Yo Momma’s so fat, she could run fatbike tires tubeless. While it could have been the start of a thousand jokes, Hed is still playing around with the name of their fatbike rims. The wheels have gone by the moniker Yo Momma and Zepplin since we last saw them at Interbike, though Hed is currently referring to them as the carbon fatbike wheel until the name gets sorted. Regardless of what the rims are called, Hed recently announced how they would be sold – as a complete wheel. Building all fatbike rims in house, Hed will only be offering fatbike rims in complete builds at this point in time. Andy from Hed mentioned they may introduce a certification program for dealers to build their own wheels in the future, but for now it is complete builds only. Due to the number of different standards in the fatbike world currently, Hed will be building the rims on to your hubs.
Send in your hubs, pay for the build, and carbon fatties are headed back your way. Get the skinny after the break.
As stated, Hed will not be selling the carbon rims alone. Instead fatbike rims can be built to your 32 hole 135mm front, and 170 or 190mm symmetrical rear hubs (offset 135mm rear is not an option). In order to set up a wheel build, dealers will need to call 651-653-0202 to set up an RA number to send in your hubs without the skewers. Expect about 2-3 weeks turn around on the build. The entire service is offered at $875 per wheel ($700 Rim, $175 parts and labor), which gets you a hand built fatbike wheel with a carbon, tubeless rim laced with Sapim CX Ray spokes and alloy nipples to your hubs. Colored nipples may be an option in the future, but at this point black spokes and black nipples are the only options. Depending on demand, Hed is also considering stocking fatbike hubs in the future from companies like Industry Nine.
Slightly lighter than what we saw at Interbike, claimed weight on the 85mm wide rim is 480g, with an additional 166g for the build kit. The fatbike rims feature a patent pending rim shape and a tire mounting system that uses a unique system for setting up a fatbike tire tubeless. Most tires that have been tested on the carbon rims have mounted up without any trouble, which is done by placing the tire in the center of the rim which causes the tire’s bead to settle into two channels in the center of the rim. When you start inflating the tire, eventually it gets to the point where the pressure is high enough that it pops into place. However, if you run into a tire that is a struggle the wheels will include some rather large rubber bands. The bands are installed into the channels on the rim, which seals off the rest of the rim bed and helps the tire seal up to the point of inflation. Andy mentioned that you could use both bands, one, or none depending on the fit of the tire.
Want a pair? Drop Hed a line, and get your fatbike rolling.
