25mm clincher rims?

[Jeff N.]

Been reading and hearing good things about 25mm clincher rims, especially the HED Belgium + rims, when coupled with 700x23C tires. Any of you have experience with these? -Jeff N.

[stephenmarklay]

I think there was a thread on this earlier you might want to search. If I remember it was not completely positive.

Now 25痴 are the rage, Velocity now has one and Pacenti came out with his a while ago.

I am also curious. I am sure on a Gravel Grinder or CX they are great but on a road bike I am not sure. The law of diminishing returns certainly applies but I don稚 know at what point.

[leooooo]

Loving mine (cheating a lil tho, sl23 measure 24.5mm, not 25)
CK hubs, sl23, cxrays 20/24, ergott built.

Won't delve into are these faster wheels or not vs wider, narrower, deeper etc, but there are two tangible factors I particularly enjoy.

1. 23mm tires sit flush with rims. Looks clean imo and there is no need to open brakes to remove wheel.

2. Increase interior volume, so I run the front at 70 psi and rear at 80psi. Works for me, ymmv.

[guido]

I like HED Belgium + rims a lot. Or at least i did until I dented the one laced on to my powertap on what I thought was at best a modest pothole. Stampede Pass 32c tires, no pinch flat, just a bump bump bump when I brake... :mad: A Pacenti SL23 laced into a SON generator went through the same hole without incident...

Durability not withstanding, the wide rims handle great. They work brilliantly with larger tires or the intended target of 25c Clements, 28c Continental GP4S etc... I've never done the 23c test...

[Tony T]

I like HED Belgium + rims a lot. Or at least i did until I dented the one laced on to my powertap on what I thought was at best a modest pothole. Stampede Pass 32c tires, no pinch flat, just a bump bump bump when I brake... :mad:

Did you try to fix it?
I was able to repair a HED 23mm that I dented when I hit a pothole using a crescent wrench and a straight edge ruler: https://youtu.be/Zg4ZFruCfSg

[oldpotatoe]

Did you try to fix it?
I was able to repair a HED 23mm that I dented when I hit a pothole using a crescent wrench and a straight edge ruler: https://youtu.be/Zg4ZFruCfSg

I had a very small dent in a new rim, gently massaged it out with a wooden dowel. Pretty easy.

But if the dent is big, bending aluminum enough can weaken it.

BTW, the rim came out so well, now FS onto a DT350 front hub, laced with Sapim Lasers. Only $160 shipped!!! See classifieds.

[guido]

Did you try to fix it?
I was able to repair a HED 23mm that I dented when I hit a pothole using a crescent wrench and a straight edge ruler: https://youtu.be/Zg4ZFruCfSg

Thanks for the pointer I'll try this! It's a pretty small dent.

[adampaiva]

speaking of SL23's, does anyone happen to know if the new version will be available in silver, or only black ?

[Dromen]

On my disc gravel bike laced to Kings for a season with not an issue

[woodworker]

Been reading and hearing good things about 25mm clincher rims, especially the HED Belgium + rims, when coupled with 700x23C tires. Any of you have experience with these? -Jeff N.

I have the new Hed Belgium+, front only, as I have a powertap on back. It has replaced the original, narrower Ardennes. Love both wheels but find that I'm riding the + more often.

A couple things to consider. The + is tubeless ready, so it has a special rim tape provided by HED. The tires are harder to mount but manageable once you get the hang of it, using the center channel. If you get them, watch the Youtube video on how to mount them properly--it helps a lot.

The brake track is really nice. The standards brake well, but he exalith type treatment works even better, especially in the wet.

I live in San Diego--work downtown and live in North County. You're welcome to take a look and borrow them for a spin if you'd like. PM me.

Also, they are relatively expensive.

[PaulE]

depending on the fork you have and where the brake bolt hole is located in the fork, you may have clearance issues with a 23 or 25 mm rim with anything larger than a 23 mm tire. Even if the mounted tire has clearance under the fork crown, it may rub the bottom of the brake.

