They don't ship till March. Don't think of this track as similar to the Flo brake track. Think of it as more similar to Exalith.

yeah, I figured it would be similar to mavic. I believe the Hed website indicated Dec 14 availability so I figured someone had their hands on them. Excel is offering a wheel built with them, or at least appear to be doing so, since I haven't checked actual availability of the black rim for the wheel below. It did peak my interest though.

http://www.excelsports.com/...major=13&minor=1

The FLO and the new HED wheels are anodized aluminum. The process and anodized depth might be different for all the wheels but each and every last one will wear through the black coating sooner or later. Riding hills, exposure to water/road grime during braking, being a bigger rider will all accelerate the wear rate of the black coating.

FLO's have the absolute worst black coating of any of the wheels I've seen. The Mavic's by contrast have very durable coatings. In fact of the multiple Mavic wheelsets that I have seen friends ride, I've never seen the coating wear out. The Flo's on the other hand I have seen a silver tract get worn into the rims over just a few weeks of riding. So the question is whether the HEDs have as durable of a coating as Mavic does.

Technically, the Exalith coating is called Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) and although it creates an aluminum oxide layer just like anodization, the process is different (much higher voltages and different solutions) and results in a much thicker and more durable layer. Additionally, that ceramic layer results in a higher friction coefficient than bare aluminum, especially in wet conditions apparently.

Some of the new Vittoria rims and some new Campy rims also use PEO. All I've read so far on the Hed rims is that it's anodization, so it's unclear if it's actually PEO or not.

Interesting fact...PEO is also possible on magnesium <hint, hint> ;-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

While PEO is thicker and more durable than, presumably, even Type 3 anodize, the differences should be minimal. Type 3 anodize is maybe 0.0020" thick best case, typically more like 0.0010-0.0015", PEO might be good for 0.004+ inches. Thicker, but still about the thickness of a human hair. Basically, PEO will last longer (potentially twice as long as an anodized brake track) but eventually will wear off - although, with the higher wear resistance of PEO vs. anodize it could be even longer.

Also, PEO is sensitive to the substrate material (whereas I haven't heard anodize being sensitive) which makes wheel alloy selection slightly non-trivial.

PEO can also be applied to titanium <hint, hint> Mag wheels were cool in the 80s ;-)

Anyone with any updates on this?

I've done 800 miles on Jet Blacks in all sorts of conditions and they look brand new. I love these wheels.

500 miles, seems very durable, did install new brake pads when I put them on. Love them. Hubs spin and spin some more, seems better than Dura Ace.

If they're anything like the H Plus Son 'Archetype' rims, it won't last long. A single 100 mile sportive on shitty & wet roads killed the black surface.

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29 years and counting

I'm at >6600 miles on my set of Jet6+ Blacks, ridden in all conditions (including some dirt roads). The brake tracks look the same as they did the day I bought them.

It works.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

They're not...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Good to know a) ya get what ya pay for; b) material science makes cool stuff possible.