I gotta put up a public thank you to my friends at Hed wheels, who, over the years, have always done a great job taking excellent care of us and going above and beyond. I was packing for the Laguna Phuket Triathlon and realized I didn’t have any 700c tubular race wheels I wanted to use there. I called Hed and they set me up with a great set of Hed Alps 700c tubulars on Shimano cassette and they’ll have them here by Friday. They always come through. As many other Slowtwitchers have pointed out on this forum before, Hed is a great company to do business with with some great products. Five stars.
Tom,
I have the 650c Alps and think they are fantastic. Why did you choose the Alps or was that all you could get on such short notice?
ps…Michigan 35 Ohio St 14
I decided to use the 50mm deep Alps tubulars since I don;t have a really specific idea of what the course profile and pvement are like. Slowtwitchers have geiven me a pretty good idea what the course is like but the pavement (especially in a jungle environment) could have changed substantially since last year’s event- for better or worse. So, I will be running 21mm Tufo tubulars, an 11-23 and the Hed Alps. These wheels should adapt to about any terrain pretty readily.
Hey Tom, what’s you take on the 3 spoke v. Alps or other deep rim (Zipp404 come to mind) as all round race wheels, specifically in your view are the 3 spokes more suited to flatter course given the increase in weight of the 3 spoke v the deep rim? Am looking for some race wheels for my P2. My primary race next year is IM Mo, but local race is IMC.
p/s any new reviews planned for the near future?
Hey SimpleS, I decided to use the Alps since my friends at Hed gave me a fair price on them and they got them shipped today as well as the wheels’ versatility. I love Zipps and I have a set of 650c 909’s which I regard as my favorite race wheels. I also like Hed 3s on flatter terrain. Again, I have little idea what the pavement will be like in Thailand so with the help of the guys at Hed I got a versatile, fast, light aerodynamic wheelset that will work on any pavement or terrain and I could get quickly at a reasonable cost. That’s Hed. The other thing that was critical about this deal is it was time sensitive. Based on my expereince when the guys at Hed tell me they are going to something, they do it. That is key with this deal.
I’ve got some ideas for reviews right now and actually have a number of them written but I’ve also been involved in several other writing projects (two books) and trying to navigate through the wreckage that was this past year of my life so, I think I’ll just go to Thailand and worry about the whole mess when I get back… 
Hey Tom,
Good luck in Thailand, it sounds like getting away for awhile will do you some good. Have a great race, and enjoy the moment.
Tom,
That’s exactly the wheelset I would recommend for Phuket. Light and aero. They are the most similar wheels to the Campy Bora wheels I borrowed for that race last year, but at half the price (or maybe less in your case;-)
You’re going to love Phuket, both the race and the destination!
Not to mention the pronunciation… 
Phuket - let’s just race!
mmm Lets see,
pretend I manufacture wheels. I get a phone call from the owner of a bike shop. The owner races triathlon and a lot of my market is triathletes. The owner has a high internet profile on many websites. The owner sells stock to a lot fo triathletes. The owner is more than likely going to tell at least a few if not few hundred people about the sort of service i now give him. What do I do??? mmmm…
pretend I am an unorganised triathlete, am only a mid to back of packer, work as a hydrolic fitter at a machining plant, I am packing for a race and think - oh it would be nice to have a new set of race wheels - I ring a wheel manufacturer and ask them to ship me race ready wheels with 48 hours, and heck - I’ll fix you guys up after I get back from over seas. I wonder if hte response is the same???
Tom, you had a lot of respect from me as your posts are usually excellent - but this post is crap. Just be thankful and keep your business affairs to yourself. I am all for people giving there thoughts on the service they get - but ordinary peole.
Don’t take this too much to heart - as I said 99.5% of your other posted are excellent,
Integrity is my favourtie word.
a-men, would HED do this for the rest of us? No way!! I needed my HED JET back for Ironman Florida 3 years ago with its second broken nipple.(manufacturer error) I ended up buying a Zipp as it wasnt fixed in time, nor a replacement offered. Non bike shop owners rarely get the special treatment.
Easy triggers - it could depends on the circumstances. Last May my HED-3 delaminated badly 2-3 days before a 1/2 IM. I was in the middle of nowhere - race site is on the GA/NC border. I immediately contacted Annie Hed, relayed the cirmcumstances. Without hesitation, she sent me a HED-3 by overnight fed. ex. Since I had no access to a bike shop, they even sent it with a brand new tire and tube installed. This is twice that HED has stepped up to the plate on issues for me. Personally I think their customer service is fantastic.
that is great service, now I feel even more slighted.
