(Editor’s Note: This is a guest review from our friends at Blacksmith Cycle in Canada. They are not a dealer of Hermes Sport and have no affiliation with them or incentive to promote the brand, but they ride hard and often, try a lot of boutique products for their own use, and we trust their opinion.)
The Hermes Sport aluminum clincher wheels are not your run of the mill aluminum hoops. These are American-assembled, lightweight, solidly-stiff, tech-heavy wheels that demand to be taken seriously. While the super sexy Hermes hubset ought be the focus of this wheelset review, the asymmetric rims matched with Mach-1 bladed alloy spokes also performed well under continuous testing across a three-month span of about 1,500km of riding.
In terms of specs, we covered them at the Fall 2014 launch, and things have remained relatively unchanged, except that Hermes Sport has now dropped pricing to $750 for the wheelset, with ceramic bearing upgrade running a very reasonable $90. When you consider that a set of Chris King R45 hubs retails for almost this price, getting the entire wheelset built on the Hermes Sport hubs would seem to represent a solid deal in this wheel category…
Hermes uses an American-made alloy rim (25 mm deep / 17 mm internal width / 23 mm external width / 450 grams) and they note that the stiffness, weight and relatively robust width provide great performance for both 23 and 25 mm clincher tires, though larger tire sizes are supported, of course.
Those rims are laced to their proprietary hubs with French-made Mach-1 bladed alloy spokes. Speaking with Alex of Hermes, he confirmed that the switch from Sapim Superspokes used in the previous generation of the wheels, to the French-made Mach-1’s, which he prefers to the more ubiquitous Sapim CX-Ray, has produced a more evenly tensioned and consistently reliable build quality. The wheels are laced with 20 spokes radially in the front, and with 24 in the rear, 16 3-cross on the drive-side and 8 radially laced on the NDS for a triplet pattern.
The hubs themselves are simply an awesome piece of engineering – big axle, tall flanges (on the drive side), high-grade american-machined aluminum hub shells, magnetic ring drive ratchet system – really it is a technical marvel that also performs extremely well on the road. I’ve ridden hubs from Chris King, DT Swiss, Industry Nine, Tune, White Industries, and others, and these are right up there with the best in terms of both engineering and style. It is worth noting that they are LOUD, with the freewheel creating a nice buzz that rivals almost any rear hub on the market. I tend to love the noise, but for those who prefer silence, be warned.
The complete wheels weighed in, without rim tape, at 1,480g. Claimed weights for the hubs are 65g front and 215g rear.
RIDE REPORT
Ok, they look the part, now how do they perform in the real world?
First off, the weight…these babies came in just a hair over claimed weight at 1,480 real-world grams, not bad for the low-profile, mid-to-high end clincher category. Out on the bike, they certainly feel snappy and get up to speed nicely, with little delay. Responsiveness is a relative term, but the wheels tend to accelerate well, the mark of a smartly-weighted wheelset, not too heavy around the rim, where inertia is really felt most.
In terms of stiffness, I’m usually looking for a wheelset that provides solid rigidity for cornering, sprinting, and climbing, but also a modicum of vertical impact absorption to take the sting out of the roughest roads. The VK’s don’t necessarily hit stiffness marks achieved by the stiffest factory built wheels, but these are also comfortable wheels, which means they work well in both racing and training conditions.
The real comparison mark for these wheels should not be competitors from Mavic, Fulcrum or any other big brand focused on WorldTour stiffness. The wheels most similar to the Hermes Sport would be a classy handbuilt wheelset, say a Hed Ardennes or Pacenti SL23 rim laced to Chris King R45 or Industry Nine Torch hubs. With that category of competition in mind, the Hermes clinchers stand out as a serious competitor, with similar high-quality hubs that lean towards more cutting-edge engineering techniques to create a more complete wheel system.
The VK1 wheel system might not hit the off-the-charts stiffness levels that Hermes describes, but these wheels are plenty stout for 90% of riders, offering higher levels of acceleration and rigidity than an old Open-Pro hand-built set could ever dream of. Asymmetric rims, Mach-1 spokes, and gorgeous hubs combine to create a compelling package that could be priced far above the current MSRP. The wide internal width is perfect for turning 23mm rubber into a real 25mm size, or turning 25mm rubber into a proper 27-28mm set-up. Though not as ultra-wide as the widest Hed or Pacenti rims, these are otherwise fantastic alloy hoops, and tubeless compatible to boot.
Braking? It’s solid, which means nothing to report. All good. Aluminum surface still better than carbon? Check. Silent deceleration and smooth modulation? Double check.
Durability? Also solid. Our wheels did not come out of true at any point in our test period. In spite of thinking the low-profile lightweight rims might not hold up to extended thrashing, it turns out that this wheelset can certainly take a beating. Under two riders (weighing 140 and 170 lbs) and over months of rough Canadian pot-holed roads, the VK1’s held up with nary a truing.
OPTIONS
Hermes Sport sells the VK1’s in a choice of black or teal hubs, with steel or ceramic bearings. They also produce two carbon wheelsets, a clincher and a tubular, both 24.5 mm wide and 50 mm deep. The carbon rims are produced by an American wheel company in their Taiwan facility, which means a treated brake surface and modern rim shapes, paired with a U.S. warranty.
As of now hubs are not sold on their own, as Hermes touts the benefits of their the complete wheel system, which relies on the asymmetric alloy rims and unique spoke design. Worth noting that the carbon wheels are not asymmetric, so we can only hope the hubs will eventually be available for sale on their own. For now, the complete wheel system options are quite compelling, so if Hermes Sport decides to go down the factory-built path, we’re excited to see what’s next.
CONCLUSION
+ Sweet aluminum clincher hoops for $750 USD with ceramic upgrade for $90
+ Beautiful hubs with performance to match that exceeds the wheelset price point
+ Intelligent rim and spoke design create compelling performance
+ Upgrade to carbon [clincher or tubular] rims for even greater performance
– Slightly narrower internal width than some competing alloy rim shapes
– Currently tied to existing rim options, would be great to see these as after-market hubs
Bottom Line: Awesome hubs mean a great overall wheelset that deserves serious consideration against its competitors in the sub-$1000 category.
