This is going to fuel a religious debate. The summary is that the major differences are Flo are lighter and likely (I believe) slightly faster. HED has better braking. I have a set of Flo CC 60/90 wheels. I love them. They are my everyday wheels. I have no complaints about the braking. I love the all carbon panache.

I have a set of the aluminum/carbon Flo 90's and love them. Ride super smooth with conti gp 4000 sII tires. As far as durability goes, I haven't put a ton of miles on them, but they're still true and no issues there. As much as people talk about weight differences, every strava climbing KOM I've ever set has been on them over my lighter training wheels. I'd recommend you get the hybrid 60's and the carbon 90 and disc if you go with Flo if you want the most bang for your buck.

Never ridden flo, but from durability standpoint I got a set of hed jet 6s last july, have used them as my everyday wheels since then (about 3500 miles) and I've had no issues maintenance at all, love them .

A couple other concerns:

The Flos are not on the UCI approved wheel list. You stated a couple TTs. Very few, but some, require UCI legal wheels.

Switching between Carbon Clinchers and alloy require switching out brake pads. This is possibly quite a PITA depending on your brake calipers.

I've switched between training wheels and CC Zipps until I got a set of HED Jets. Much easier switch.

Ditto for me. I like mine a lot. They handle very well in all kinds of conditions (can't speak for snow, but mud, rain, dry...very good wheels).

I've had 2 pair of Flo wheels. Both are / were great. My current setup is a 60 front 90 rear with disc cover. ( Aluminum and carbon). Hard to beat there customer service!

I have a fair bit of experience with the HED JET+ Plus and have turned a few friends on to them. I'm big on the HED JET 6+ Plus especially since you can always find generous deals on the 6s. Seems like HED doesn't mind discounting at least on their non-black version. I now have the HED JET+ Black and they are awesome but it is overkill if trying to save a few bucks.. Here are some more detailed thoughts I put down on why I think the HED JET 6+ is the Best Value Wheelset in Triathlon. If it were me I would forgo the 9 as well.The front 6 is so nice but I do pair it with a disc on the rear.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

I have a FLO60 front and a HED Jet Plus Black disc. I picked up both from very reasonable sellers on ST classifieds.

Personally, I'd never want a full carbon wheel. There are safety advantages for running an aluminum brake track and the reward doesn't outweigh the risk for me.

Read Thomas' blog post on the HED wheels. He makes a lot of great points about them.

---

-------------------
Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

I purchased a set of the HED Jet 6’s during Competitive Cyclist’s sale earlier this year. The thorough review by Thomas Gerlach led to me to purchase the HED wheels. The wheels are great and I have no complaints as they are a significant upgrade from the stock wheels.

My two cents: First, stick with one type of braking surface so you don’t have to spend your time changing pads. Second, read FLO’s data on time saved per wheel set, then decide if the time saving for anything deeper than a set of 60’s is worth the extra money.

I believe this is the correct link to FLO’s time savings data:

http://flocycling.blogspot.com/...me-will-flo.html?m=1

Yep, I totally agree about the braking surface, which is why I want to buy a "bundle" of the same wheels to handle the situations I race and train in. But you make a good point, and Thomas mentioned it as well, that maybe the front 90 is overkill. My go-to racing configuration would be the 60 front, disc rear. Maybe I'll just start with that. The 90 would only be used when I do a few 20K and 40K TTs and a couple local races where the conditions are basically flat and windless. And I did just read Tomas' blog about the Jet 6+. Very compelling.

UCI-approved wheels are only required in UCI road races, not TT's. If you have a look at the list you most likely won't find any disc wheels at all and you definitely won't find any trispokes as they are not mass start legal, but you can use them in UCI TT's no problem.

Would a Jet 9+ set plus 6+ front and disc + rear not offer more options?

6/9; 9/9; 6/disc; 9/disc

Flo makes great wheels and a great price... if you're into the aluminum brake track... Flo has that option as well and for less.

I also like Flo's write-ups on choosing race wheels... http://flocycling.blogspot.com/...race-wheels-for.html

I agree. I think a set of 6's/60's and a disc rear would pretty well cover any situation. The 9/90's area only more aerodynamic at higher yaw angles, where handling difficulties of riding with a 90ish mm deep wheel probably offset any theoretical gains, anyway.

---

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

I’m running the HED Jet 6+’s as the only set of wheels on my Speed Concept. I bought them because they were on a crazy sale and I didn’t want to mess with switching out the brake pads with a fully carbon wheel. I’m really happy with them. Only adjustment I had to make was to widen the brakes to fit the wider rims.

I have a set of Flo 60/90 full carbon wheels arriving tomorrow for my wife’s P2. I’m going to weigh them compared to my Jet 6+’s, so I’ll share the numbers here. I’m removing the tires and tubes from my wheels, so it’ll be a bare wheel to wheel comparison. Obviously comparing the rear 60 Jet vs 90 Flo isn’t an apples to apples comparison, but still interesting regardless.

