After announcing his retirement from racing, Mark Cavendish brought the curtain down on his final Giro d'Italia with a spectacular stage win in Rome on HED Vanquish 6 wheels.

As the debut of the Jet 180 at Kona, Sam Laidlow completed the 180km bike course in just 4:04:36.

With performance, affordability, durability and speed in mind, the HED team developed the Emporia GC3 performance as the more affordable full-carbon gravel wheels.

From triathlon to the track, Lionel Sanders has always been about “No Limits”, and in 2020 Lionel set his sites on the Canadian Hour Record. Using a set of handmade HED VOLO track wheels, Lionel set the Mattamy National Cycling Centre track on fire, overtaking the previous mark of 48.587km and covering 51.304km in one hour.

Hot off the release of the HED VOLO 2016 Olympic Games, American pro cyclist Tom Zirbel set a goal of breaking a nearly two-decade old record: the American Hour Record. With the previous mark set by Norm Alvis in 1997 at 51.505km, Tom knew he would need every advantage possible. With a set of HED VOLOs, Tom made his hour record attempt in Aguascalientes, Mexico. When the clock stopped, Tom had set a new American Hour Record at 53.037km, a record that still stands.

In the lead up to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, HED Cycling had gold on its mind. Working in partnership with Team USA HED engineered the VOLO (even producing some of the initial wheels to match the left-side drivetrain of Team USA’s Felt TA FRD frames). This combination of inspiration and engineering was the start of multiple gold medal and world championship wins.

At the Prologue, the opening stage of the 2015 Tour de France, Rohan Dennis, the time trial specialist then with BMC Racing, made the decision to use a HED GT3 Trispoke as his leading wheel through the stage. For nearly 14 kilometers, Dennis set a brutally fast pace, averaging 55.45 km/h (35.45 mph). That day, his pace went unmatched, finished first on the stage and taking first yellow jersey of the 2015 Tour de France. If that wasn’t enough, he also set the course record.

The H3 Rohan Dennis used is now proudly framed on the wall at HED Cycling Products HQ, noted and signed by Dennis himself.

After 30 years of revolutionizing the sport cycling, Steve Hed passes away suddenly while at work in Minnesota. With ideas in his head and new wheels in the works, Steve is mourned by the cycling community, with industry professionals, competitors, and top athletes noting that sport had lost a true visionary.

Lance Armstrong, a long-time user and advocate of HED wheels, tweeted, “Shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Hed. I loved him dearly as did everyone who ever met him. We’ll all miss him.”

Taylor Phinney, then with BMC Racing, said, “Steve Hed, your passion, your generosity and your genius will not be forgotten. So sad to lose you. Rest in peace my friend.”

A family man, friend, mentor, and visionary- Steve Hed left his mark on cycling, improved the cycling experience for people around the world and created a legacy like none other in the sport. While he cannot be replaced, his spirit of innovation lives on through HED Cycling Products.

Always looking for the next rider advantage, Steve Hed turned to componentry, this time, taking a close look at aero bars. For years triathletes and road cyclists had experimented with position and different handbar set ups, but no one had thoroughly reworked both the shape and material of handlebars.

Having spent the better part of a decade perfecting carbon layup techniques, Steve and the team at HED Cycling became committed to creating handlebars that would give riders both an aerodynamic and weight advantage. The result? The invention of the first carbon aero bars, a design that industry experts continue to draw inspiration from to this day.

As the American Mountain Biking revolution began, HED Cycling Products took its aerodynamic expertise to the slopes and parks, introducing aerodyanimc profile downhill MTB and BMX wheels.

During this time, Steve began considering the impact of wider rim profiles, but not just for mixed terrain. There was still new ground to break out on the road.

One of our core values at HED Cycling is “Innovation has no finish line”, which, over the years, has led to equally groundbreaking and wild products. In 1988, Steve had an idea to give triathletes an aerodynamic edge by repositioning water bottle storage to site behind the rider,off the frame of the bike and inside the natural slipstream the rider produces. He called the new product “Tails”, the first behind-the-seat water bottle holder.

These rear hydration systems are now common among triathletes around the world, but all goes back to a wild idea Steve had one afternoon.