The HED Gravel Line Brings Reliable, Bomb-Proof Performance to the Dirt

Founded in 1984, HED and its product line were a staple that I used to follow on the daily when I ran a local triathlon shop in the early 2000’s. The brand was driven by ideas and innovation. The products were wind tunnel sexy and they touched the most influential athletes in our sport. It’s no secret that Steve was the showman for the company. His passion was what drove the bus.

His passing left a massive hole in the industry and the company took a hit (understandably so) and his wife Anne was left to fill Steve’s shoes, which I am sure was a challenge all by itself. Luckily for all of us Anne shared the same passion as her partner and to this day I still look back and marvel how she was able to do it. I want to take a moment and express my pure heartfelt gratitude for Anne Hed. If you have ever had the pleasure of knowing or meeting her you understand just how amazing of a woman and human she is. She is the ultimate sports mom to everyone that rides on two wheels even if those wheels are not hers. The only time I ever get a little frustrated with her is when I think she needs to stand up for herself more: “You’re HED. You’re the original in this space. Talk about it more!” I have told her many of times.

Over the last couple of years the Hed family has really started to find their roots again and the business is finally getting back to the footing that made them what they were in the first place. I say “family” because Andrew (Steve and Anne’s son) has really taken to the business and started to find that same drive and passion that lived within his dad.

Combine that with the fact that the company is still blessed with people like Andy Tetmeyer who has been around for 30 years. He can give you the times and dates of almost anything regarding wheel history.

Back to Dirt

While it has taken some time its been a natural progression for HED to get back into gravel. People on this site will remember how Steve Hed and Dan Empfield were the first people in our side of the sport to be talking about gravel. Their desire to build wider rims was one of the things that got HED on the map to begin with. One could also argue that they helped get more road bikes on dirt starting back in 2007 when they really started to push internal rim widths with 18mm internal widths which later was expanded to a 21mm internal by 2011 with the C2 rim for the JET line and then finally in 2017 when they put a 25mm internal on the Emporia. So it feels sort of natural that HED is really starting to make some moves in the gravel space again. As of today HED has three gravel wheels to choose from. And knowing Anne, names and numbers mean things. We are going to start with the oldest first.

Emporia Series

The Emporia Series line as been around since 2017 and was the first gravel specific wheel HED produced. It has a 25mm internal rim designed for that 40-45mm tire sweet spot. Up until last spring it was offered in alloy, carbon and both 700 and 650 wheel sizes. As of today, it is offered only in alloy.

It was a trend setter when it launched in 2017 and because of the forward thinking done then it still serves as a viable option for a set of gravel wheels today — especially with its price point.

Modern Gravel: Stillwater G50 and Lancaster G25

Fast forward to last year at Unbound 2025. HED brought eight years of industry progress and launched both the Stillwater G50 and the Lancaster G25 at the same time.

The Stillwater G50 are inspired by terrain of the location of what has become sort of the season opener of gravel: MidSouth, which is held in Stillwater, OK. It features a faster, deeper rim shape that works well with the shallower rolling hills of OK.

The Lancaster G25 wheel is named after Lancaster County, NE which is home of the original and thriving Gravel Worlds. The name resembles the terrain in which they are inspired by. With a shallower rim depth of 25mm, they allow riders to carry less weight up and down the larger rollers of the Nebraska gravel roads.

While the two wheels share all the same specs outside of rim depth and of course weight, neither of them are top of the line wheel sets. They are all just a little heavier than others they might compare with. They don’t come with any really fancy bearings or carbon bladed aero spokes. What they do, though, is work and they work really well.

When it comes to putting our hands on wheels, the Stillwater G50’s are the ones we have had for a couple of months. They sit right where most products HED do. They aren’t the lightest and they don’t really sit on the extreme of anything. They are built sort of right in that sweet spot and it’s a nice place to be. The carbon shell is smooth and well built. When you pull them out of the box and you hold them in your hand you really can feel quality. They almost have the look and feel of something that has come out of a very large very refined factory which is a testament to the fact that they are still made in the USA, right in Roseville, MN.

While riding these, I liked the inner rim width of the 28.5mm. It’s just wide enough so that I don’t really feel like I’m going to pinch a tire when I’m bombing down the single tracks around my house, but not so wide that I have very little idea how the tire is going to handle on it. I also don’t feel like I need to check a bunch of tire charts either (although we should always double check compatibility) I have about 400 miles on these so far but I have a lot of different terrain under the wheels. Because of the 50mm rim depth, it was important for me to get some good road and open gravel riding so I took them up to Montana over the 4th of July and got in some good rides in Bozeman. They did just fine on the single track sections and when I needed to out sprint one of the cattle dogs on long section of farm road they handled the sprint just fine.

So far the only issue I have had was getting the valve stem to really seal. Currently the wheels are shipped without them installed so you need to do that manually. So I would just recommend you really get after it when it comes to getting them really tight. And also plan on maybe getting in a little extra sealant in the tires and really move it around so that it can seal well. I found myself pumping up the tires a couple of times before they really started to hold air like they do now. And it was all coming from the valve and not the bead itself.

In the end, when I look at HED in general, I think of old school safe and reliable. Nothing very flashy; just common sense manufacturing that is done here in the USA. When it comes to a family run company that has been around for more than 42 years you can take some stock in the value of things made and sold. And with 16 different patents across four different categories, some things are just going to be worth paying attention to.

At the end of the day you can see why some of today’s best triathletes are so loyal to brand. Just look at Lionel Sanders. That dude could go get bigger money from a number of wheel brands yet he has been on HED wheels for as long as I can remember and I know it’s not for the money. The real question now is will the gravel athletes come to know HED for some of the same reasons we as triathletes do.

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