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SOC17: HED Cycling’s house-made carbon hubs & Eroica gravel bike rims getting closer

Written by Tyler Benedict
7 Comments
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prototype full carbon hubs from HED Cycling

Prototype front hub is a look into the future of in-house carbon production. Anything carbon from HED is made in their Minneapolis, Minnesota, headquarters (they also make the Cervelo P5x frame), and now they’re working on hubs. While it’s still early, one of the things preventing them from claiming a final production date are the bearing tolerances. Molding the hub shell doesn’t get the tolerances tight enough for them, so they might be bringing in some new machinery. And that machinery might be getting used on other projects. And those projects might just be getting announced this summer…right around the time we roll through their HQ for a tour. Stay tuned…

prototype full carbon hubs from HED Cycling

In the meantime, the Stinger S3 is just one of the carbon rims they offer, all made in house, as is the recently introduced Raptor 27.5+ rim.

The Eroica is an upcoming 30mm wide alloy rim for the gravel and endurance scene. They’re still working on it, but here’s the basics: It’s a shapely, asymmetric 24-hole rim that’ll come in 700c and 650b options, with a weight around 450g. It’s disc specific, which (based on what they told us at NAHBS) let them go wider than the Ardennes without adding any weight. Still no final release date, but they’re getting there. (It’s shown on the new Franco gravel bike)

HEDcycling.com
Tyler Benedict
11,282 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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Comrad
Comrad
7 years ago

I’ve always loved HEDs stuff, but found it getting a little outdated. Really happy to see they are stepping up their game.

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Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  Comrad

What’s your time frame of reference by stating “always”? Hed didn’t exactly have the greatest reputation only up until about 10 years ago did they start to make major changes for the better. Before that they were considered one of the worst wheels money could buy. But they deserve much praise for changing their ways. Can’t say the same for some of the other more established factory wheel brands out there.

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Penn Teller
Penn Teller
7 years ago
Reply to  Kernel Flickitov

Huh? Back in the ’80s and ’90s, you couldn’t swing a dead cat at a time trial or triathlon without hitting a HED disc wheel. They introduced the Jet in 1989 and shared the toroidal-rim patent with Zipp. In the late ’90s, Hed picked up the Trispoke from Specialized and expanded on it. They introduced the Stinger in the early 2000s, which is also when Lance “Cancer Jesus” Armstrong (whatever his failings) was winning Tour de France time trials on Hed’s version of the Trispoke.

Zipp, Corima and others have made great products that competed with Hed’s wheels. I wouldn’t say that Hed’s wheels were absolutely the best you could get for as long as they’ve been in production, but I don’t understand why you say “they were considered the worst wheels money could buy.” Surely that title goes to the original (exploding) Mavic R-Sys.

Who considered Hed wheels the worst money could buy, and why did they believe that?

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Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  Penn Teller

That’s the thing, HED cut their teeth with Tri crowd first. Durability wasn’t paramount like it is now. The early iterations of the Sonic hubs were the worst on the market for years. Look at them wrong and they would fall apart. At the original Hed ‘house’ in White Bear Lake sometime in the early 2000’s before the move and before the major update to that hub they showed me a room full of exploded Sonic hubs stacked from floor to ceiling. Disconcerting to say the least. No worries though. At least those days are behind them. I would go so far as to say Hed’s new hubs are better than any of the new ones from most of the other big brands.

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Pete
Pete
7 years ago
Reply to  Kernel Flickitov

Photos or it didn’t happen?

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Andy T.
Andy T.
7 years ago

I have worked at Hed since the 90s, There was not and has never been a room full of exploded hubs. Maybe you got us confused with another company?
Zipp DID purchase rights to Steve’s patent on our toroidal rim shape in the early 2000s.

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Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  Andy T.

No confusion, other than it may have been a really small room. 9th Street, WBL. By Lincoln Elementary and Magnapan. Steve (R.I.P.) gave me the tour. We also rode together chatting for an hour at Almanzo one year. He was aboard a brand new custom rig from Peacock Groove. The hubs used to be terrible and now their great, something that was brought up in that conversation as well. The evolution of the hubs over the last decade keep getting better, more so than what I see coming from your competition who tend to take one step forward and two back. In that timeframe when people ask me what factory wheels I trust invariably the answer is always you, Andy. This even happened just recently So keep it up you’ve been doing a fantastic job! Steve would be proud. Hat tip.

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