[Closed] Zipp wheels, just how good are they?

Enve 3.4s?

Chinese carbon and a new bike to put them on?!

The thought of getting a dedicated tt bike instead has crossed my mind, however I have issues with space and the plan is if I really get into tt's this season, buy a full bike for next

The carbones do seem a little heavy compared to some of the other offerings. Neves are prob out of my price range, as you can usually get decent discounts on zips if you look around and are patient

Freehub bodies are £110
They use the tiniest bearings known to man (Not as small as Ac though).

If you wanted something specifically for TTs have you considered a disc?

i was lucky enough to have tried both Zipp 303 and Enve,s. The braking on both was better than my Chinese carbon rims but not a massive difference. Both the Enve and Zipps were heavier than my Chinese 38mm and that's what I am running now. I'm tempted to buy another set but go the the LB pair with Extralite hubs.

Apologies, just seen that you want the wheels for summer road use as well as TTs.

The 404 is 58mm deep; I run Wheelsmiths sourced 60mm Gigantex rims built up onto CK hubs with CX Ray spokes. Like you I run these for summer road and TTs. At 60mm deep, they are absolutely fine in anything up to a light breeze. Beyond this and things can get a little frisky. I've never got back from a ride and thought 'never again' but I have got back and been close to ordering a cloned version of the front in 38mm depth.

The Zipps may be more neutral in crosswinds but they will still be more of a handful than say a 303 in similar conditions.

FYI Wheelsmiths can built you 38mm, 50mm or 60mm deep wheels with their own Novatech souced hubs for £700 a pair. Even with CK hubs they only just go over £1000.

Thanks I'll do a little research. I Have a set of rs21s I use for winter and gusty days. The forest is quite exposed in places and it can be hard work riding the carbones on occasions I imgine going slightly deeper would make that even worse. A disc is on the list as a post tt and pointy helmet purchase.

What brake pads do people use on rims like LB then?

Have a read of this

it will give an understanding of wheel dynamics.

I have a set of aeolus 5's which are good but my club is run from a Trek dealer so it was an easy descision. The Zipp's are very good, some others are a handful in crosswinds.

TBH, and this will seem sad, the noise they make at speed is the best bit 🙂

Iain.

I have a set of Zipp 440 rims on mavic/Dura Ace hubs. Not light, but running 19mm Vittoria Corsa tubs. I raced them for fun two weeks ago at Hillingdon and my they did feel fast. Not much of a handful, but it wasn't very windy. This compared with my Giant 45mm aero wheels with 25c Schwalbe Ones.

These wheels are from the days when Zipp sold rims separately (1993). Came on my retro time trial bike - hence the narrow tubs. The winner of the race was younger than my wheels. I'm sure the more recent profiles are faster still, but I'd be wary of racing such expensive kit. And I'm wary about 19mm tubs on anything but perfect surfaces.

I ride on a set of 404's all summer long. However if you snap a spoke you are in the poo poo as they are impossable to find anywhere but can be ordered. I now carry spares inside my seat tube.

Really? Would you change a spoke at the roadside? Having spares I understand, but not carrying them with you!

I've run Lightweights and they had to be trued after 300k stint, and if the terain was typical UK then every 250k, rubbish for what I need/want,so sold them on, £1700 I got for them but they cost me £2800 what a waste of money.
So ive been running M40C's ever since (on my 3rd set) and been more than happy with the way they ride and the reliability of them too. Mav had the rear back due to busted spoke (last summer) and replaced the wheel within 4days... Perfect.
I've tried 303's, my mate has them on his 695, they feel light enough but they are tubs on his..

What are you trying to gain by changing? Is it weight or reliability or bling or .... You just fancy them ?

I'd say if you ride in a club, surely someone has a set, try borrowing them first..

How do you true Lightweights? Thought that was the point?

Mine were the early "most" and had a similar system to the M40C's, these were wheels from back in 07' BTW, but they put me off the brand. Anyway, as you know, I ride Lanes and B Roads which are poor surfaces and just couldn't get on with them, too faffy. I too thought they'd be fine, it's why I bought them and to add a bit of bling to my then Orca. My whippet mate bought them and raced them for a couple of years but then he's more a bimbler than I am so liked them. He sold them on a couple of years ago, they were still going strong then so perhaps I should wind my whining in.

Hey Ho.

Campagnolo have started promoting their new Bora's that come in both clincher and tub format. Both 35 and 50 deep and both with a new wider profile.

http://www.campagnolo.com/AU/en/Wheels/bora_one_50

Certainly worth a look at if you're considering Zipp.

I've looked at Zipps, FFWD and Vittoria's, all feel bloody lovely and insanely light but at the end of the day they're all ~£1200++ RRP and I just couldn't bring myself to drop that kind of coin on something I was going to race and probably crash but also wear out, maybe when/if discs come along...ended up getting some PlanetX 50mm tubs.

Thing I find odd is that they're not insanely light. You can get some FarSports 38mm tubs at 1100g, or clinchers for 1200g or so. That's lighter than any of the vastly more expensive offerings, barring RazRs and Lightweights. Just not quite sure how that works.

'Cos Farsport don't really care about your teeth 😉 I was tempted by Farsports but there's just that niggle about QC/failure during a race, PlanetX aren't going to be teh awesomez but they are a UK company so it makes me feel a bit better about 'em...ish... Would def use Farsport/Light-Bicycle if I ever get some for the MTB.

Haha, they feel light compared to the standard wheels that came on my £1000 TCR!

As much as I loved the Zipp's I tried I'm with Njee on them being hard to justify. For day to day wheels I would go Chinese carbon, much of the performance, lighte, cheaper, and bearings and spokes all easy to buy and replace.

Sorry to hijack but have you got a link to those true-able lightweights bikebuoy? I've never heard of them and I'm a geek about all things Lightweight!

Really? Would you change a spoke at the roadside? Having spares I understand, but not carrying them with you!

I used to do it with blu-tac in the handlebars on my MTB's, not so much to fix them mid ride, but I've probably got 20x different types of spokes in unlabled bags in a box in the shed, sticking them in the bike just made them easy to keep track of and meand they were always there on a weekend away.

I've been using LB rims on my XC race bike for a while, they have been great and solid - other than having to rebuild once due to my shoddy skills (nipples cracked due to slightly too short spokes as I measured the ERD wrong)

For some reason I'm more nervous about Chinese offerings on my road bike, not keen on the idea of a failure at 40+mph onto tarmac.

The reason for the change is primarily because I fancy something new, and the cosmics have always felt a bit heavy for what they are, I reckon they are around 1800 ish (not actually weighed them yet). A bit of free speed would also be nice. I do regularly have to ride over cattlegrids so they need to be reliable and stiff enough for me to crank out of the saddle at 72-5kg (pro lite braccianos aren't)

That bonty article was interesting, though I tend not to trust articles commissioned by the manufacturer.

If it helps DT my 60mm gigantex come in at a little over 1400g which is quite a saving versus your Cosmics.

I'm with the chinese crowd but....use a known rim manufacturer like carbonal, and have them handbuilt in UK with good quality spokes...I can recommend Spokesman......Then use the difference on a cycling holiday!

1400g would be a good saving. Just looked at wheelsmiths, seems they've gone up a little £850 for 60 / own hubs.

Tubular rims are £740 for a set. Carbon clinchers are quite often more expensive.