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IB13: Amazing HED Carbon Tubeless Fat Bike Rim – Plus New Lighter Ardennes & Gravel Road Bike

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What started out as a tri-spoke full carbon wheel concept became a simple, extremely light carbon rim.

“We started out with a traditional shape like what we were used to, but we weren’t going to get to a weight that we wanted,” said Steve Hed. “We knew we wanted tubeless and we wanted it to be as light as possible. We started out with a target of 550g. Then we got to 450g, now we’re 420g and we’re not sure how light we an go yet.”

It uses a twin channel system. You put the bead in the center and it settles into the inside channels. At that point, it’s sealed and you just start pumping it up. Once it gets to a certain pressure, it just pops out to the outside bead hook. Hed says there are a lot of pieces in the mold to get the internal shaping right.

Check out detail pics and more, plus their new Ardennes road wheels, disc hub updates and an actual complete steel bike…

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These are set up with the 45 North tire and just one scoop of Stan’s sealant and Gorilla tape just over the spoke holes. He says it can hold on as low as 5-7psi.

A complete set of wheels is likely to come in just under $2,000. They’re still testing the water on final pricing and whether they’ll sell just rims. They’re not quoting pricing for rims, but back out the math a bit from a complete build and you’re likely looking at about $800 per rim. Shipping in November.

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He’s still considering final spike hole placement. A single straight line is easiest to seal, but they’re looking at how well that builds up.

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They had a gravel bike at NAHBS to showcase the new Ardennes+ disc brake wheels, they just didn’t call a lot of attention to it. It’s built by Erik Noren of Peacock Groove, and they’re likely going to offer it for sale. It’ll be $1,795 for frame and fork.

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The fork is made to fit 650B mountain bike wheels and tires.

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Thru axle front and rear, so all the disc brake hubs are convertible from QR to TA.

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Also, all disc hubs will be CenterLock instead of six bolt…like on the Ardennes+ shown at NAHBS (more info here and here).

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The new Ardennes FR that takes the tubeless ready bead hook of the wider “+” models and puts it on their lighter 23mm wide (17.5mm inside) rims. They’re 25mm deep and weigh in at 420g each. Complete wheelset is 1,335g. Retail is $1,400.

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They use a new, lighter front hub with better bearings. Spokes move a bit further outboard so it can be stiffer, and overall it drops about 10g to come in around 70g.

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And did you know they do anodized color accents for their hubs?

HedCycling.com

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19 Comments
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B
B
10 years ago

*Erik Noren

Frank
Frank
10 years ago

I’m glad I held our and didn’t buy the Borealis rims. Saved 130 grams!

Srsly though, how wide are these? (I ask with the same profane curiosity I would use to ask how many horsepower a particular Ferrari has)

john
10 years ago

That is the lightest fatbike in the world – the Beargrease Carbon showbike with these rims!

Lancelot
Lancelot
10 years ago

How wide are they?

blake
blake
10 years ago

The frame builders name is Erik Noren, he does amazing work.

IvanMTB
IvanMTB
10 years ago

Width please!!!

Cheers!
I.

Jason
Jason
10 years ago

When will this fad die?

Mindless
Mindless
10 years ago

@Jason: You mean radial lacing and rim brakes? Can’t die soon enough.

JR Z
JR Z
10 years ago

Either Hed didn’t do their research very well or they don’t intend those rims to be used in the winter: Holding “on as low as 5-7psi” will not be enough. I’m a skinny dude (140 lbs soaking wet) and I occasionally run below 3 psi in my rear tire, and an unreadable pressure (maybe ~.5 psi) in the front in the winter just to get enough float in certain conditions.

Hollowgram5
Hollowgram5
10 years ago

Frame builder is Eric Noren, not Eric Nord.. LOL

Cool the bike is designed to run 650b as well, not surprised coming from Eric. Super forward-thinking guy! Makes it super versatile!

wheelz
wheelz
10 years ago

@Jason: Fat tires are the only way to ride on sand, snow, or non-manicured trails in general. Fatbikes are the only true “go anywhere” bikes in existense. Unlike fixies, these bikes actually have a purpose.

Great Gazoo
Great Gazoo
10 years ago

Yeah but can I mount these to a FixxiePhatty? I’ve got some PBR and Skinny Jeans. I think I can find thermal Skinny Jeans for the winter, would this make my Skinny Jeans look even Skinnier?

Rad
Rad
10 years ago

@Jason: Believe it or not, some of us actually have snow 5+ months of the year.

MB
MB
10 years ago

@JRZ – you are in the minority both in body size and pressures. Sounds like you need some XC skis or snowshoes 😉

A-ron
A-ron
10 years ago

And a sandwich.

Quickie
Quickie
10 years ago

Seriously, get that aberration of a bike off my lawn…punk kids.

IvanMTB
IvanMTB
10 years ago

Found it on STW.

85mm.

Cheers!
I.

Jason
Jason
10 years ago

@ Rad, I live in one of those places. That’s why I ski in the winter.

MissedThePoint
MissedThePoint
10 years ago

With all these high performance fatbike parts, more fatbike races are due to sprout up.

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