HED Wheels Hand-Built in the USA
HED Cycling has been designing and building performance bicycle wheels in Minnesota since 1984. What began with Steve and Anne Hed and a determination to make cyclists faster has grown into more than four decades of bicycle wheel engineering, carbon manufacturing, aerodynamic development, testing, and hands-on wheel building.
Today, HED continues to manufacture carbon rims and build performance bicycle wheels at our facility in Roseville, Minnesota. Our team works directly with the products we design, from carbon layup and rim production to wheel assembly, spoke tensioning, truing, inspection, and final quality control.
For riders interested in American bicycle wheel manufacturing, that connection matters. HED is not simply a name applied to a finished wheel. Manufacturing knowledge, aerodynamic development, wheel-building experience, product testing, and customer support remain closely connected to the people and facility behind the HED name.
American Bicycle Wheel Manufacturing Since 1984
HED Cycling was founded in Minnesota in 1984 by Steve and Anne Hed. At a time when aerodynamic cycling equipment was still developing, Steve began experimenting with ways to make bicycle wheels faster.
Those early experiments grew into a company focused specifically on bicycle wheel performance. Aerodynamics, rim shape, tire interaction, stability, rolling efficiency, structural performance, and real-world riding all became part of the way HED approached wheel development.
More than four decades later, Minnesota remains the center of HED Cycling. Engineering, product development, carbon manufacturing, wheel building, testing, inspection, and product support remain connected to the company that Steve and Anne started.
Independent Minnesota manufacturing organization Enterprise Minnesota has documented HED's carbon-fiber production and assembly operations, including work performed directly on the manufacturing floor.
Carbon Bicycle Rims Manufactured in Minnesota
A high-performance carbon wheel begins long before a completed wheel reaches a bicycle. The structure of the rim, carbon material placement, molding process, aerodynamic profile, rim width, tire interface, spoke attachment, and quality control all influence the finished product.
HED manufactures its carbon bicycle rims in Minnesota, keeping one of the most important parts of wheel production close to the engineers, production specialists, and wheel builders responsible for the finished product.
Carbon rim manufacturing involves multiple carefully controlled processes. Carbon materials must be prepared and arranged according to the structural requirements of the rim before molding and curing. After molding, rims move through additional finishing, machining, drilling, inspection, and quality-control procedures before becoming part of a complete HED wheel.
An independent BikeRumor factory tour of HED Cycling documented the carbon layup, molding, machining, wheel building, testing, and other production processes taking place inside HED's Minnesota facility.
Keeping carbon manufacturing close to product development creates a direct connection between what is designed and what is ultimately produced. Lessons learned during production can influence future tooling, manufacturing techniques, testing procedures, and wheel designs.
Explore HED Carbon Bike Wheels
From Carbon Layup to Finished Rim
A carbon bicycle rim starts as carefully prepared carbon material rather than a finished circular structure.
The placement and orientation of that material help determine how the rim manages stiffness, strength, impact loads, spoke forces, tire pressure, and the repeated stresses created during riding.
Tooling and molding establish the rim's final shape and dimensions. For an aerodynamic wheel, that shape is not simply cosmetic. Rim depth, width, curvature, tire transition, and overall geometry influence how air moves around the wheel while the bicycle is in motion.
After molding and curing, the rim still has to be finished, prepared, inspected, and ultimately incorporated into a complete wheel.
That hands-on manufacturing experience gives HED knowledge that extends beyond a specification sheet. Our team works with the physical materials, processes, tooling, and finished products that turn a wheel concept into something a rider can actually race.
HED Wheels Are Built by People
Manufacturing a rim is only one part of building a great bicycle wheel.
A complete wheel combines the rim with a hub, bearings, spokes, nipples, axle hardware, freehub components, and other parts. How those components are assembled can have a major influence on the performance and longevity of the finished wheel.
HED wheels are assembled by experienced wheel builders in Minnesota. Spokes are installed and tensioned, wheel dish is established, and lateral and radial trueness are checked as the wheel takes its final form.
Finished wheels receive hands-on inspection before being prepared for riders and dealers.
This is why HED describes its wheels as hand-built in the USA. The finished wheel is more than a collection of individual components. It is a system that has to be built correctly for those components to perform together.
Why Spoke Tension and Wheel Building Matter
Two bicycle wheels built from similar components can perform differently depending on how they are assembled.
Correct spoke tension helps distribute loads throughout the wheel. Consistent tension contributes to long-term wheel stability, while proper dish positions the rim correctly relative to the hub and bicycle.