Hey Straight, Well, I guess you culd have a point, however, my expereince with Hed wheels has been that they DO work this way with every customer. Whether they buy a number of wheels from them or just a pair. Truth be told, if you total up the business we do with Hed every year it is not huge. Mission Bay, Nytro and a large number of others do many, many times more business that my little place. Also, I have called Hed for a customer in a jam and goten the same satisfaction on behalf of a customer. The people at Hed don;t owe me any favors. I’m not a “gold key” customer to them. Since I;ve been doing business with them I’ve always had good experiences with them. They are honest, forthright people who do the best they can. It is also possible I could have called them and said, “Ahh, I goofed up, I have no race wheels and I’m leaving Sunday…” They could have then said, “Well, we don’t have much right now either, we just shipped out some big preseasons and it will be a few days before we have anything built again.” That happens to the best of wheel manufacturers. I’m giving credit where it is due, not just based on one experience, but on many. Frankly, I;ve never had a bad experience with Hed. As a matter of fact, maybe we should start doing more business with them… It is even worth mentioning, for the purpose of this discussion, that Hed basically invented the race wheel as we know it today. In my book, that counts for something too.
And as far as integrity- Man, you pressed a button there my friend. I dated a woman for over a year who had this stupid, absurd little “inspirational” sign hung in her bathroom about integrity. She wound up lying to me for months, breaking every promise, leading me on, taking advantage of me and cheating on me within weeks of my best friend’s death. Oh, she skipped out early on my friend’s funeral too. I was so upset I could barely drive home and never did make it to his wake. She always talked about “honesty and integrity”. What bullshit. As far as I am concerned her little sign was right where it belongs- it the bathroom with the rest of her shit. I’m sure right now she is telling some other stupid guy (like me) “Oh, I am all about marrying you…The second I saw you I knew I wanted to marry you…blah, blah, blah.” What bullshit. Integrity? My expereince is that people who sling the “I” word around a lot usually can talk the talk but never have the moral fiber to walk the walk.
Now, my friend, I presume I don’t know you, so please don’t take offense at my comments- Obviously you’ve hit a nerve with me (not your fault). But the people at Hed are straight-up and deserving of credit not just for a favor granted to me, but for the way they’ve done business pretty much from day one. I really believe that, or else I wouldn’t have posted it or bought wheels from them. -Put it this way, there are probably six companies I could have called for wheels…
Tom, you and your (x)-wife tales always make me smile Even when you are pissed of by a post it´s fun to here your description of our better halfs. That´s just what I needed on this dark and rainy day here in Scandinavia.
Have a nice race on the new HED´s.
Well, we never were married or even engaged. I’m glad people can see the humor in it. From a detached perspective, it was a complete circus. I wish I could have the entire experience surgically removed from my brain. It ruins my faith in people to have someone betray me after making me all these heavy promises. Everyone is different though. I made huge mistakes in the relationship too and I’m sure she says the same things to her friends about me as I say about her. I can’t wait until it doesn’t matter to me any more. In the mean time, it has been a source of amusement to a lot of people and there is some good in that I guess. I wouldn’t wish what I went through with her on my worst enemy. I hope she finds her version of happiness, whatever it is, far, far away from here. Last I heard she had moved to Chicago. I wish it was Pluto.
Over the last few years, HED has built up a few sets of wheels for me on short notice. And not just high-dollar wheels… some of these were Jets wheels for my kids, which they certainly don’t make much money on. Additionally, they have been very helpful on wheel-related matters for wheels that they didn’t even build! HED has always done a great job taking excellent care of us and going above and beyond too.
Who am I? I’m not Tom Demerly… I’m not a pro or big bike shop owner. I’m nobody… I’m John Doe… I’m that unorganized triathlete. Until this summer I hadn’t even met the Hed’s. After meeting and visiting with Annie and Steve Hed in August, I can tell you that they are, as we say here: “good people”.
I’ve done business with two other wheel companies, so I have something to compare them too. HED is a great company to do business with, with some great products, and continuous innovations from the mind of Steve Hed. I’m a HED customer for life. I give them six stars.
No real comment on the HED folks other than they have been helpful in the past and I am an absolute nobody.
My question reveloves around wheel choices for varying conditions. I have a set of 650 Hed3’s I race in all conditions although in Texas hills are not as big a deal but the wind is. I am 190 lbs so I am a big guy ( refuse to race Clydesdale). Question is: in a windy race/course would I be better off with a spoked /mid depth wheel on the front and Hed 3 on the back than the pair of Hed3’s?
Thanks
fal7
I think it depends on HOW windy. I’m about 175 and race (and often train) on my HED 3’s. If it’s too windy and I don’t think I can control the bike at high speed in a crosswind, I’ll put on an Alps (or if it’s really windy my Rolf) front wheel. I’ve been in a couple of races where a storm comes through and blows over 20mph and I was fine with my H3 front. I would do a little bob-and-weave with the gusts but I’m used to that. If you can control it and feel secure, use the H3, if not, go to a traditional type of front wheel.
He doesn’t need me to step in here, but if you actually read his posts he says, “I love Zipps and I have a set of 650c 909’s which I regard as my favorite race wheels.”
So my guess is he’s far from a paid endorser of HED. Unless you’ve called HED why would you expect your service to be any different? They replaced a bent axle for free for me on a tri-spoke. While this may not be alarming, I was pleased considering the wheel had SPECIALIZED written down one of the spokes. Their service is exemplary.