Why did I go with the Flo’s for the wife? They’re lighter, still relatively inexpensive, and I’ve been curious about how full carbon wheels perform. I plan on doing some back to back testing on my Speed Concept at my local bike loop with a power meter to see if I notice any differences.

What are the safety advantages?

Aluminium is a better braking surface than carbon in bicycle rim brake applications.
The main advantage of full carbon wheels over alloy with a carbon fairing is fashion. Most people seem to consider alloy/carbon hybrid wheels to be a budget alternative to fully carbon wheels, however, from an engineering point of view, I consider full carbon wheels to be inferior. I'm not the only person around here who thinks that. If using disc brakes, the situation is different and carbon may well have the advantage as issues around heat dissipation and brake surface effectiveness are eliminated.

I have used both Flo aluminum version as well as the HEDs. I candidly don't understand why anyone would but carbon brake track wheels with Flo and HED (and other companies) offering great aluminum options that provide a better braking surface. So, I can't speak to Flos all carbon version specifically.

However, comparing HED to Flo aluminum brake track, I noticed very little difference between the wheels. I didn't perform any testing but I challenge anyone who can quantify a noticeable difference in braking power between the two wheels despite the insistence by many that the HEDs brake better. If you want to shell out even more cash, the HED Blacks will certainly provide better braking. I owned Flos, switched to HEDS and then went back to Flos. Why??? Because any differences between the wheels with respect to braking, speed, quality, etc. to all but the most discerning riders will be negligible, at best. But, I wanted a few hundreds bucks back in my pocket and Flo will certainly do that. In the end, you can't go wrong with either choice.

For reasons that others stated, I would avoid the 9/90 up front though. If you want 3 wheels, I would suggest....6/60 up front, 9/90 on back and disc. That will give you all the options you need for all training/racing conditions. If you want to save a little more money and still have similar versatility, I would suggest 6/60 up front, 9/90 in back and a disc cover.

Interesting. I race and train on both and I've honestly never noticed a difference in braking or durability.

If you can afford the HED Wheels I would buy those but if you want to save some money then by the FLO's. You can't go wrong with either wheel.

I don't think I ever heard someone say they couldn't tell the difference between carbon and alloy brake tracks before!
Do you typically ride on flat or hilly terrain? Do you ride much in the wet?

I got a set of full carbon Flo 45s for my road bike last summer and have been very happy with them. I rode them all summer, training and racing on them with no issues. As for durability and build quality, I hit a couple pretty big potholes over the summer, one at 28 mph. While I did get a couple pinch flats, the wheels are still true and undamaged (urban group riding can be an adventure . . .). I'd buy them again.

.....just a side note to a few that it may apply. There are some popular Gran Fondos in my area that do not allow carbon wheels. Although I have been told by a friend or two they were able to use them and no one said anything. http://granfondohincapie.com/.../06/01/safety-first/

I was going to get HED Jet 6 years ago and ended up with Flo. They have served me well in all sorts of weather.

Besides the braking, I've seen more catastrophic failures of full-carbon wheels on youtube than I care to remember.

---

-------------------
Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

both are great wheels

Based on everything I've seen, Flo has better customer service
HED has a crash replacement program (which I used).

I prefer alu braking track. I currently have full Carbon and will be going back to HED next season.

I live in the Pacific Northwest. So yes, and yes.

I guess with some carbon wheels I've noticed they slip the first few yards if it's completely dumping rain. But nothing that would make me not use them.

Your link took me to Normatech Recovery boots.

Click the link in his signature: http://www.thomasgerlach.com/...n-aero-wheelset.html

unless your carry pro license UCI rules dont matter for most events. I have never heard anyone having issues

Is there a reason you wouldn't just choose one set of wheels (6/6, 6/9, or 9/9) and just add a disc cover. If this is for your TT bike, and you don't plan to road race at all, I'd go 6/9 with a cover. You'll be able to handle pretty much any situation with that setup, and you'll never be more than a handful of seconds of a disadvantage to the "optimal" setup for any given course.

As far as braking differences between aluminum brake tracks and carbon. I find that the newer carbon surfaces and pads have bridged the gap pretty well to aluminum in most cases. When it's wet, you do have to "scrub" the brakes a little earlier to remove some of the water on the pads/brake surface, but after that the braking quality is about the same. Slightly better with aluminum, but it's not like aluminum brake surfaces perform the same way in the wet as they do in the dry. So I would say it's more a difference in braking technique than anything else.

However, if you're going to be doing some crazy steep or long descents that require a lot of hard braking (wet or dry), then I would go aluminum brake track. The overheating on carbon brake surfaces can cause delamination...which I have seen first hand. This is not you're common types of descents I'm talking about though...would pretty much never be in a triathlon course, but something like a 10-15% descent for over a mile...where you have to stay on the brakes because cars can pull out of driveways at any time.

