# Hed warranty/repair service



## peterjh (Jul 19, 2009)

I am the owner of a set of 2010 Hed Ardennes FR with the Stallion build. These have been my daily/training wheels for the past 16 months. I have put just over 4,500 miles on them. It was my first experience with the wide rim format and I have definitely been impressed.

But, when I was putting on a new set of tires two weeks ago I noticed the rear hub sounded horrible. I really mean HORRIBLE. The amount of roughness in the bearings was absolutely absurd. They are still under warranty so I put in a call to Hed. I was given an RA # and told to send the rear wheel back and they would get it taken care of.

I received my wheel back from HED seven days after I mailed it to them. I was pleasantly surprised by their quick turnaround time. However there was still a noticeable amount of roughness present in the bearings. It was not an insignificant amount of roughness either. It could be both heard and felt.

I don't see how it is possible that the mechanic or wheelbuilder that performed the repair could have missed it. Instead of going through the returns process a second time I disassembled the hub and found that the two bearings in the cassette body were replaced, but the ones in the shell were not. The ones in the shell, or the axle for that matter, did not even appear to have been greased. I got two new bearings and reassembled it myself (I guess I should have done that in the first place). 

I was very pleased with the ride characteristics that the Heds provided, but I will not buy from them again. Next spring I will probably get my LBS to rebuild the rims around some different hubs (Ultegra probably?).

Has anybody else had to deal with Hed for warranty and/or repair service? Anybody else had issues with the Sonic FR rear hub?

On a side note...the bearings looked like the same ones that were in some American Classic 420s I had a few years ago. Can anyone confirm this (I had issues with the rear hubs on those as well).


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## eekase (Nov 10, 2009)

peterjh said:


> Has anybody else had to deal with Hed for warranty and/or repair service? Anybody else had issues with the Sonic FR rear hub?.


I have 3 sets of Hed wheels......FR Ardennes, FR Jet 4, Stinger 4.
I recently had to send my rear Jet to Hed due to the hex fitting at the end of the axle was all rounded (allen wrench would just spin,not engage). I couldn't swap free hub bodies. Fortunately, for me, they repaired/replaced parts of the rear hub assembly, put a brand new free hub body on and I had the wheel back in about a week. The only cost to me was part of the shipping fee.

Now, I have read on this forum some riders have had issues with Hed sonic hubs, again I have not. My Ardennes were purchased in 2009 and have over 5k miles on them, still spin smooth and true.

I agree with you, the mechanic should have heard or felt the bad bearings in your wheel....no excuse for that.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

peterjh said:


> I was very pleased with the ride characteristics that the Heds provided, but I will not buy from them again. Next spring I will probably get my LBS to rebuild the rims around some different hubs (Ultegra probably?).


that won't work. Ultegra hubs only come 32 or 36hole.


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## peterjh (Jul 19, 2009)

cxwrench said:


> that won't work. Ultegra hubs only come 32 or 36hole.


Wow...thanks for pointing that out. 

Now, if anyone has anything to say that actually relates to the questions I asked it would be much appreciated.


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## peterjh (Jul 19, 2009)

eekase said:


> I have 3 sets of Hed wheels......FR Ardennes, FR Jet 4, Stinger 4.
> I recently had to send my rear Jet to Hed due to the hex fitting at the end of the axle was all rounded (allen wrench would just spin,not engage). I couldn't swap free hub bodies. Fortunately, for me, they repaired/replaced parts of the rear hub assembly, put a brand new free hub body on and I had the wheel back in about a week. The only cost to me was part of the shipping fee.
> 
> Now, I have read on this forum some riders have had issues with Hed sonic hubs, again I have not. My Ardennes were purchased in 2009 and have over 5k miles on them, still spin smooth and true.
> ...


Yes, it is the fact that they overlooked the bad bearings in the shell that has turned me off from Hed. I understand that warranty issues occur. And I must say that Hed handled it very quickly, but I was pretty pissed when I pulled that wheel out of the box and realized that the repair was done carelessly.


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## Eric_H (Feb 5, 2004)

peterjh said:


> Wow...thanks for pointing that out.
> 
> Now, if anyone has anything to say that actually relates to the questions I asked it would be much appreciated.


You said in your posting you might get them rebuilt with Ultegra hubs, an intelligent response from an experienced poster like cxwrench is given, saying that it won't work and you choose to give a nasty response to him. :thumbsup:

You bought some wheels that have known hub issues. You got crappy service when you sent them back to HED. I would try contacting HED directly about it, rather than complaining about it here and bagging out guys who are actually useful on these forums.


