Could These Wheels Change Cycling Forever or Huge Gimmick?

I put the radical looking Elite Velo6 carbon spoked wheels to the test and compared them to a more conventional wheelset in the shape of the brand new HED Vanquish Pro wheels. I conducted aero and handling testing over several months to see which rein supreme

Content
00:00 Intro
00:35 Elite wheels
1:32 HED wheels
2:35 Squarespace sponsor
3:37 Aero testing
4:31 Handling test - Elite wheels
7:10 Handling test - HED wheels
8:55 Freehub sound check
9:27 Test results
10:32 Which wheels are best?

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[massimoserafini]

Regardless of performance, I’ve always thought those style wheels are ugly as sin.

[heinik]

A test between cheap china carbon and a standard aluminium 23mm deep rims would be interesting.

[JosephNieto-or]

Obvs HED is better it’s not even a question

[DesVids]

I have a pair of the Velo 6 wheels, gave up on them due to the lack of lateral stiffness. I found them harsh vertically even with 32mm tyres. Traditional wheels are so much nicer to ride. I found the Velo 6 unpleasant and was getting 'tank slappers' at high speed. I found crosswinds affected the Velo 6 far more than my spoked wheels, even trucks passing by would cause a wobble.

[tensiondechaine]

got the velo 6 and decided to not use them anymore. They are almost dangerous as they have little to no lateral stiffness.
Yes they are gorgeous, but the feeling you describe at the front end is not something you want. It's really catastrophic to see a $1.2k wheelset that dangerous.

Also, the heavier you are, the more worst it becomes. I can't tell you how much I love them, and I am really satisfied with the Elite Wheel Drive 6 for gravel, those are perfect.

Disappointed

[martinhill]

Did I miss something or did you only weigh the Elite wheelset?

[davekashuba]

The ride description sounds just like a Spinergy Rev-X

[sarahtoustra]

@TraceVelo made a video showing the lack of lateral stiffness of the Elite Velo Six wheels. The front wheel was easily touching the inside of the fork! I would definitely avoid those (I do have the Elite Drive 40D, so I am not a Elitewheels hater at all).

[marccarter]

They remind me of the old Skyway wheels from BMX

[vincesorrentino]

The Hed Wheels being new still have Dated Spec's

[emmetrmeredith]

The Elite wheels have outstanding performance....says it on them...🤣🤣

[Jackster]

How the hell do you do almost 31km/h average with an upright position pushing only 155 watts... 🤔

[mohammadtaufek]

How about Black Inc 5 wheelset ?? or Bike Ahead same design ??

[valmorell]

You can't have lateral stiffness if there is no spoke angle, just a straight line down to the hub.

[taxi]

Why not the original bikeahead version for a 6 spoke wheel? Only 1300gr and perhaps stiffer?

[johnnyboy]

Trace velo reckons they flex, gcn reckon they are stiff, in trace we trust

[DjDeepfry]

Are the Hed wheels worth paying double the price of the Elite’s?

[markreams]

I guess it’s better not to reinvent the wheel!😂

[davidlau]

Where are the results from the aero sensor?

[Mububban]

I'm yet to see a positive review of these wheels, they all say the same thing - too wobbly and flexy. So why launch a product that bad?