The HED Jet 6 Blackness wheels are clinchers with machined alloy restriction tracks and carbon fairings for a total rim height of 60mm
Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Wide ain't zilch new to HED. The Jet 6 Blacks are 21mm internally
Ben Delaney / Firsthand Media
The spokes are laced to the alloy box-section rim, running through the fairing
Ben Delaney / Firsthand Media
Drainage ports do a mostly good chore of removing water
Ben Delaney / Firsthand Media
Sonic Black hubs use oversize axles and wide flanges
Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The machined brake surface makes stopping easy, in rain and on steep descents
Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
100psi may seem depression for some racers, but with the wide rim (and likely wide clinchers), there's no need to become over the limit
Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The Jet 6 Blacks aren't lighter than some all-carbon models of the aforementioned depth, merely the braking forcefulness is better and the brake rub is less
Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
HED says the brake track improves wet braking past 70%. I take no idea how to quantify my results, simply the divergence is immediately noticeable and substantial
Carbon aero fairing, shaped by decades of leading-border experience
Box-department alloy rim with textured restriction track
1,690g set weight (excluding skewers and rim tape)
$ii,000 / £1,600 suggested retail
The spokes are laced to the alloy box-section rim, running through the fairing
Ben Delaney / Firsthand Media
The lab and the real earth, for HED and for testing
Between staffers and tester-friends-of-staffers, we accept notched up possibly ii,000 miles on the HED Jet half dozen Black wheels, and in both daily riding and racing it's pretty difficult to find fault in the performance.
The wheels feel as fast every bit whatever good carbon clincher of similar depth and yet deliver substantially more comfort thanks to difference in structure. (Longer spokes to a shallow blend rim means more vertical give than shorter spokes to a tall carbon rim.)
We did not exam these particular wheels in a wind tunnel, but did recently examination their taller siblings against a host of similar-depth carbon wheels, and the HEDs came out shining. In that tunnel test, the HED Jet 9 came out simply a hair behind the ENVE 7.8 in speed — at well-nigh 70 per centum of the cost.
The Jet 6 Blacks aren't lighter than some all-carbon models of the same depth, merely the braking forcefulness is meliorate and the brake rub is less
Ben Delaney / Firsthand Media
The late, bully Steve Hed was an early pioneer in aero wheel design, so fifty-fifty though the company is relatively small, its relevance remains significant.
Ane thing multiple testers commented on was how calm the wheels felt in 'dirty' air, such equally unexpected crosswinds or the buffeting effect of a large truck passing. Testing similar-depth wheels back to back, the HEDs were ofttimes declared to exist more than stable. That is a subjective affair, but an important one.
In addition to the noticeably more comfortable ride of the Jet 6 Blacks compared to a full-carbon clincher, the HEDs proved to be better at reducing torsion-induced brake rub. Because the alloy rim tin can deflect locally better than a very tall and stiff carbon rim, our lab tests found the Jet vi Blacks to be top of the class in terms of unwanted restriction rub.
Microbac Lab tests HED Jet half-dozen wheels against Zipp, ENVE and HIfi
One-finger braking
Speaking of braking, it's a no-contest comparison between the forcefulness and dependability of the Jet 6 Blacks and fifty-fifty the very best carbon clinchers, such as ENVE's new SES models or Zipp's new NSW hoops with their Showstopper brake tracks. HED uses a machined and anodized treatment similar to Mavic'southward Exalith, where a finely textured track provides heaps of traction for restriction pads to dig into.
I was able to descend steep hills hither in Colorado with a unmarried finger on each lever every bit if I had discs brakes, compared to the typical all-four-finger-death grip that descents like Magnolia often require. My colleague Guy Kesteven found the braking "even in the shittiest UK conditions" to offer fashion more modulation than Exalith. "And you're not actually embarrassed to pull the lever," he said, referring to the noise often associated with Mavic's brake surface.