Dang it, sorry about that, that Normatech link must have been stuck in the clipboard when pasting from a previous thread I replied to. Anyway, hopefully you found the article in the signature, if not then here is the proper link: http://www.thomasgerlach.com/...n-aero-wheelset.html

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

My son raced USAC Amateur Nats TT in Louisville. Frame and geometry had to be UCI compliant. Assumed wheels did too.

He also races Junior Elite Triathlon Cups (DL) and they require ITU compliant which refers back to the UCI wheel list.

yup thats pretty much the one event- Nationals- that would be an issue. outside it doubt an issue. For most, nationals not on menu

Agreed, I'd go for 6/9 or similar. Can't see it ever being worth getting 4 wheels! The situations where a deep front gets you a real advantage is also the one where you would use the shallower one, if ever. i.e. wind. If wind bothers you get a 6 for the front and forget the 9. Otherwise get the 9 and forget the 6.

As for braking and alloy versus carbon. If there is a disadvantage with alloy as you accept, even if it is small, then what's the upside with carbon? Aesthetic plus a tiny weight advantage in some cases? Surely then alloy is superior?

Incidentally, I do descend 10-15% gradients of over a mile in length very regularly. Typically I'm staying off the brakes but I do occasionally have to use them quite heavily depending on traffic, etc. So I have absolutely no desire to chose worse braking even if it saved me a few seconds....and I don't believe it would. In fact given some carbon wheel manufacturers expressely warn against using latex tubes, if I followed their advice I'd certainly lose time.

I ride Flo 60/60 on my bike and have had no issues over two years.

Edit: I mis-interpreted Flo's Black Friday sale email (opps).

Carbon Clincher Rims... not the full wheels. That said, for 40% off on rims, you could likely build a great set of wheels for a great price.

Take care,

---

Chris Thornham
Co-Founder And Previous Owner Of FLO Cycling

After reading the responses here, I'm convinced that the front 90 is probably a waste. A set of 60's and a disc is what I'm considering at this point (or maybe just the 60's and a disc cover for the rear). I currently ride a full-carbon 60 front/90 rear setup which has been fine. But honestly, I'd really like the rear disc. For training, or super hilly or windy events, use the 60/60. For others, 60/disc.

Same. A minor brake adjustment at best for my Felt IA3. Swapped right in, and I love these wheels.

As a side note, we've completed and passed the testing for UCI approval, and are in the paperwork phase of getting approved.

---

Chris Thornham
Co-Founder And Previous Owner Of FLO Cycling

On a related note, I have a used FLO 90 that's a 10 speed I need to upgrade to an 11. I see on the site I need to know what year mine is so I order the correct freehub body. Is there an easy way to tell? It looks like maybe the older models are black lettering on white background and the new ones are white lettering on black, but that's just a guess.

---

----------------------------------------------------------
Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

ZenTriBrett wrote:

On a related note, I have a used FLO 90 that's a 10 speed I need to upgrade to an 11. I see on the site I need to know what year mine is so I order the correct freehub body. Is there an easy way to tell? It looks like maybe the older models are black lettering on white background and the new ones are white lettering on black, but that's just a guess.

Looking at the rear hub would be the safest bet. If your rear hub has a gloss finish then you have a 2012-2015 model wheel. If your rear hub has a matte finish, then you have a 2016-Present wheel. Here are some pictures to help.

2012-2015 Model Hubs



2016-Present Hubs

---

Chris Thornham
Co-Founder And Previous Owner Of FLO Cycling

I raced Masters Nationals in 2017 in Augusta, and rode a FLO 90 and FLO disc without any issues. I did however, see them enforce the UCI frame rules (they got a guy with a Speed Concept rear brake cover).

This is really a Pepsi vs Coke type of issue. Almost everyone who buys from either company is satisfied with their purchase and thinks they made a good choice. There's very little practical difference over the long term between offerings from the two companies.

As a follow-up, for those that may be curious, I made the purchase and wound up getting the HED Jet6+ and a Jet+ disc. I took advantage of some great holiday deals. The part that sucks is that the new bike they are supposed to go on is still not built. I am waiting on a new Felt IA10 frame kit, and apparently they are having some delays getting the new ones out to their authorized dealers. So, I cannot report on how much I like or dislike the wheels, though I can say they look fantastic.

There must be something in the water. This makes 3 Felt IAxx bikes I know of that will be racing on new HED Jet wheels this season.

I don't get how the Flos are lighter. The Jet 6+ wheelset is listed at 1698g. Flo front 60 full carbo is listed at 807g, the rear 60 at at 920g (for a total of 1727g), and the rear 90 at 1150g (for a total of 1857g for a 60/90 combo). What am I missing?