Zipp Wheels?

[-Adam-]

Just wondered if anyone has any experience of zipp wheels?

My pursuit of a new light but aero wheelset has lead me onto zipp. After Hed's no show at the TCR show last weekend, and everyone i spoke to telling me not to buy them anyway, i was left with the general consensus that cheap carbon wheels are not worth the trouble...

So zipp's anyone? I spoke too one guy who swore by the 303's, but the 404's arent that much heavier and surely more aero... But for general racing and the odd training ride i feel the 303's are the way forward, due to them being slightly lower profile and lighter.

Please help. I dont want to waste my last bit of student loan for the year!!!

Thanks,

Adam

[DavidKennett]

Hi Adam,

Was also thinking of getting some 303's but have seen too people having issues with them, even guys under 60kgs breaking spokes! Also if you look on other cycling forums, not many positive points.

A better option might be Corima Aero's, not aware of any issues with these.

[richv]

I've used a Zipp 404 on the front for time trialling for the last few years and think it's a great wheel. Also started to use an 808 on the back in some races.

They get a pretty positive write up from most TTers who use them, even the heavy/fat ones like me, but I don't know that I'd fancy riding one in a road race in the Surrey lanes. At least in a TT you can see and avoid most of the holes that are a permanent feature of our roads.

If you were using it for TTing I'd say a set of Zipp 404's would be fine (or a 404 front/808 back or 404 front/disc back).

Or try Planet X. There has been some reasonable feedback on their wheels and they seem exceptionally good value.

If it's road racing and general riding I'd suggest a decent alloy wheelset rather than carbon rims, particularly if you were thinking of riding any continental cyclosportives with mountains in. I wouldn't want to be doing 40+mph descents with carbon rims to brake on.

Or save your money and spend the time you would have spent hunting for and looking at wheels on training, will probably give a better improvement than the wheels

[Andrew G]

I've seen good reviews for the Planet X, but they are tubs (as are the Zipp 303/404 aren't they?) Also carbon rims = different break pads.

You mentioned earlier that ideally you'd like clinchers, were you thinking of the Flashpoint Zipps? At the end of the day, if you want proven, clincher, race wheels you might be better off going for the Mavic Cosmic.

Happy hunting whatever you get.

[-Adam-]

hmm, whatever options i can come up with theres always a downside!

argh!

if i were to buy zipps i was going to get the clincher version anyway. have looked into flash point andrew. they look good but they are quite heavy.

dave, do you know exactly how these guys broke the spokes? its such a hard decision, have looked at corimas but im being seduced by the dimples and stuff you get with a zipp. maybe its all just marketing, but they do put a convincing case of all their r&d.

cheers guys,

adam

[-Adam-]

well, sigma, posh bikes etc.

sigma even work with the importers of hed. fair play the tri spke wheels might be 'the most aero wheel available' but the guy i spoke to at posh bikes was an engineer and was telling me how other wheels are more aero in practice.

the problem i have with hed is, nobody uses the 'normal'wheels... i mean the normal deep section carbon rims. and no one seems to know much about them. i can't find any reviews of them anywhere... so im put off them by all this!

now im waiting for dave kennets response on spokes breaking on zipps, but csc have won countless races on them. who can argue against them!? (phonak did too, but im not gonna go there!)

im not actually going to buy anything until my easter break, but i am still interested in what people have to say on the matter. otherwise im just gonna bite the bullet and get me some zipps!

cheers,

adam

[-Adam-]

well the zipps come in at £999, plus skewers and probably some wheel bags to look after them.

but please feel free to donate to the fund and ill just buy a pair of bontrager aeolus'!

[Marek]

How much more would it cost for you to get some bling Campag Boras, surely they are the ones you want to get. They make any bike look ten times more expensive than it really is.

Cheers

Marek....

p.s. I think they are quite light as well.

[-Adam-]

erm , about another 500quid i think!

plus there tubs only, and i really want to stick with clinchers for convenience and economy. they are nice, but i dont think they do shimano free hubs either.

[Andrew G]

Another hat in the ring?

Vuelta Carbon Pro
[url=http://www.pearsoncycles.co.uk/index.html?pageTitle=Carbon_Pro_Clincher_WRFree_tyres_and_tubes&pageDesc=Limited_Time_Special_OfferBuy_this_Vuelta_wheelset_and_receive_a_pair_of_continental_GP4000_tyres_an&action=detail&maincatID=0&catID=&prodID=2418&brandID=]WR version (60mm rims) £995[/url]
[url=http://www.pearsoncycles.co.uk/index.html?pageTitle=Carbon_Pro_Clincher_blackFree_tyres_and_tubes&pageDesc=Limited_Time_Special_OfferBuy_this_Vuelta_wheelset_and_receive_a_pair_of_Michelin_tyres_and_tubes_fr&action=detail&maincatID=0&catID=&prodID=2414&brandID=]Normal version (50mm rims) £750[/url]
Both clinchers and you'd get great service from Pearson's too. Don't know what their reputation's like but Guy would be able to fill you in.