HED says the brake track improves wet braking by 70%. I have no idea how to quantify my results, but the deviation is immediately noticeable and substantial
Ben Delaney / Firsthand Media
And, yes, the brake track is black, so combined with the black fairing the wheels announced at a distance to be all carbon. But when descending in the rain, at that place is admittedly no way you could confuse the ii.
One-finger width — and frame width problems
While many wheel companies jumped on the wide-rim wagon recently, HED has been driving the wagon for years. The Jet 6 Blacks are 21mm wide internally, which plumps upwardly clinchers considerably. For instance, the 25mm Vittoria Corsas I primarily used on these wheels measure a full 29mm on the HEDs.
Wide ain't nothing new to HED. The Jet 6 Blacks are 21mm internally
Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Inside reason, wider more often than not means lower rolling resistance. And it certainly means more comfy! For out-and-out speed, at that place is certainly a point of diminishing returns, as the extra elevate and rotational weight of larger tires outweigh decreased rolling resistance. Only 25mm tires on these Jet 6 Blacks, which accept a maximal external width of 25mm, seem to exist the sweet spot.
If you have an older frame and/or an aero frame, definitely measure out your clearance before you buy, or just check with HED to make certain everything fits. The 25mm Corsas, for instance, were besides fat for a Pinarello Dogma'southward chainstays.
The pros and cons of the fairing
As I've written before, the wind doesn't intendance how much you spent on your wheels. Nor does air menstruation differently effectually a structural shape than a fairing of the same shape. Withal, the fairing just feels a little flimsy in hand and was the cause of my initial concern.
Some 20 years ago when racing in college, a few of united states of america made "ghetto discs", taping full plastic fairings on either side of a rear wheel to effectively make a disc wheel. It mostly worked fine — and years afterward a wind tunnel test showed i to perform quite similarly to a structural disc! — but information technology felt a little cheesy. Maybe that is the source of my initial bias. The company's alert of not to hang bikes by the wheels, or even clamp them tightly in a roof rack, gave me further suspension.
Drainage ports do a more often than not good job of removing water
Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
After a yr of riding, racing and living with the wheels, though, I've turned most of the way effectually on my earlier position. The fairings are aero and let for a comfortable ride with dependable braking. Steve Hed couldn't bide the thought of a oestrus failure on a carbon clincher and the company withal refuses to produce 1. Having experienced and witnessed diverse rut failures over the years, I can empathize this position.
After a few months, I started ignoring the "don't hang the bike past the wheels" rule and gently put the things on hooks. Ditto for roof racks.
Water tin go into the fairing, and while at that place are bleed holes, they don't necessarily clear all the h2o immediately. Yous don't accept this upshot with carbon clinchers.
I was leery well-nigh the internal nipples being a headache, but I haven't had to touch the wheels in over a twelvemonth of corruption, so that is no longer an issue in my mind.
Sonic Black hubs use oversize axles and wide flanges
Ben Delaney / Firsthand Media
Bottom line: HED knows aero and real-world conditions. Still wish they were cheaper!
In curt, the HED Jet 6 Black wheels are fast, stable, comfortable and easy to cease, regardless of weather condition.
They aren't technically tubeless, every bit the fairing doesn't provide a solid ballast for a tubeless valve nut to thread against, merely a few of my teammates have run them tubeless for thousands of miles without issue.
Compared to carbon clinchers, they are competitive if not alee on weight, superior in braking performance and near-equal if not better on aerodynamics, depending on which model they are compared to. I just wish they were cheaper, as the asking cost is inline with many carbon clinchers.
HED besides offers a Jet half-dozen Plus model for a few hundred dollars and pounds less. The models are similar, merely the half dozen Plus has a standard alloy brake track, steel skewers and J-Bend spokes, compared to the Black's machined track, ti skewers and straight-pull hubs.
The machined brake surface makes stopping like shooting fish in a barrel, in rain and on steep descents
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