# Anybody Try the New HED Ardennes Black?



## Uncle Jam's Army (Aug 1, 2006)

Has anybody put any miles on the new HED Ardennes Black? Really interested to hear about the new braking surface and durability (though, being new, probably not much on durability yet).


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## Roland44 (Mar 21, 2013)

Uncle Jam's Army said:


> Has anybody put any miles on the new HED Ardennes Black? Really interested to hear about the new braking surface and durability (though, being new, probably not much on durability yet).


I've never personally tried one but a friend of mine did recently and I only heard good things about it.


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## cnardone (Jun 28, 2014)

no one else? I don't see myself buying a set anytime soon, but I am wondering about these as well.

cmn


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## dmanthree (Aug 22, 2014)

Is the Ardennes Black the same rim as their Belgium rim? I just put on a wheelset built with the Belgium + and the braking is much better than the old stock rims.


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## robt57 (Jul 23, 2011)

dmanthree said:


> Is the Ardennes Black the same rim as their Belgium rim? I just put on a wheelset built with the Belgium + and the braking is much better than the old stock rims.


I hope you gave your new machined braking surfaces some new brake pads to not rub them the wrong way [so to speak] too.


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## dmanthree (Aug 22, 2014)

Oh, well...


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

Anodized brake track. Hard anodizing produces a sapphire coating on aluminum up to several thousandths of an inch thick, which isn't too surprising when you realize that sapphire is aluminum oxide. Sapphire is very hard and what "scratch proof" watch crystals are made of. I imagine it will last OK, but will eventually yield to continual abrasion by road grit that gets between the pads and rim, especially riding in wet conditions. The road grit may not scratch that coating, but it can cause localized points of pressure that can break it allowing it to start coming off the soft underlying aluminum.


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## 4slomo (Feb 11, 2008)

Not quite right: aluminum oxide is naturally occurring corundum. Sapphires and rubies are also composed of corundum. What are the Properties of Black Anodized Finishes? : Products Finishing Hard anodizing has high wear resistance, but not so much mechanical shock resistance.



looigi said:


> Anodized brake track. Hard anodizing produces a sapphire coating on aluminum up to several thousandths of an inch thick, which isn't too surprising when you realize that sapphire is aluminum oxide. Sapphire is very hard and what "scratch proof" watch crystals are made of. I imagine it will last OK, but will eventually yield to continual abrasion by road grit that gets between the pads and rim, especially riding in wet conditions. The road grit may not scratch that coating, but it can cause localized points of pressure that can break it allowing it to start coming off the soft underlying aluminum.


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

What's not quite right? Corundum is the mineral name for crystalline aluminum oxide: very hard providing good wear resistance but can be broken and flake off.


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## deviousalex (Aug 18, 2010)

HED makes claims about 30% decreased stopping distance in dry and 70% in wet. This sounds nothing short of a miracle. Can anyone give anecdotal stories to back up HED's claim?

Also, this surface seems to be almost exactly like Mavic's Exalith. I wonder if HED had to license IP from Mavic or something.

It would also be nice if HED would sell these as standalone rims.


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