HED Cycling has given us one more option for turning our bike into a shadow warrior with their new Jet Black and Ardennes Black road wheels.
Not only to they get a new black anodized alloy outer rim, but the brake track gets a surface machining called Turbine Braking Technology. The result is a stealthy look with a claimed big improvement in stopping power. By a factor of five, according to their testing. That means 25% shorter stopping distance in good, dry conditions, and a whopping 70% shorter stopping distance in wet weather. All with better consistency, too.
They use HED’s 25mm wide clincher design that’s road tubeless ready, and they still use standard alloy rim brake pads…
The new Black series wheels replace their top level FR series. The weights are the same as their Plus series wheels, which should put them at 1492g for the Ardennes Black and 1,734g for the Jet 60 Black with the carbon faring.
The groove pattern is directional, so the front wheel will need to be installed in the right direction (and the tire on in the proper direction if necessary).
Brake pad wear will be a little faster than normal.
They get blacked out versions of the carbon Sonic hubs with Sapim spokes. Prices are $1,500 for the Ardennes and $2,000 for the Jet. That’s about $100 more than the standard versions were.
For years, HED has offered a GT3 tri-spoke full carbon tubular front wheel and a full disc rear. Now, they’ve got a matching three pronged GT3 for the rear, too.
UPDATE: Got the tech info, here it is:
- 700c tubular only
- $1,600 rear wheel, $1,500 front
- 830g (670g for the front)
- 26.5mm rim width
- 46.5mm rim depth
- 250lb rider weight limit
