There was a recent thread on this topic, where the main takeaways were that there might be some minor differences between flat and lenticular disks for specific frames, but generally they're all pretty close (including wheel covers). You won't get the whomp-whomp with a spoked wheel, but it can be trued and you get the awesome HED braking.

That thread is super helpful and answers many of my questions. Should have searched better before posting, thanks!!

Having come from a Hed Stinger disc, to a Jet disc and recently bought a Caden disc it definitely feels faster and is lighter. It's spoked, lenticular and the ride quality feels better than the Jet so I'm a fan.


https://cadencycling.com/us/product/tt-disc-tubeless-able-clincher-wheelset

The one thing that makes the Jet Black my favorite is the brake track. Most rim brake TTs bikes have pretty marginal braking. The brake track does a lot ot make up for long cable runs and whimpy brake levers.

For rim brake bikes, I'd choose the Jet Black 10 times out of 10 and not even think about it.

HED is a benchmark company when it comes to aero. The wheel is fast. The newer stuff that many assume to be faster (but hasn't been proven) like Princeton will cost you 2-3x, at best save a couple seconds in aero, and then lose you more time on braking.

While it may feel faster and better is it really 2x faster than the Jet disc? I paid under 1k for mine. No way I am paying 2k for a disc when I can get a proven wheel, with likely superior braking ability.

Definitely not two times faster but the braking is perfectly fine and the disc being a rear wheel I find the the braking almost become irrelevant. I have been able to lock the rear on my most shitty carbon wheels in the worst of conditions if need be especially if the road is wet. I'm not sure how people are equating braking performance of a disc and time gained? The Caden is a sub 1kg wheel and the acceleration makes the Jet feel slow let alone when are up to speed. If you have the money (I don't think the Caden is unreasonably priced for the wheel you get) and want a far superior wheel IMO then get the Caden, if you are on a budget get a jet. Dan Bigham had been using one purchased himself by choice for a fair while now in TT races and now his girlfriend uses it since it seems Enios have gone exclusively Princeton that is double the price.

This makes no sense and hurts the credibility of the rest of your post. Sounds like the stereotypical things a journo says in a wheel review. You can't feel a 200g difference on a 75,000-100,000g system when you're accelerating, let alone at speed. Especially when HED is top-class in aero performance.

LOL says the man who says I'll lose time on braking ;)

Yes, the difference in braking is significant enough that you can feel it. The difference in acceleration is so small that it's not measurable, let alone felt.

Edit: my textured Enve brake surface combined with the big blue Reynolds pads were as good as it gets for carbon. It's good in the dry, especially. But when I borrowed my wife's Jet set, it was just night and day coming down big climbs.

You’re funny! What about carrying that 300g extra up that climb and time savings? Now I only brake when absolutely need to wiping off enough speed not to crash on bends or corners and I can generally do that regardless of wheels or brake surfaces just physics. I have a jet disc and a set of jet black wheels. What was the difference compared to a Caden disc?

What about it? Plug it in a calculator if you want. If I remember correctly, it comes out to losing roughly 2 minutes up Alpe d'Huez if you add about 2000g. Change d'Huez to whichever speedbump you're riding up in a typical triathlon and reduce that 2000g to 300g. You'll probably want to come down the other end of that hill, where aero and good brakes save time. Good brakes allow for braking later and the added confidence matters, btw. Not a big difference if it's dry and you have the best carbon setup (imo, Enve/Campy with Reynolds big blue), but we're talking about tiny differences if you think 300g matters in tri. The difference between these wheels is more like 200g, btw.

Has any 3rd party tested Caden? Could be fast. Maybe not. All we know is that HED Jet is proven and the variation between discs is enough to overcome a 300g weight difference. If we say the Caden is the most aero disc wheel ever, it still won't be 1+ minute faster than HED over 180km.

If the cost difference doesn't matter to your finances, I'd recommend including Caden as an option. But to say you're getting your money's worth in performance over HED is just not true.

Edit: Is this the right time to admit I also bought a wheel that is more expensive and possibly slower than HED, partly because it's light? Lol

Just say you bought it for the whomp-whomp, no one ever questions that...

No I just bought a better wheel 😉

Edit: These ‘speed bumps’ I ride up are they the ’big climbs’ you save time on descending?

How are you finding the Caden disc?

As a long time Hed wheel user (over 10 years) including their tri spokes I am a massive fan of Caden wheels and with no testing the disc/tri spoke combo feel the fastest wheel set I have ever used IMO.

Yeah I might buy a Caden disc. Struggling to find a disc brake disc wheel tubular. Nothing on the 2nd hand market.

Tubular? Why not just run a tubeless?

Yeah maybe. I like my tubs though!

Hadn't realised the Caden disc was a spoked wheel. You don't rate the HED discs?

I was running the Jet Black rims with TriRig brakes front and rear on a Speedmax a couple of years ago. It worked wonderfully well. I swapped out the rear brake for an Ultegra direct mount, needed the TriRig for the front of another build. The slight improvement in braking power made the HED Jet+ Black disc almost unrideable, the braking was too strong and with the slightest bit of panic braking, combined with the forward weight distribution on the TT bike, it would lock up.

Like you, the various HED Black wheels are my favorite.

Back to the OP's question, IMO he won't give up anything w/ a HED Jet+ disc.

The Caden is a pretty wild design. The spokes actually cross each other lengthwise left to right side and can only assume the spoke nipples are on opposing sides of the rim to give it strength and a perfect 3 degree lenticular slope I believe. This allows the disc wheel at the hub to be super narrow and unbelievable weight for a spoked wheel. I rated my Hed Jet disc/Hed H3+ combo until I rode the Caden disc/Caden tri spoke combo and it’s definitely faster IMHO. Their wheels have been used and trialed in the European pro peloton by some high ranking reams and aero gurus.

Have a read of the last paragraph of this article. I went to Ben’s headquarters to buy the wheels and he’s an interesting character and definite deep thinker about wheels and aero.

https://www.thespoken.cc/caden-wheel-review

Awesome thanks for the feedback mate. Will defo consider it. Not much else out there.

x2