The wheel builder must balance those requirements while also checking lateral and radial trueness.
These details may not receive as much attention as rim depth, wheel weight, or aerodynamic claims, but they matter every time the wheel is ridden. Proper wheel construction affects reliability, serviceability, ride feel, and the ability of the wheel to remain stable over thousands of miles.
HED's wheel-building knowledge comes from decades of producing wheels for road racing, triathlon, time trials, gravel, track, fat bikes, and everyday performance cycling.
Built, Trued, and Inspected in Minnesota
Before a HED wheel leaves our Minnesota facility, it moves through final inspection.
Wheel trueness, spoke tension, dish, component installation, and overall condition are evaluated as part of the production process.
Quality control is not something that begins after a customer discovers a problem. It is part of building the wheel in the first place.
Keeping wheel assembly and inspection close to the rest of HED's operation also means our team maintains direct knowledge of the products we sell. Product, compatibility, service, and warranty questions stay connected to an organization that actually works with the wheels.
Every HED wheel is also backed by a 5-Year Limited Warranty .
Engineering and Manufacturing Working Together
One of the advantages of maintaining manufacturing capability in Minnesota is the connection between engineering and production.
Bicycle wheel development is rarely a single-step process. A new rim profile may need to be designed, prototyped, molded, measured, built into a wheel, paired with different tires, tested, ridden, evaluated, and revised before becoming a finished production product.
When engineers and manufacturing teams work closely together, that feedback can move directly between design and production.
Information also moves in the opposite direction. Feedback from production, wheel builders, athletes, dealers, service staff, and customers can make its way back to people who understand how the product was originally designed and manufactured.
This connection between engineering and production is one of the reasons HED has continued developing bicycle wheel technology for more than four decades.
Aerodynamic Bicycle Wheel Development
Aerodynamics have been part of HED Cycling since the company's earliest days.
A bicycle wheel moves through constantly changing airflow. Wind angle, bicycle speed, tire size, rim shape, spoke configuration, fork design, frame geometry, and rider position can all affect the aerodynamic system.
That is why aerodynamic wheel development involves much more than simply making a rim deeper.
Rim depth, rim width, tire shape, tire-to-rim transition, stability in changing wind conditions, and overall wheel geometry must work together. Those principles influence HED's modern road, triathlon, and time trial wheels.
If you're comparing different aerodynamic rim depths, read our Bike Wheel Depth Guide to learn how shallower, mid-depth, deep-section, and full disc wheels differ.
Built Around Modern Bicycle Tires
Bicycle tires have changed dramatically since HED began building wheels in 1984. Modern performance road and gravel tires are significantly wider than the narrow tires once considered standard.
As tire sizes changed, rim design had to change with them.
HED has long focused on the relationship between rim width and tire performance. The shape a tire takes once mounted to the rim influences aerodynamics, cornering support, ride quality, rolling characteristics, and the pressures a rider can effectively use.
This systems-based philosophy treats the rim and tire as parts of the same performance system rather than completely independent components.
Road Bike Wheels Hand-Built in the USA
HED road wheels are developed for riders who want a balance of aerodynamic efficiency, responsive handling, tire performance, dependable construction, and long-term serviceability.
Different road riders need different wheels. Riders tackling steep climbs and changing terrain may prefer a versatile mid-depth wheel, while riders who spend more time racing at high speeds may benefit from deeper aerodynamic profiles.
HED's road wheel lineup spans lightweight alloy wheels, versatile carbon wheelsets, and deep aerodynamic race wheels so riders can choose a wheel around their actual terrain and performance goals.
Shop HED Road & Triathlon Wheels
Vanquish Carbon Wheels Made by HED
The HED Vanquish platform represents decades of aerodynamic development combined with modern carbon manufacturing.
Vanquish carbon rims are produced by HED in Minnesota, and complete wheels are hand-built for road racing, all-road riding, triathlon, and time trial applications.
Different rim depths allow riders to choose the balance of aerodynamics, weight, and handling that best fits their riding.
Triathlon and Time Trial Wheels Built for Speed
HED's history is closely connected to triathlon and time trial racing. These disciplines place enormous importance on aerodynamic efficiency because riders often spend extended periods maintaining high speeds in an aerodynamic position.
Deep-section wheels and full rear disc wheels can reduce aerodynamic drag when appropriately matched to the rider, bicycle, course, and conditions.