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## Kristatos (Jan 10, 2008)

To answer the question about warranty experiences with HED, I had less than satisfactory experiences but it's hard to say who or what is to blame. HED were very responsive but the only communication path was by phone with their sales guy so I never was able to talk to anyone that would actually be fixing my Ardennes, which were breaking spokes about every 100 miles, often stranding me roadside. First time HED sent me spokes which I had a local shop install when I had breakage. Later they said send the wheels back in once I'd had about 4 broken spokes in a month or so. When I got the wheels back there was no note of what they'd done, or anything. At any rate, first ride out pop, broken spoke. After giving up on HED I had a local builder re-lace them and since then no problems. 

I do like the wheels though - and so far my hubs are still working great after a year.


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## rearviewmirror (Aug 20, 2008)

To the OP. Did you call them and ask the question? Worst case, order up some bearings and replace them yourself. A bearing is a wear item, not something that manufacturer should necessarily warranty anyways. The warranty should cover the pawls, freehub, and other parts, bearings are consumable.


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## peterjh (Jul 19, 2009)

Eric_H said:


> You said in your posting you might get them rebuilt with Ultegra hubs, an intelligent response from an experienced poster like cxwrench is given, saying that it won't work and you choose to give a nasty response to him. :thumbsup:
> 
> You bought some wheels that have known hub issues. You got crappy service when you sent them back to HED. I would try contacting HED directly about it, rather than complaining about it here and bagging out guys who are actually useful on these forums.


1. The "known" hub issues were unfortunately unknown to me at the time of purchase. That is why I asked if anybody else has had issues with them.

2. I have contacted Hed directly about it and I am waiting to hear back from them.

3. I am sure cxwrench is experienced and useful, but that piece of information is irrelevant to the questions I posted. I have not even begun to shop for hubs, but as soon as I do I would have discovered that the Ultegras are not available for my spoke count in about two clicks of the mouse.

4. I posted a "nasty" response because I am a long time reader of these forums and it aggravates the he!! out of me to find a thread topic that I find interesting just to see that it is full of comments that have no relevance to the thread topic.

5. Apparently I offended you with my "nastiness". For that I apologize.:thumbsup:

Have a wonderful day.


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## peterjh (Jul 19, 2009)

rearviewmirror said:


> To the OP. Did you call them and ask the question? Worst case, order up some bearings and replace them yourself. A bearing is a wear item, not something that manufacturer should necessarily warranty anyways. The warranty should cover the pawls, freehub, and other parts, bearings are consumable.



I originally called Hed with the intent of purchasing bearings, but since they were still within the two year warranty window I asked if the bearings were covered. Sure enough they told me to send them back and they would take care of it. In the end I did order some bearings and replace them myself.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

peterjh said:


> 1. The "known" hub issues were unfortunately unknown to me at the time of purchase. That is why I asked if anybody else has had issues with them.
> 
> 2. I have contacted Hed directly about it and I am waiting to hear back from them.
> 
> ...


i wasn't even going to replay to your a**hat response, but after you tried to justify it like you did...if you didn't want anyone to point out the obvious, why bother to tell us which hubs you were thinking about using? if you posted your desire to possibly use ultegra hubs, it's absolutely relevant. and while i'm sure you would have discovered this quite quickly as you said, there is lots of laziness on this forum. so many people are unable (or too lazy) to figure out the most simple product information i figured i'd just throw that out there. don't worry, next time i won't bother offering any helpful information when i see your posts.


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## peterjh (Jul 19, 2009)

cxwrench said:


> i wasn't even going to replay to your a**hat response, but after you tried to justify it like you did...if you didn't want anyone to point out the obvious, why bother to tell us which hubs you were thinking about using? if you posted your desire to possibly use ultegra hubs, it's absolutely relevant. and while i'm sure you would have discovered this quite quickly as you said, there is lots of laziness on this forum. so many people are unable (or too lazy) to figure out the most simple product information i figured i'd just throw that out there. don't worry, next time i won't bother offering any helpful information when i see your posts.


No worries...you will not see my name on here again.

There was a reason I was along time reader, yet never posted. I have little tolerance for opinionated "internet experts", poor grammar, or people who get angry over words on the internet. Therefore I have never been a registered member of any forum or discussion board before this one. I decided to try it and I believe I will just go back to interacting with real people instead of internet nazis. 

Thank you very much to the people who did not get bent out of shape and made relevant responses. I sincerely appreciate your feedback on your experiences with Hed products.

Goodbye.


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