I was extremely happy to review Zipp’s Tires because I knew there was no way in hell they’d send them without a set of their own Carbon Wheels. Sure enough, POOF! Out of the box came a spankin’ new set of 303 Tubular Carbon wheels.
I've been on Zipps before and always liked the wheels. I never paid a whole lot of attention to the details though until this set showed up.
The tires needing cementing, so they came with clean rim beds and in perfect shape, and it was then that I really looked at the hubs… I would bet there are watch companies that don’t build to the tolerances on these hubs. Zipp use a little more accurate rating of 7xxx Ordinance as a spec (yeah, ordinance, like weaponry that you shoot things with rather than ride…). As a matter of fact, the piece of crap I have on my wrist now has a band that could use the finishing work on the 84 and 202 Hubs that come standard on the 303’s. The bearings aren’t far off either at 10 millionths of an inch (this is a fairly small distance…) total variance sitting in a class 5 race…
You’ll also notice sweet looking Carbon end-caps. They are nice to look at, but we’ll get back to them on the road…
Fits Your Fave Gruppo
Another great hub feature lets you swap a hub part and convert back and fourth between Shimano and Campy (if you buy a spare cassette body) in a flash. It takes no time at all, and looking at the parts when broken down really lets you appreciate how tightly built the Hubs really are…
Fancy Names For “Really Well made”
The Rims themselves are just very well made equipment. Zipp have a couple of special things to call the Technology they use Like ICT and VcLc (Visco-elastic Constrained Layer Control). They have a great (big, long) explanation about the who, how and why on their website. They’ve been making Carbon Hoops for quite a while and have an understanding about what makes things better (and the marketing savvy to call attention to it and give it a name).
The short version is they have a great way of playing with the layers of Carbon, the resins used and the shape they are made into in order to make the rim do the things we want. These wheels are extremely comfortable because they soak up quite a bit of vibration but do not sacrifice much in the way of flex to do it. That’s kind of the thing that Frame Companies have always tried for… Vertical compliance (meaning less butt and hand vibration) with good lateral stiffness (meaning they don’t slop around while you are hammering.
Another great feature for this year is that they use everyone’s new favorite wheel item, the new Sapim CX-Ray spokes. These things whoop ass with strength like some big bladed spokes with weight like skinny little 14 gauge sticks.
On To It.
The above paragraphs kinda sum it up. On top of only weighing in at 1124 Grams (insert chuckle and grin) and being easily serviced (nipples at the rim and easy rebuild access) they perform very, very well. They are stable, Stiff enough for Crits, Light enough to call ‘em climbers, have a deep enough profile so that the maintain speed very well, and are shallow enough not to catch a whole lot of crosswind. They soak up road vibration (when used with either their house brand tires or the Tufo’s we also tried on them) in a way that makes you feel like something is wrong. The one negative that stuck out was that the little Carbon end caps on the hubs rattled while rolling down the road. I could have fixed it with tiny swipe of Silicone Caulk, but didn’t want to send these back to Zipp with a stain, so I lived with the annoying sound. While it's an easy fix, It seems like a basic oversight and may be specific to just this set.
Overall, these are just another reason (along with hoops from Reynolds and American Classic) to think that the second most important thing you will select for your bike is a frame…
I have said it before and I will say it again, a very good set of light weight Tubular Carbon wheels will transform your bike (and this is a very good set of Carbon Tubulars…). They are the one part you can change that you will immediately notice a difference with in acceleration, comfort and ride quality (and that is if you are using ANY clincher, light weight or not). If you have the money and you are the right weight so that they are safe (you should email the Manufacturers, not me, for acceptable weights) I would spesay spend your money on wheels first, Frame second, Group set third…
Get more info on all the Zipp gear at www.zipp.com.
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