HED offers multiple aerodynamic configurations ranging from conventional spoked aero wheels to full rear discs, allowing riders to build a race setup around their individual needs.
Gravel Wheels Hand-Built in Minnesota
Gravel riding places a different set of demands on a bicycle wheel.
Wider tires, lower pressures, rough surfaces, repeated impacts, long distances, and changing terrain require a wheel to balance speed with tire support, control, and durability.
HED gravel wheels are designed around modern gravel tires and the conditions those tires encounter. Internal rim width, tire profile, tubeless compatibility, pressure, structural performance, and serviceability all become important parts of the complete system.
HED's carbon gravel platforms bring the company's carbon manufacturing and wheel-building experience into wheels designed specifically for modern gravel racing and riding.
Explore HED Gravel Bike Wheels
Why Building Bicycle Wheels in the USA Matters
Where a bicycle wheel is built matters most when that location changes how the product is developed, manufactured, inspected, and supported.
For HED, maintaining carbon manufacturing and wheel-building operations in Minnesota creates several practical advantages:
- Direct quality control: Products can be evaluated throughout manufacturing and final wheel assembly.
- Engineering access: Engineers remain closely connected to the processes used to turn wheel designs into physical products.
- Manufacturing knowledge: Experience gained from producing carbon rims and building wheels becomes part of future product development.
- Faster feedback: Information from production, riders, dealers, athletes, and service staff can move back into product development.
- Hands-on wheel building: Finished wheels are individually built, trued, tensioned, and inspected.
- Long-term product support: HED maintains direct knowledge of the products and wheel systems carrying its name.
More Than a Logo on a Wheel
The bicycle industry has changed significantly since HED Cycling was founded.
Global manufacturing has made it easier to launch a cycling brand, select an existing product, apply graphics, and bring that product to market.
HED's history is different.
The company grew out of bicycle wheel development itself. Aerodynamic research, prototyping, carbon manufacturing, rim development, wheel building, testing, riding, and refinement have shaped the products carrying the HED name for more than four decades.
That distinction is difficult to communicate through weight, rim depth, or price alone. It becomes much clearer when you look inside the factory at the materials, tooling, manufacturing equipment, wheel-building benches, testing, and people responsible for producing the finished products.
Recognized as a Minnesota Manufacturer
HED's manufacturing story has been recognized outside the cycling industry as well.
In 2026, HED Cycling CEO Anne Hed received the Career Achievement honor as part of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's Minnesota Manufacturing Awards.
Read the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal feature on Anne Hed and HED Cycling .
Enterprise Minnesota has also worked directly with HED on manufacturing processes, workflow, carbon production, and assembly.
Read Enterprise Minnesota's HED Cycling manufacturing profile .
More Than 40 Years of Bicycle Wheel Experience
HED has been developing bicycle wheels since 1984.
During that time, cycling has moved from narrow tires and traditional box rims to deep aerodynamic profiles, carbon fiber construction, disc brakes, tubeless systems, thru axles, modern wide tires, gravel-specific equipment, and increasingly sophisticated aerodynamic wheel systems.
HED has developed products through those changes rather than entering the bicycle wheel market after they occurred.
More than forty years of experience does not mean doing things the same way forever. It means having enough history to understand why wheel technology changed, what worked, what did not, and where there is still room to improve.
Designed, Manufactured, Built, and Supported by HED
HED's approach connects wheel design, carbon manufacturing, assembly, testing, inspection, and customer support.
That connection creates direct responsibility for the performance of the products carrying the HED name.
From carbon material being prepared in Minnesota to a wheel builder making the final tension and truing adjustments, the goal remains the same: produce a bicycle wheel that performs the way it was designed to perform.
Riders can also see what other HED owners have experienced by visiting our HED Cycling Reviews page.
Built in Minnesota. Ridden Around the World.
HED wheels leave Minnesota for road races, gravel routes, triathlon courses, time trials, velodromes, training rides, weekend rides, and adventures around the world.
The disciplines have changed. The equipment has evolved. Bicycle technology will continue moving forward.
But the foundation behind HED remains remarkably consistent: understand the wheel, build it carefully, test it, learn from it, and continue looking for ways to make riders faster.
Since 1984, HED Cycling has built its reputation around bicycle wheel engineering, manufacturing, and hands-on craftsmanship in Minnesota.
Learn More About HED Cycling
Learn more about HED's history, compare wheel options, read verified rider reviews, or find the wheel built for the way you ride.
