Fat Boy

Hey all,

Does anyone know if the HED Ardennes rims are available as a rim only, or can you get only get it as a complete wheelset?

kukusz

hedtech@hedcycling.com

Mellowman

doubt it, they spend a lot on marketing the rim to get you to buy the expensive wheelset.

btw, I think what they claim is the exact opposite of reality.

Fat Boy

I haven't gotten a reply from my email. Why do you think their ride claim is wrong?

cslone

Call them. Someone always anwers during business hours.

But my guess would be no on the rim only.

Mellowman

wider rim means less tire side wall which means a harsher ride.

Fat Boy

I agree that less of a sidewall means a harsher ride, but that's not all that it's doing. It's changing the shape of the sidewall. Having worked quite a bit with car tires I can tell you that they are weird things that act in strange ways.

OK, update. Forget the HED rims. I've found that Salsa makes a rim called the Delgado Cross. It's a 22.5mm wide rim and it's cheap. I'm sure it's not as high as quality as the HED and the wheelset wouldn't be 1350 grams, but it seems like it would do a very similar job.

I don't need to have a 32 spoke wheel, I'm not very heavy. However, it might be a good chance to see how all this works together. Does anyone have any insight on this combonation? Do more spokes make a rim ride better or worse? I can see arguments in both directions.

acorn_user

The CTC (cyclists touring club) says the same thing as HED, which is why they recommend the DRC St19, which has an internal width of 17mm. Of course, that is for wider 28mm tyres, but the argument they make is the same; rounder shape to the tyre.

Fat Boy

Which is that, the wider it is the better it rides or the worse it rides? The DRC St19 seems to be more of a touring tire, and apparently they're a bear to mount tires on from the little bit of research I did.

auk

The wider rim allows the tire to compress in a linear manner. It also helps in cornering due to the fact that the tire does not micro-buckle as the weight of the rider is transfered.

Surferbruce

salsa delgados are great rims.

acorn_user

They reckon it should ride better.

"The biggest tyre that Mavic recommend for that rim is 25mm. I reckon you're okay with 28mm, but 32 is pushing it. The tyre will sort-of fit, but adopt a more bulbous profile than intended and suffer increased sidewall stress, hence may be more prone to failure. And road-holding will not be so good due to the tendency of a bulbous tyre to roll sideways. These dangers and defects may nevertheless be acceptable if that's the only way you can get enough comfort without new rims; and one advantage of that bulbous shape is you get even more comfort – than when the same tyre is on its proper rim.
The optimum rim width, for tyres of 28 or 32mm section, is 15 to 17mm between flanges. Mavic used to make some rims like that, but have recently allowed a yawning gap to appear in their 700C product range: between the racing rims – all about 13mm between flanges – and the 19mm rims that go better with 37mm or wider "trekking" tyres. Granted, you can also fit a 28 or 32mm on these, but they won't roll as smoothly or give as much comfort as they ought to. Unfortunately: many shops find it convenient not to stock any other brand of rim than Mavic, and foist one extreme or the other onto the occasional tourist who dares to darken their door!

But if you (and your wheelbuilder) are prepared to consider other brands, there are still a few 17mm rims about. Perhaps the best currently available is model ST19, made by DRC in Milan and not expensive at £22 each from Withington Cycles (0845 345 8119 – www.withingtoncycles.co.uk)."

https://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3827