dvdslw

I find myself really liking the new HED Ardennes+ Black edition wheelset. They are good looking, lightweight, wide, tubeless, and easily serviceable. The only down side is the price. The Black edition wheels have HED's new Turbine Braking Technology which is quite interesting and they claim 25% better dry braking and 70% better wet braking power and they did use some kind of coating on the brake track that looks really good and after researching online and contacting Hed it seems the finish is holding up so I like that too but would expect it to wear over time. I would like to hear from any Ardennes riders out there about the build quality and also any Caad10 owners who have them as well to know how they fit. My carbon wheels were just as wide so I don't expect any clearance issues but just in case? Here's the spec's and a few pics from their website;

• Rim TypeTubeless-ready clincher
• Rim Depth24.5mm
• Rim Width25mm
• Internal Rim Width20.7mm
• Braking SurfaceTurbine machined alloy
• Recommended Brake PadStandard alloy pad
• Hub ModelHed Sonic black
• Hub CompatibilityShimano/Campy 9, 10, 11
• Build and Spokes18/24 std or 20/28 Stallion
• Spoke TypeBladed steel
• Wheel size700c
• Powertap OptionYES
• Track OptionYes
• Wheel Set Weight1,430g
• Recommended Tire Size22mm+
• IncludesTitanium Skewers,Tubeless Rim Tape
• MSRP$1,600

redlude97

Ignoring price, HED ardennes are rock solid, and yes they look good. No idea if the brake surface works or is just marketing and if it will actually last.

UnfilteredDregs

How much are you spending? I have a set of Ardennes+.

dvdslw

Enough to buy them! Just want to be sure they are a wheel I can depend on with no surprises. I'm currently riding on Ultegra 6700's which are great wheels but had the itch for some new hoops. Tried the Assaults but had issues running them tubeless and returned them. Now I'm looking for the ultimate tubeless aluminum clincher and I believe these to be one of the best looking sets out there. I could save a few hundred bucks and get the Ardennes sl's which have a traditional brake track, steel skewers, white littering, and just don't have that sexy all black look.

GuitarBob

I'm digging the all black, but I imagine that it's going to wear through eventually -- and when that happens, my feeble psyche would be crushed.

UnfilteredDregs

The November RAILs, at less than the Ardennes+, CRUSH the HED product. Far stiffer wheel. No sag under load. My HED's are relegated to backup status.

You can still have your cake and eat it too... The RAILs are flawless run tubeless as well.

Walter

The Hed Ardennes has been on my wishlist for some time. The all black and tubeless increases that though I do feel you about price.

Unfortunately, I won't be giving you any reports on my set anytime soon.

Walter

November was new to me but like their stuff. Summer travel and a new AC has destroyed the budget for now but things will get better.

redlude97

a tall carbon setup is not an equal comparison to an aluminum wheel, even if they are cheaper.

dvdslw

Yes, different animals altogether and after the fiasco I went through with Reynolds about the inconsistent surface inside their carbon wheel not allowing a reliable tubeless setup, I'll stick with aluminum for now. Not saying that November's product has the same issue because I have no idea and his wheels look great but I'm done messing around and want some wheels that work.

dvdslw

Are you saying that the Ardenne's are a soft saggy wheelset? I get that if one had a set of blingy wheels they wouldn't ride the Hed's but before you bought the Rail's, how did they perform for you? How much do you weigh and which spoke count did you buy?

UnfilteredDregs

I'm 5'10' @205#.

I have the HED Ardennes+, Stallion build, 24/28, good to 245# as I understand it.

Damn good wheels.

Compared to Dave's wheels...soft & saggy. I disagree that it's an unfair comparison, meaning carbon versus aluminum.

This is wheels versus wheels.

In my experience dollar for dollar, and at a practically equal price point, Dave's wheels smoke the HEDs, and Dave stands behind his product (HED is great as well, awesome customer service..), no bull****. I spoke with him many times before my purchase. Drove him up the wall.

Marcus_Ti

My all-black HED Belgium+ rims stayed all black for about 2-3 weeks.

therhodeo

I still say I would get the November Nimbus TI with Pacenti rims. Considerably cheaper.

dvdslw

That's what scares me! I'd hate to pay up for the Black's and have the finish gone that soon. I understand it will wear off but it should last a while or its just highway robbery!

Marcus_Ti

Belgium rims cost the same whether they are black or not. In fact most rims sold retail, available in all black or standard brake track, as rims are like that. Last I knew the Ardennes wheels were the same, last I checked.

It is only the idiots at Campag (and other boutique facvtory wheels) with their "plasma(r)(tm)" brake track finish that charge more for black

dvdslw

That may be true but one thing I uncovered that I didn't know was the Belgium wheels are a std aluminm alloy and the Ardenne's are a lighter scandium alloy.

dvdslw

For those saying go with November, I'd like to have that as an option but the store I returned my Assaults to gave me store credit which I was happy to accept seeing as I returned the wheels 45 days past their return date. The wheels spent 6 weeks at Reynolds including 10 days of shipping so I technically had them in my possession under 30 days. I can however choose anything in stock but there's nothing I'm interested in or have him order something in from one of his suppliers.

