Hangin in my local bike store, in little ol Auckland N.Z., are a pair of Specialised tri spoke racing wheels. They have been offered to me for $800 nz dollars. Another bike store has the new Hed3 racing wheels for $1850 nz dollars. My questions to those who can be bothered answering are as follows, Am i looking at an obselete product, as i understand it, Specialised sold their IP to Hed, and rest is history. The wheels have only been used a few times and have been for sale for quite a while, hence my hesitation! Any help / advice would be great. Cheers.
From what I understand, they’re essentially the same wheel. Hed did make some minor improvements. I believe the Heds are slightly lighter.
Yeah, I have heard information to the effect that they were manufacturered in a facility in Spain- both of them according to what I heard.
Totally unconfirmed third party conjecture.
Make sure your cassette will fit the hub.
Tucker
I’ve been using a pair of Specialized 3-spoke wheels for about 9 years, they are fabulous, and far from obsolete. i can’t imagine the Hed3’s being any better, considering that they are exactly the same wheel.
Just make sure the ones hanging in the shop are the 2nd generation ‘UL’ wheels. If they have a matte finish, they are the 1st generation wheels, which were heavier. The 2nd generation wheels have a glossy clear finish, visible carbon weave, and make sure you get wheels with a freehub. They were all 8speed compatible, I believe, so will also work with shimano 9 and 10 speed cassettes.
Thanks for your help! - this is a great forum.
I’ve had them both, they are the same.
do you know the actual weight difference between 1st and 2nd gen tri-spokes? Just curious . . .
I don’t recall the precise differences, but to the best of my memory it was north of 500 grams for the set. Probably more.
yeah i had the same question a few years ago, so i emailed HED and they said the same thing that the just lightened the hub (i dont know how much). So i bought the specialized trispoke, removed the specialized stickers and replaced the axle with a ti axle bought for like $11 on the cycling marketplace from kristin roberge. The wheel works great, save your money and get the specialized (assuming it will take a cassette).
jeremyb
I just got a set and the front has a few nicks in the Carbon. Anything to worry about?