Good fun window shopping for dream kit .

[-Adam-]

tell me about it, trouble is when you actually have to choose for real!

well, i did indeed look into these vuelta carbon wheels, but i tell you, they are ridiculously heavy!

they had them on their (pearsons) stand last week at TCR. they were on a display thingy, and just spinning them you got a real sense of weight, but its the rim weight which concerns me. Thus meaning acceleration is almost non existent! they do look good though, ill give em that! but if accelertation is crapl, how am i supposed to beat you in a sprint!!!?

[-Adam-]

just looked at the website, says the pro ones have a rim made by zipp, interesting...

however, they claim to weigh about 150g less than a set of 404's. i smell bull s*** there. if zipp make the rim, how the hell do they build the wheel for more weight!? plus its not the dimpled rim either, so are they as aerodynamic?

weight is the reason im leaning towards the 303's, with the dimples the zipp marketeers claim that the wheel is as aerodynamic as any other 50mm rim anyway, but being lighter, accelerates quicker...

its hard work this wheel choice lark!

[Robh]

Some info on Zipp wheels :-

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB ... =clinchers

1280g clinchers wheels :-
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB ... t+clincher

Also from weight weenies regarding lightest clincher rims:-

1. American Classic Magnesium 1200g (To be released in Jan)
2. Rolf Prima Elan 1314g (actual)
3. American Classic 350 1320g (standard build)
4. Campagnolo Ultra Hyperon 1350g
5. Extra lite ExtraClimb 1360g
6. Nimble Fly 1367g
7. Velomax Victoria 1370g (145lb recomended weight limit, to be released in Jan)
8. Wheel Craft Sprint DS 1370g ( Actual)
9. Ritchey WCS Protocal 1390g (to be released in Jan)
10. Campagnolo Hyperon 1395g
11. Nimble Spider 1400g
12. FSA (don't know model) 1400g (to be released in Jan)
13. Topolino 1413g (actual)
14. Velomax Ascent II 1423g (actual)
15. American Classic 420 1425g (standard build)
16. Rolf Prima Vigor 1467g (actual)
17. X-Lab Aero 1475g
18. Velomax Orion II 1477g
19. Extra Lite ExtraRoad 1480g
20. Reynolds Stratus Clincher 1490g (to be released in Jan)
21. Velomax Tempest II 1500g
22. Bontrager X-Lite 1520g
23. Tune Standard Lightweight 1530g
24. Spinergy Xaero Lite 1540g
25. Campagnolo Neutron 1550g
26. Spinergy Tilium Carbon 1557g (actual)
27. Mavic Ksyirum SSC SL TDF 1560g (actual)
28. Zipp 303 1575g
29. Dura Ace 7800 1579g
30. Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL 1590g (actual)
31. Spinergy Carbon SS 1599g

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB ... her+wheels

[Grahame]

Please don't edit it Marco. It sounds about right to me (except the 6% body fat bit - 60% sounds like a more reasonable target to me )

Grahame: optimum heart rate - anything above 0


<edited>

[Matthew Ives]

[quote]Ok Im gonna drop some post pub science here that is quite possibly gonna annoy a lot of people!


£500 on a pair of wheels? £1000 on a pair of wheels? Jesus. What is your ROI on these wheels? coming home from a club ride feeling 5% fresher? Knocking 30 seconds off your 10 time? Is the pleasure derived from that really worth £500 or £1000? I could get a fixed gear road bike, a single speed mtb and still have £300 left over to spend on clubbing, women, cycling weekends, one off adventures etc and have loads more (in my opinion) fun as a result of that outlay.

If you are down to 22 minute 10s or knocking out 5 watts per kilo per 20mins (or whatever the benchmark is) and youve got an actual reason why you NEED to go faster (in my experience theres a differnce between needing to go faster and wanting to go faster on an ego trip, this may be different for others etc).

For most level of riders on realistic incomes I would recommend a set of handbuilt lightweight wheels from pete at butlers. They will be fast enough, he can build them to an adequate aero level for your standard and they are durable and repairable.

If you want to travel faster, pedal faster. if you want to pedal faster train smarter, your body will thank you for it. You think John Withey was doing 20 minute 10s on wheels that cost him a grand? Do you think youre gonna enjoy riding your bike more than Addiscombe champ John Smith did because youve got carbon wheels?

If people are dead set on spending that much money on wheels fair enough. Id recommend getting your body fat percentage down to 6% first though to make it a bit more worthwhile.

Sorry to sound come across so negative compared to everyone else but I just wanted to redress the balance.