The wheels are hanging out at the bike shop. They hang from the wall, as if in a triumphant pose, mocking all other wheels, telling their war stories of the races they’ve been through. Laughing at roadie sets at how they’ve endured so much punishment, though quickly forgetting, that they are the pot calling the kettle black. The HED Stinger 60s, despite having survived an entire cross season with aplomb, tend to forget that they were borne of the idea that they will propel an able rider through the masses on the pavement and across the finish line before their competitors in a fine road race. I started this review with Part 1 before the cyclocross season, bridged with Part 2 mid-season, and now for the finale of how two sets of HED Stinger 60s fared through my abuse on the cross circuit.

Incredible Performers
To say that they performed well would be an understatement, period. I am pleasantly surprised, and was at times shocked, at how resilient these wheels are. A sub-1500 gram set of wheels makes me wince, regardless of high falutin’ claims of how strong their materials are, or how particular the spokes are laced to increased strength, blah blah blabbity blah. No matter how strong a wheel is built, when it hits the sub-1500 gram range, there is a compromise. There is an amount of restriction that exists that is hard to quantify, but understood by how you should handle them and what you know you may or may not be able to get away with. I showed both sets of wheels no mercy. I was relentless. My weight hovered in the low 160 lb. range throughout the season and I manhandle my bike in tough situations and definitely put a stressful demand on my equipment. These wheels survived what I put them through – the tests were real world racing conditions, and I have, in no particular order:

Crashed them so hard in a crash that had my bike flown over my head and had the rear wheel bounce at least 3 feet into the air on landing.
Run into a curb, and blew my tubular out, and then rode the rear flat tire on the rim, for 2 miles on mixed terrain.
Rubbed tires with other racers and crashing as a result.
Powered through deep sandpits.
Powered through peanut butter mud.
Slammed a front wheel into a barrier at full speed (10mph) and flipping over the barrier.

In spite of the serious hits and crashes I gave these wheels – the net mechanical effort to fix wheel issues was a mere few seconds. That’s right, nothing happened to the wheels of great significance. 1-2mm of adjustment was provided to both rear wheels. The front wheels were spot on to the very last race. Braking surface was fine, on one set, a bit of a groove formed on the carbon, most likely due to when I rubbed someone else’s wheel. The spokes were in excellent to still new condition. The hubs were slightly gritty, but easily cleaned. The rear cassette bodies were dirty, but required perhaps one or two new bearings on one set due to grittiness not surprising as a result of the sand and mud mixture endured. Justin McCormick was definitely impressed more than I was for the amount of mayhem I ran on what is rightfully considered a roadies dream wheelset. The HED Stinger 60s get a serious 5 derkas for not only surviving the Chicago Cross Cup and the US Gran Prix series, but for doing so with showing very little wear for their performance.

Chicago Deep Dish
I am a believer in deep dish rims for cyclocross. If anything for two reasons. The stiffness is incredibly noticeable and provided the control for my handling that was incredibly impressive. I didn’t fear leaning in and taking digs on the corners, they took it and carved me into turns with great control. The idea that deep dish rims don’t help through muddy or sandy conditions is most definitely a myth. I’m not the fastest guy on the race course no doubt – but anyone who saw me plow through sand can attest that I had absolutely no difficulty maintaining a good line, and more importantly, quickly navigated through thick sand easily. I felt the greatest advantage to be in the climbing ability as they were so incredibly lightweight, I had no problems spinning these up the short climbs and paying less quadricep effort to maintain speed. They definitely kept me rolling strong for when I doubled up on race day – I could keep a consistent speed with these flyweight wheels. I repeat my sentiment from Part 2 of the review that the only thing holding these wheels back, was me.

I was most impressed and shocked to find out that after the big tire blowout at Woodstock, and after riding it a full 2 miles on the rim with nothing but rubber pressed against the rim to protect it, the rear wheel required but 2mm of adjustment. The rim was not marred, thanks to the tubular being wider than the rim, and the rim itself didn’t have any damaged at all despite how hard I jammed it into a concrete curb. That is impressive. I’ve done far more damage with lesser hits on an aluminum rim with clinchers, but that goes to show the benefit of a strong carbon profile (deep dish) and a tubular will do for you.

The blowout resulted with a tear in the tread – but – a pinch flat that leaked so much it looked like a jet blower in a hot tub when placed in the sink (see below).

The set with the Flying Doctors, will need a new set of tubulars. I destroyed the rear tubular and its beyond repair. The front has life in it but the unfortunate mold syndrome atypical of cotton tubulars has begun to set-in. A lesson learned about when to apply the sidewall protectant on – sooner at the start of the season. The glue job was incredibly well done and kept throughout the entire season, and in fact, may be the reason for such a successful ‘blow-out’ as it were, since the tire stayed exactly put to protect the rim. The rhino set did show some signs of the glue coming off at certain sections, but nothing major or beyond that. They held well and never squirmed or gave me an indication while riding that they could come off. They did their job great!

The hubs are incredibly easy to take apart and service – after a full season of abuse, the grit inside the rear hub was minimal and only required the replacement of two bearings – not bad considering the amount of sludge, sand, and mud they faced. Check out the inside below.

The wheelsets are enjoying some time off – and one set is being cleaned up and will soon have road tubulars glued on, I figured I ran them through this much abuse, I want to know what its like to ride on tubulars on the road with aero rims. I’m sure I’ll feel as fast and as zippy as a fred on a road bike who doesn’t have a clue of what he’s in for. The one thing I do know for certain is that, they will see the cross circuit once again this coming year, and I have absolute faith they will do just fine, once more called to action.

I’d like to thank the following people, without which this review or experience would not have been made possible for ‘The Bonebell’.
Emanuele Bianchi
Steve Hed
Justin McCormick
Alfredo Ruvalcaba

For more information on these wheels, please visit HED Cycling. For more information on a mechanic’s perspective on these wheels, visit Johnny Sprockets and get in touch with Justin and Alfredo.