I have been researching the HED3 wheel to find out how much the wheel has changed over time. I have had little luck finding the information. Does anybody know this information or know where I can locate it? Thanks.
It was originally a wheel that DuPont was working on with Specialized (and Steve Hed). Specialized was then marketing the wheel for a number of years and Steve Hed then took it over at Hed. All in all it is very unchanged since the late 1990’s
The original ad was "Turning the page of this magazine has more wind resistance than this wheel at 30mph"…I am not sure how true that was.
Thanks R10C - It appears from all pictures I have seen that the shape is identical, but I am also curious about whether or not they have changed the carbon to one of the latest generation carbons that have hit the market in the last few years.
I still have an old Specialized and an 02 HED3
there may be small differences but the main one is weight
.
I am sure they’ve changed the carbon. I think the first Specialized tri spoke was around in the late 80’s early 90’s and it was flat black with yellow* Specialized *decals.
Yes they have changed the carbon and the wheel is probably 40% lighter now too.
I have one of the last Specialized wheels. It has a weave carbon finish. HED has updated the layup many times to trim the weight of the wheel (I’d guess the Al in the rim has been updated as well). The mold remained unchanged.
Have both but no good scale
On an old bathroom scale the Specialized
clencher with tire and tube is about 3lbs
and the HED3 tube with tire is just over 2lbs
the wheels are 700c
.
Thanks guys. I have an older (05-06) pair on my old 650 bike. I use them for training because I think they are bomb-proof and they are so heavy that they make climbing significantly more challenging than standard spoked wheels and some ten year old nimble crosswinds. I have some 700c zipp 404’s on the new bike and I am debating on getting a pair of the HED3’s for it.
Get a disc for the rear (lighter and more aero than an H3). The H3 front is a good choice for flat/rolling courses when the crosswinds aren’t too bad (good to have a 404 as an alternative).
Thats one reason I no longer own HED3’s. Living in mountains and climbing 1,000’s of ft per day is not a place for the HED3. They are very fast for sure. But using them for climbing hurts : )
Yep … other than the weight and stickers nothing much has changed. We did tinker with the hubs a bit this year to lighten the wheel up a bit and make trueing a little easier.
Other than that, its the same wheel as it was when steve picked up the patent
Get a disc for the rear (lighter and more aero than an H3). The H3 front is a good choice for flat/rolling courses when the crosswinds aren’t too bad (good to have a 404 as an alternative).
404 is almost as fast as the hed3 with less surface area for cross winds. not to mention the 404 is spoked wheel and more comfortable.
the hed3 is just outdated at this point and i dont understand why people continue to use it.
Get a disc for the rear (lighter and more aero than an H3). The H3 front is a good choice for flat/rolling courses when the crosswinds aren’t too bad (good to have a 404 as an alternative).
404 is almost as fast as the hed3 with less surface area for cross winds. not to mention the 404 is spoked wheel and more comfortable.
the hed3 is just outdated at this point and i dont understand why people continue to use it.
It’s faster (depending on conditions). Here’s LA at last year’s TdF using a H3 and a 60mm wheel for different TTs (we all know he does a lot of research/testing on getting the fastest equipment).
http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/news/2009/02/18/1234994579638-1pkx20ux0a4jj-480-90-480-70.jpg
http://www.highsnobiety.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/trek-marc-newson-1.jpg
H3 looks cool…
My understanding is similar to others. Specialized developed it with Hed, and built a factory in Spain with Spanish government assistance I seem to recall. They estimated huge numbers would be sold, but only ever sold 5-10% of the numbers they thought. Eventually went bust I think, and HED picked up the pieces and put their own stickers on the wheels. (and other brand stickers as pro teams required)
Then a few years ago (3 years ago?) I heard they changed the rim shape to match their other wheels (ie the toroidal shape?)
Also, there have been uber deep rim versions (prototype and pro wheels only as far as I know) and disc versions (basically a flat sheet of carbon filling in the holes in between the spokes. There was even a version called “kona” that was the disc version, but with circular holes cut in the flat section of the disc, but as far as I know, this wasn’t actually approved for use at Kona as it still had too much surface area for the winds that often plage that race.
Mine are standard HED3’s in 650 size with ali clincher rims. I love mine. A co-worker has some 700C ali clincher Specialized branded ones and he loves his too. The only issue we both have, is that the rear wheels run slightly out of true with a tiny wobble (the fronts are perfect however). Of course, being all carbon, there is no fix for this unfortunately.
At about 400km of use, my rear bearing fell apart at Challenge Wanaka 09, ending my race. The bearing cone had cracked and almost fell out, making an increasingly bad noise until I was forced to stop. My mechanic replaced the cone (and the bearings) and took out a piece of swarf that he found in the bearing (it had been making a strange noise all along) and now it’s “sweeeeeeet as bro”.
Now if I could just make them spin faster on race day! 
Yep … other than the weight and stickers nothing much has changed. We did tinker with the hubs a bit this year to lighten the wheel up a bit and make trueing a little easier.
Other than that, its the same wheel as it was when steve picked up the patent
“make trueing them a little easier.” How in the Wide, Wide World of Sports does one true a Hed 3 carbon wheel?
A C2 H3 would be awesome for larger riders who use a 23mm tire.
well vince is from hed where they actually create them soooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Yep … other than the weight and stickers nothing much has changed. We did tinker with the hubs a bit this year to lighten the wheel up a bit and make trueing a little easier.
Other than that, its the same wheel as it was when steve picked up the patent
“make trueing them a little easier.” How in the Wide, Wide World of Sports does one true a Hed 3 carbon wheel?
A C2 H3 would be awesome for larger riders who use a 23mm tire.
or you could put the fork or alcohol down
sips another sip of red wine
don’t tell me how tall you are I’m tall too! walk it off!
another sip of wine