Hmmm, based on what you're saying I bet you'll be OK. One thing to be careful about, check very closely for structural damage. You (hopefully) should be able to see it. Put it in a truing stand to check the run-out. There is an engraved number on the rim of HED wheels that depicts the "run-out" from the factory. If you have a dial indicator truing stand at your LBS they can check that for you. Carefully inspect the aluminum rim for any dents. That is a worrisome sign if you find them. If there are none, you might be fine.

In general HED wheels are pretty durable.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

This post and the one about HED selling out of spec wheels on his site brings up an interesting point. Our current standard at Spinergy is .020 inches maximum runout on any wheel we ship. We constantly get calls from dealers and consumers reporting wheels "way out of true and unrideable" most times when we get those wheels back they are on the high side of the spec. If this HED wheel in question is truly 2- 2 and 1/2 mm out of true, that is about .080 inches. Just for kicks I went out back and " adjusted" a wheel to .040 out. The spec on some of HED's blems. I wouldn't expect to see a wheel that out of true on a low end mountain bike never mind a high end race bike. I am not saying that performance is affected by out of true wheels. I will leave that up to Kraig Willet and the other engineers out there. I have personally seen the Rev-X wheels that Sergi Outchakov used to outsprint Lance, back in 96 I believe, to win a Tour stage. Most people would consider those wheels way out of true, but he called them his lucky wheels and refused to swap them out. What I am asking is why the HED out of spec wheels are considered a good deal and this guy wants to buy a wheel that is 4 times more out of true then the worst wheels we ship, but I just took a call from a customer who feels that .020 is not acceptable and wants his money back? Are there just two groups of riders? Those who dont care about trueness and those who are anal about it?

Thanks for the replies

I do care if it is true or not but the price is $50.00 and thats always worth considering!

AndyA

one millimeter is .039 of an inch so 2-2.5 mm is .080-.100 of an inch. i seriously doubt any one would sell a wheel this far out of true. he might think it is 2-2.5 mm but it can't be. i know Hed would never send anything out this out of true....so, he is either mistaken by the runout estimate or the wheel is broken. our max total runout is .020 and like the spinergy guys said some customers will demand better. the 5-7-5 has been running .010 to .015.

frank rehnelt

I have an older HED disk and a newer set of Zipp 404's. I have been suspect of the disk for a couple of years and the Zipps feel strange when riding, almost bumpy.

What would be the best way to get these wheels checked for true, etc.?

we use a dial indicator (measures to a thousandth of an inch). this is the most accurate way. some bike shops have them. have a good mechanic check them out. it might also be tires. i've seen $100 tires that have more then a millimeter of hop and if they are tubular they have to lined up as well. if this is done badly they will also look out of true. tufo tires line up easily, conti can be tricky.

frank

Since the other wheel guys are in on this then I will go ahead and jump in too. Our spec on a disc is .025, on H3s, .030, wire spoked wheels, .025. This is the worst we want to see them, most of the time they are better. 2 1/2 mm is way over spec. The wheel has either been damaged or someone has messed with the cassette body. If it were me I would check very closely for crash damage, and also ask if anyone has ever removed the cassette body. Either of these could make the wheel way out of true.

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Andy Tetmeyer (I work at HED)

Paul,

I think in some cases it isn't the customer, it is the product. You are selling apples, and no matter how tasty and ripe they are, some folks just want an orange...or fig


...starfruit?

On another note, my Zipp is "truer" in the wheel stand than my Comete, but the Comete simply [i]rolls[/i] truer. There is less lateral flex and it feels faster under violent acceleration. I cannot measure it, and in reality with me as the pilot, neither wheel is fast.


-SD

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

Yeah...I have Contis on 'em all. Maybe it is just the mechanic who installed them...me!

What is the trick to gertting tubulars lined up correctly?

The trick to getting tubs lined up correctly is the stretching of them. It took me a long time to get to stretching them correctly, and sometimes it is STILL difficult to get them stretched correctly. But I have lost lots of brain cells gluing tubs, and I think gluing a tub is about all I can remember to do these days.

I put them onto an old tub rim (or even a clincher wheel) and inflate them as much as I possibly can inflate them. This means about 180-200 psi. I leave them stretching for about two-five days, but I do know some mechanics who have left them stretching for weeks at a time, especially is they buy tyres in bulk. If it's early in the season, I have put about five tyres out for stretching and kept them inflated for weeks. I have even inflated for a few days, then physically stretched, then inflated on the rim again. Tufos are almost the easiest to mount out of the box. I am only going to use Tufos from now until doomsday.

If you look at the tyre well or recess (on the rim) and get the centre of the tyre onto the centre of the well, this helps. Making sure that you have the valve firmly implanted in the hole helps. But stretching they tyre is key. You should probably reglue your tyres at this point, anyhow. They will be stretched out enough.

Inspect the wheel carefully for any damage and use a dial indicated truing jig. 2.5mm would be just like a head tube on a frame being off by 5mm, it would be a reject. Most people tend to exaggerate how untrue a wheel is. If it is 2-2.5mm off in a dial-indicated truing jig, run from that purchase. But I seriously doubt that it is all of 2.5mm off.

From what I have heard wheel people say, front wheel trueness is a LOT more important than rear wheel trueness. Even there, like Paul said in another post, people have won races on wheels that are on the upper end of acceptably noticeable run-out.

Kraig, You are correct. It is about a $20 job to retrue the wheel if the cassette body has been removed. I am talking about the body, not the cogs themselves. The cogs could be changed daily, but if the body has been removed ...

If I were a betting man I would lay some money on the body having been taken off or replaced at some point.

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Andy Tetmeyer (I work at HED)

The infamous "Continental Hop" has nothing to do with prestretching the tires.

Out of about twenty pair of Contis I have purchased in the last five seasons, only about half were not "hoppy". This is one of the reasons why I am using Tufos from now on. But they were about half as "hoppy" with ample (and I mean ample) pre-stretching. But Tufos and Veloflex are the best, as far as non-"hoppy"-ness issues. Conti quality has gone WAAAAAAAAAAAY down, as far as tubular tyres go.

Bunnyman- I would think that you, of all people, would truly appreciate anything "hoppy" :-)



Sorry- not enough coffee yet.