximum quickness)
• 2.0 mm standard (balance)
• 2.5 mm (more weight/feedback; ideal for beginners or technical control)

Fire 2.0 today: why it remains “the rope” (even with more models)

Over the years, Velites has expanded its rope system with models such as Cyclone and the evolution of Earth 2.0. But there is something that has remained against all odds: the Fire 2.0 is still, in 2025, one of the top sellers products of the brand and one of the ropes most sought after by beginners and crossfitters worldwide.

And that's not by chance. It happens because the design became iconic from the start: it feels fast, it feels stable, and it gives you room to progress from your first doubles to serious volume without changing tools.

That iconicity is also reinforced when the product enters the big circuit. Velites is Official Apparel & Footwear Partner of the CrossFit Games 2025 and expanded its role as official partner for 2026, also including categories such as grips and jump rope.
And Velites is the official sponsor of HYROX in Spain, providing speed ropes and weighted ropes for training and official warm-up.

If you want an authentic Velites Fire 2.0 click here:

Intellectual property: brand and design (traceability)

When something really works, the market reacts. And sometimes it reacts by copying. That's why, in addition to iterating performance, we also worked to protect identity and design since 2016.

EUIPO - Brand VROPES (EUTM): https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/#details/trademarks/014459077

EUIPO - Design (RCD): https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/#details/designs/005500329-0001