So that's leaving me with factory built wheels from Zipp, Easton, Shimano, Enve, Reynolds (not), Profile Design, Fulcrum, Mavic, American Classic, and HED. Whatever wheel I choose needs to be somewhat different than the Ultegra's I have or what's the point? Four of the ten brands I've listed don't offer anything tubeless so they're gone, Reynolds left a bad taste in my mouth, Anything tubeless from Shimano is a great wheel but too close to what I have, I recently ruled out American Classic because after speaking with them, they said not to buy the Argent's because I'm pushing the weight limit (even though I'm below it) and using Hutcinson Tubeless tires is not advised because the strong bead will detension the spokes. Fulcrum wheels look great but there's story after story of their hubs exploding and try finding a spoke if you need one so that leaves two, HED and Easton.

I've been getting a lot of feed back on the HED's and while they look great and I love the idea of wider is better with proven tubeless use and decent hubs/build quality I remember hearing others also say that the wheels felt a bit noodley so now I'm taking a hard look at Easton who has a few things to consider. First and least expensive is the EA90slx's, 1400 grams, 23mm wide (out), 17.5 (inside) but still really close to what I have so I'd probably not notice much difference choosing them, then there's my dream wheels, the EC90SL (38mm deep, 1473g, 28mm wide, 19mm inside width) The Easton carbon wheels are the only Carbon Clinchers made that are Road Tubeless Certified with a completely sealed rim channel and no need for tape at all which is a huge advantage compared to other wheels that are tubeless "compatible" needing tape to seal spoke holes and build up the channel to aid inflation and the reason my Assault's didn't play nice. I contacted Easton today and they said that their wheels were designed specifically for tubeless and work best that way.

There's also the Easton Aero 55's that have the same spec's as the EC90sl's above but have a 55mm depth instead of 38 and come in at 1690g but they're probably overkill for me and my riding style and when testing the Reynolds Product I liked the Assaults with a 41mm depth a lot more than the Strikes with a 60mm depth, the deeper wheels felt sluggish in comparison.

Marcus_Ti

Source? I don't see scandium being the rim material stated anywhere on HED's website.

AFAIK the Belgium(+) and Ardennes are identical...aside from the Ardennes branded rims being offered in different lower spoke count drillings.

First regarding detensioning spokes...Not sure what exactly you were told...but the deal is this. Mounting any tire and pressurizing it lowers the measured spoke tension in the wheel. Further tubeless tires measurably detension the spokes more when compared apples-to-apples, the difference as measured with a Park Tension Meter TM-1 is about 1 index point IME. This is part of why when you go on HED's website they list maximum tire pressures. Now it has nada to do with tires having stronger beads, it is due to there not being an inner tube in there. With a tubed tire, the inner tube has to stretch to fill the cavity-and stretching the tube reduces the amount of force the rim experiences by a bit....tubeless ofc has no tube to stretch, so the wheel takes all the force and has to balance it. I'll give it to Am Classic their explanation is creative, if incredibly backwards in not correctly explaining the phenomenon-their explanation if true would mean tubed tires would cause a higher tension drop.

I've had arguments with myself over the merits of tubeless. Days I liked it, and days I cursed it when it wouldn't seel or the rim wouldn't hold air...either way wider rims let you run the same size tire a bit lower pressure. The Belgium rims make a nice set of hoops. Hutchinson tubeless tires you can bare hand onto them. It also depends on what kind of riding you are wanting to do and how burly a guy you are. I don't find them noodly at all.

My set are Belgium+ laced to King R45s 28 radial front and 28 rear being 170-180#. Came out to 1520 gram as measured at home...Truth be told I needed that rear wheel rebuilt 3 times due to popping spokes after 1000km after each rebuild. First time was 2X with Sapim CX-Ray, 2nd time was 3X CX-Ray, 3rd time was by my LBS with DT triple butted round spokes and they were of the opinion the wheel was being built/rebuilt with too much tension...LBS's rebuild has been wunderbar ever since and that was 2000km ago.

dvdslw

The guy I spoke with said to only use Schwalbe or IRC, almost all others including my go to tire Hutcinson Fusion 3's have a bead made of a different material that when inflated tubeless have been shown to cause the spokes to loose tension and result in a wheel needing to be re-trued. I'm just relaying info straight from the horses mouth but found it somewhat unnerving so I've taken them off of the list. I'll also try and find the info regarding the Belgium/Ardennes differences, maybe it's a recent change as they've revamped their wheel line this year?

md11pilot

sorry if this is and old thread but I figured I'd ask in here since people are owners and following. I just got a set of the "Black" Ardennes with the new braking surface ... I love everything about them except how LOUD they are when breaking... I've only got about 50 miles on them but they're very sqeeely... and loud!

Anyone have any experience with this subsiding?

slau73

Hi md11pilot (and anyone else with a set of HED Ardennes+ Black) ... I assume its almost a year since you had you Ardennes Black ... what are your thoughts? Still loud when braking? And how is the braking surface ... still nice and black or has it worn off?

Marcus_Ti

A few hundred miles and it'll be gone.

MidTNBrad

The loud breaking or the black surface? Or both?

Marcus_Ti

Both. I presume you mean to use them with rim brakes. The disc Belgium rims do not have the machined brake track...unlike some rims where they do machine them and just paint or anodize over