HED Belgium+ Measurements

I'll be upfront about my bias: I love HED Cycling. They're a Minnesota based company that was an early innovator in wheel aerodynamics. Just like Greg LeMond, who was another Minnesota based innovator in bicycle aerodynamics. You know... I was another Minnesota based innovator in bicycle aerodynamics. At the age of 16, in 1991, I purchased Profile aero bars and slapped them onto the 1991 Cannondale Crit bike (SC 300) I was riding because I'd read they would make me faster. For the guys I was riding with--handmade steel, lugged frames--it was sin compounded by sin. They taught me the norms of cycling (or at least tried to). The lessons didn't sink in until much later.

Back to HED. They are a great company, and not just for their technology, but for their people: whenever I call them with a question about ERD, or to ask when the hell the 24 hole Belgiums C2s were going to show up (2011) they always pleasantly and patiently answered my questions. Tip: use the phone to interact with people; emails are way easier to ignore.

I've been rocking out on HED rims since 2009, when I built up a set on 32 hole White Industries H2/H3 hubs. In the interim, I've built two more wheelsets on their rims. HED now has a lot more competition in wide clincher rim market, but their quality has always been better than everyone else.

Competition is good when it leads to innovation and/or lower prices for consumers. With HED's new rim it's an 'or' not an 'and': the MSRP of the HED Belgium+ is $149 versus $119 for the existing C2. That works out to 10 bucks for every extra millimeter of internal width. The C2 is 17.5 mm bead-to-bead and the new one--check your math--is 20.5 mm. Sweet!

Brake track width is just over 25 mm. There appears to be zero transition (no lip) from the rim nose to the brake track, meaning the brake track is slightly toroidal. Excellent.

The hubs show up mid week: Campy Record 32 hole.

Worth the extra 30 bucks over the C2? Or the extra 50 over a Pacenti? We'll see...