skandal20

Just thought I would voice my fantasies to all of you. Anyone own these bad boys?

DocRay

check the Weightweenies forums, a lot of negative comments on the durability of Zipp rims.

skandal20

Yeah, but they have a good warranty policy, and I would only busing them a couple times a year for hill climb events. Plus, I can pro deal them.

Grasschopper

Survey says? XXX

My LBS is a Zipp dealer and they say the Zipp is one of the worst to deal with as far as warranties goes. They had a rider get a flat and he then came to a quick stop...turns out the rim was cracked, Zipp wouldn't cover it saying that he rode on the flat. They said well he stopped as soon as it went flat but yea he went a few yards or so to get stopped. Zipp said not covered. This was on a set of wheels less than a month old.

No way would I buy Zipps.

flythebike

I was winning the 'Toona crit last year in the cat fours when my rear 404 came apart. I didn't hit anything but they insisted that I hit a bump and insisted nothing was wrong with the lay up of the rim. Absoultely cost me a race win. I still came in third, limping across the line with the wheel hitting the brake, and it also caused my chain to throw. Amazing I didn't crash too. They gave me a 'blem' rim for $100 plus the build and shipping, but steadfastly refused to warranty the rim. My team was even sponsored by them at the time. So I would say that is consistent with their policy, they don't warranty broken rims unless they can discern to their satisfaction that it was a flawed rim. They do have a breakage replacement program that isn't terrible though.

I had some 202s as well and you definitely had to baby them. But man, they were so light the spin up was amazing. I sold them and bought a disc.

Waldo

Many of these failures occurred on older rims lacking the pave strip. The pave addition has greatly reduced failures, and we continue to work on laminate improvements, not to mention adding CS staff and working on service in general. We continually test new rims and impliment improvements as soon as they are sufficiently proven. Obviously, there are some dissatisfied people out there, but we are doing our best to improve our product and service.
[/Biased defense of employer]

That being said, 202s are by no means an every day wheel, particularly for larger riders. For your stated use, they would be an excellent choice. We've seen few problems with these rims.

EDIT: Flythebike, sorry to hear about your misfortune.

GuitarWizard

After reading about the above experiences, I had planned on buying a set of 404's next year, but now I'll probably look for something else.

cydewaze

Never thought I'd see the day when you'd recommend a set of Race XXX Lites.

GuitarWizard

I'd probably rather get Bontys....at least they'd most likely get warrantied.

Grasschopper

Um yeeeeaaaaa. Thats it. Actually I probably would in this case. but before that I would suggest Reynolds KOMs

bluecd

i've got over 6,000 miles on my 404 clinchers (non clydesdales) since january of this year and with the exception of the decals yellowing a bit & the rear hub needing regreasing every 2,000 miles or so i have had zero problems with them and i'm no lightweight at 195 lbs.

Smoothie104

Ritchey and American Classic both use the older non dimpled Zipp rims, along with thier respective hubs. Better pricing than the Zipps, and dimples shmimples.. It's all marketing BS. After a couple of years of dimples, Zipp will come out with a new "super smooth" suface, that saves 1 watt etc.. blah blah blah.. and we will be back to smooth again.

slvoid

This wheel will speak for itself, I will say no more.

pelotonracer

No, you don't want 202s.

Tennessee

I was thinking of getting some 202's as well for a similar use. I read some roadbikereview.com reviews of the wheels and decided against it. I did get 404's though.

They will be my first and only set of carbon wheels. I'm anxious to see how they hold up. HOpefully I have no problems and don't have to deal with their customer service. I have heard much of the same stuff about their terrible customer service. But as Waldo mentioned, I heard they are really trying to improve that.

Tennessee

BTW, those wheels pictured above. The lightweight's. They only cost $5500.00

OUCH!!!

Waldo

Marketing doesn't really triumph over the principles of fluid mechanics. There are ample wind tunnel results showing the reduction in pressure drag accompanied by the adhesion of the boundary layer due to induced turbulence. This data is obtained directly from the wind tunnel operators (and is kept there, we have no copies of it nor control over it) so as to eliminate the possibility of us altering them in any way. These results have also been confirmed by Tour magazine many times.
It is up to the consumer to determine if lowering drag 4% while increasing the angle before which flow separation occurs by 3 degrees is beneficial for their riding needs/desires.

flythebike

BTW they rebuilt it with a 404 Pave which I raced all season without incident. I've ridden Zipp wheels to a total of four wins (plus three courier alleycat races) and something like 10 podiums. So I consider them to be very fast and generally reliable. It was just that one problem I had. It was the friggin' Toona crit though, one of the finest technical courses out there, and about $100 in prize money. But I'm not letting it bum me out, I've moved on. I'll go back to that race next year (I skipped it this year) and win.

slvoid

It's not that bad, you get both the front and rear wheel.

Cleave

Hi,

I weigh 155 lbs. (oh the embarrassment) and have been doing all of my road, crit, and hilly TTs with Zipp 303s (tubular) since March 2003. I had to touch the spokes once during 2003 but nothing since. Best race wheels I've ever owned and the most expensive wheels I've ever bought. YMMV.

bbp

Reynolds has some new wheels coming out for 2007

the 2007 KOM



* Rim Depth: 23mm
* Spoke Patterns: 20/24
* Weight: 1063 grams per set
* Hubs: DT Swiss 240S Reynolds-Specific Design
* Spokes:
o 20 FRONT (Radial) DT Revolution
o 24 REAR (Radial, 2x Drive) DT Revolution and DT Competition

2007 MV32T


* Rim Depth: 32mm
* Spoke Pattern: 20/24
* Weight: 1192.6 grams per set
* Hubs: DT Swiss 240S Reynolds-Specific Design
* Spokes:
o 20 FRONT (Radial) DT Aerolite
o 24 REAR (Radial, 2x Drive) DT Aerolite and DT Competition

merlinextraligh

Personally, I've had good experience with Zipps. And I'm over 200lbs. I have a set of 404's (not the Clydesdales) with 6000 plus miles and no problems at all. I have set of 303's. One of the 303's had a bubbling problem on the rim and Zipp replaced that under warranty.
I also have a power tap with a 404 rim. I just rebuilt it after 3000 miles. The rim is fine, but the aluminum nipples (a stupid choice for this particular wheel build imho) were beginning to fail. I've raced the 404's in crits with cobblestones without problem.

Wheels fail, and get damaged. It's their nature. Light wheels fail and get damged more often.its a price of doing business.

briscoelab

I've also been on a set of 404 tubulars all season long. I've raced them in crits/RR/and TTs with no problems. I've had to jump some crbs and bunny hop stuff too. So far, so good. I think Zipp gets a bad rap based on the sheer number of their wheels out there in the market. Like everything else, typically you only hear from the people who have problems.

StanSeven

I've got 303s and use them for all purpose daily riding. I'm at 2000 miles now without the slighest bit of problems. They are as true as when I brought them and I've hit many bumps and potholes. They aren't as fast as the 404s but weigh less for climbing. In the ideal world, I would have a pair of both 404s and 202s.

C Law

I don't know what wheels you should get, but I think Zipp Speed Weaponry is the coolest brand name in cycling.