Anyone ever use these? Front and/or rear? What are you opinions, how do they compare to other aero wheels? Any and all input would be appreciated.
New 2006 Jets or previous years?
Previous years, not ancient, but a year or two old.
I have a Jet DEEP rear that I used before I got a disc, and I still use in Kona. According to some, it’s the most aero wheel next to a disc. The drawback being that it is more susceptible to crosswinds.
I wouldn’t mind trying one on the front to go with my disc.
The Jet’s are built like a regular wheel. AL rim with a carbon fairing, so it’s heavier than an all carbon wheel, but has (arguably) better braking.
I use one as a front wheel paired with a disc for TT/Tri use. Its a fun wheel. I always feel faster with it. Am I faster? I have no clue. I never race without it! I don’t find it to be a problem in crosswinds and I am 140lbs. Then again, I ride a motorcycle when i am not on the bicycle, and I have a very relaxed grip on the bars.
http://static.flickr.com/26/61112612_5324e01dd5_o.jpg
The only beef I have with my 2005 650c Jet Deep rear is it catches water if it’s raining. Water enters through the holes in the carbon fiber where the spokes pass through to the aluminum rim. On the plus side it’s reasonably light and quite durable. Because it has 24 spokes it’s a bit more comfortable to ride than a disc over a long haul. We all know that comfort during a long course event might positively impact your bottom line. Very quiet hub ratchets/pawls.
Overall a good wheel that I recommend. Significantly less expensive than a Zipp 808.
A couple follow up questions, not just for you but in general.
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How would you compare a HED DEEP front to a HED. 3 in terms of aerodynamics and crosswind susceptibilty?
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Hypothetically, how would you compare these 2 wheel pairs for those issues: Disc rear and tri spoke front vs. Hed Deep Pair
My brother is looking for some aero wheels but handling may be an issue.
HED 3 vs. HED DEEP - I think someone from HED once posted that the DEEP is more aero, but the HED 3 is more versatile because of handling. There is definitely more bling to the H3, particularly a H3c, but the DEEP might be a better value.
I think a Disc rear trumps any differences between a H3 and a DEEP in the front. With a Disc in the back, either front would be great. Conventional wisdom says that the H3 would be more stable in crosswinds, although Zipp is claiming that isn’t true vis a vis their 808.
Hmmm…there is the question. So I agree the disc is definitely more aero than the DEEP rear. However you said you believe the DEEP front is more aero than the HED3 front. I think the disc is the bigger advantage so that pair would definitely be more aero, although not tremendously more aero as the DEEP front is good.
So then handling, how does a pair of DEEPs compare to a Disc/HED 3 combo? If the DEEPs were thought to handle significantly better and were slightly less aero that might be a worthwhile tradeoff. If handling was equal than the more aero combo (Disc/H3) wins outright.
I’ve had several sets of Jet’s, among them Jet DEEP and DEEP CX. I dislike the Jet DEEP. It feels mickey mouse to me, as it is a regular wheel with a fairing on it. The spokes go through the fairing to the rim. The DEEP CX is an integrated carbon rim that the spokes attach to, rather than run through to the rim. It feels more like what a wheel should, to me.
I had a pair of DEEP CX, both front and rear, painted bright yellow, on a Litespeed Blade a few years ago. Those wheels rocked. I sold them because they didn’t go with my red Calfee.
Now I ride on a Zipp disc and a CX (not deep) front. I’m trying to find a DEEP CX front, but won’t buy a Jet DEEP front due to reasons listed above.
I have absolutely no way to compare them to a trispoke, but I just don’t like those trispokes.
The Disc in back isn’t going to affect handling as much as the front wheel. I wouldn’t say that a pair of DEEPs would handle significantly better than a H3/Disc combo. I would go for the disc first and then worry about the front wheel. The aero and handling differences between a H3/Disc and a DEEP/Disc setup would be small. Conventional wisdom says that the H3/Disc would handle slightly better with an equally small aero penalty.
I’m sure Andy at Hed could could offer insight on this relative to their data, but from our testing of our own products and the Hed products we have seen that the Hed Deep is slightly more aero than the H3 with about a 15-20% reduction in side force in a crosswind. I know Andy has said before that he thought the H3 was less affected by cross-winds, but all of the data we have taken over the last 6 years disagrees with that, although they may have a different testing protocol or something that is giving different data. We measure side force and torque on the wheel about the axle centerline in the wind tunnel, and find both of these values to be lower with deep style rims than a 3 spoke even on prototype rims over 100mm deep.
The disc in the rear issue also largely depends on the bike you are riding. Some highly optimized frames with wheel cuttouts benefit more with a disc than others, so on a P3 for example a disc in the rear will be more of a performance gain over a Deep rear than you could expect on a Cannondale IM frame for example. The other advantage to the rear disc is that it will move your aerodynamic center of pressure rearward, which somewhat reduces the steering inputs caused by cross-wind forces. Whereas if you ran a deep front with a conventional rear wheel the cross-wind stability issues would actually be amplified as the total side force on the bike will be lower, but it will be more front biased and therefore affect the steering.
josh
I am selling a HED DEEP CX 700c tubular rear wheel if you are interested. 4 years old but <100miles, ex condition. Great wheel but bought a disc.
I have been riding my Jet Deep on the back and a Jet 60 on the front for a long while now. I do not notice any difference in regards to wind over my regular wheels. I have been riding this set up for a long time so maybe I am used to it by now. I was very fortunite to meet Annie Hed in Hawaii years back and bought them off her for $400 for the pair. I have had them tuned up once in that time and other than that they are great wheels.
Yes when it rains they tend to fill up but to be honest, that has only been one race. Since then I have used my training wheels with better tires for the rain.
My only thought at this moment is whether I should get the RENN disk or just stick with the Jet Deep.
I have a pair of Hed CX but haven’t heard of CX deep. How deep is the rear wheel? Mine is similar to a Zipp 404…I think around 55-60mm.
I have an old 8spd rear Jet Deep, I like it. It’s been superseded by a CH Aero ‘disk’, which appears to be only very slightly faster than the Jet - on the order of seconds over 20k (but faster is faster 
The alu rims aren’t a problem for me, it’s a better braking surface. The front wheel is a Zipp 440 all-carbon, hit the brakes on that and I can see the brake pad shredding.
Get a CarbonLite Stinger 90 rear and a 50 front instead of the Jet.