Had a friend who bought custom wheels with 23 mm wide HED rims. They will only clear with a 23 mm tire on his Legend with an F2 fork and a Campy Record skeleton brake, and on his Meivici with an F3 fork and Campy Record skeleton brake he can barely clear a 25 mm tire. When the Campy brake is opened up to clear the rim width, the skeleton arm lowers enough to rub the tire tread which limits tire size. This doesn't seem to be a problem with Shimano brakes which have higher arches. Campy expects its users to be racers I guess.

[Jeff N.]

depending on the fork you have and where the brake bolt hole is located in the fork, you may have clearance issues with a 23 or 25 mm rim with anything larger than a 23 mm tire. Even if the mounted tire has clearance under the fork crown, it may rub the bottom of the brake.

Had a friend who bought custom wheels with 23 mm wide HED rims. They will only clear with a 23 mm tire on his Legend with an F2 fork and a Campy Record skeleton brake, and on his Meivici with an F3 fork and Campy Record skeleton brake he can barely clear a 25 mm tire. When the Campy brake is opened up to clear the rim width, the skeleton arm lowers enough to rub the tire tread which limits tire size. This doesn't seem to be a problem with Shimano brakes which have higher arches. Campy expects its users to be racers I guess.
I only ride on 23's so I guess that'd be a non-issue with me, but thanks.

[bpiecuch]

I've been riding a set of Boyd Altamonts for about a month now, 25mm outside width. I paired them with a set of Conti 23mm GP4000 SII. This wheelset replaced an older set of Ksyrium Elites (19mm) which I also ran with the Conti 4000's...

A couple notes:
- I've been playing around with air pressures, and I'm not thrilled with any results. 95-100psi is still a rough ride, but they handle the curves much better. They offer a lot more confidence in high speed curves. 85-90psi is softer, but they feel soft and bouncy, especially in the rear. Handling also becomes "soft" maybe back to the feeling that I had with the Ksyriums. I haven't run them any lower than 85. (I'm ~163lbs)

- Tire mounting, very simple. No levers required.

- I was running a full Shimano 6600 drivetrain (Ultegra), and found that the brake calipers would not adjust properly with the wide rims. I couldn't get enough angle on the pads to sit straight on the rim. I upgraded to 5800 calipers (105) and they work beautifully. As someone else mentioned, the 23mm tire sit flush to the outside of the 25mm rim. So, no need to open the brake to remove the wheel.

Hope this helps.

[pff]

Big fan of my jet6+ wheels. I'm currently relacing my tunes (training wheels) to Belgium+ and the only thing I hate is the expense. Adding two mm somehow doubles the price?? Kinlin needs some wider rims asap.

I hear they fixed the problems with pacenti's first gen rims but I hated those so much I'm not willing to risk it. The wider velocities look fine and they're cheaper but they're so much lighter I question the durability. Overall even though it comes at a premium I trust in HED for product quality.

[one60]

both these kinlins are 19mm internal width (24mm external width) 480 & 440 grams, respectively. $75 at Fairwheel

There is also a new Velocity rim named the Quill (no pricing as et)


https://fairwheelbikes.com/assets/images/Kinlin_XR31_Parent_04_jpg/Kinlin_XR31_Parent_04_79x79_0.jpg https://fairwheelbikes.com/assets/images/Kinlin_XR22T_Parent_04_jpg/Kinlin_XR22T_Parent_04_79x79_0.jpg

[guido]

Did you try to fix it?
I was able to repair a HED 23mm that I dented when I hit a pothole using a crescent wrench and a straight edge ruler: https://youtu.be/Zg4ZFruCfSg

Tony - Thank you for pointing out that technique. It worked like a charm! No more bump bump! Really appreciated!

guido

[Tony T]

Tony - Thank you for pointing out that technique. It worked like a charm! No more bump bump! Really appreciated!

guido

Great, glad it worked. :cool:

[shovelhd]

The HED rims are great all around. Mine are tubular so not relevant to this conversation. I train on 27mm wide generic carbon clinchers and 25mm tires. It took a while to find the balance between good ride quality and avoiding pinch flats. For me it is 95/90, which is a bit high for 25mm but works for me. I also use latex tubes which also helps the ride.