Gus90

Just picked up a set and put them on my bike for their first ride today in some mild wind. They seem to handle a little better in cross winds than the Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLS set I had on previously (alloy rim). The aren't that much lighter but seem to ride like they are a lot lighter especially in climbs. The Mavics road great as well but seemed a little harsher in comparison. Probably just the new wheel placebo effect. Although there is a lot less noise and vibration coming up through my frame.

I was going to keep the Mavic's as my "training" wheels but honestly, I don't race and I'm riding mostly for fitness and enjoyment so taking the time to swap wheels and brake pads as well as having to adjust the calipers since the rims are different widths is a bit of a time consuming pain.

I'm debating if I should just sell the Mavics and keep the Zipps as my only wheels. I know a lot of you that own the 404's only use them as your race wheels. I've hit the occasional pothole and the Mavics are still as true as ever, I'm not sure how the Zipps would hold up which is why I hesitate to make them my only wheels.

I put about 600 miles on my road bike last year (the bulk of my riding is on my cross since I ride the trails a lot more than the roads). So assuming I put about 800-1,000 miles on them this year etc on relatively flat terrain (Illinois) should I worry that they are going to wear out too quickly, particularly the brake track?

In your experience, how many miles of average riding can you expect to get out of 404's or any carbon rim for that matter compared to an alloy rim which I assume lasts almost forever. Average riding being mostly flat areas with 7-10% grades at best.

MikeyBoyAz

I'm burning at about 6k miles on my boyd carbon brake tracks, still no sign of failure.

Gus90

That's a good sign. How many brake pads have you gone through?

Seattle Forrest

Sell them and enjoy your upgrade. Ride mindfully and avoid potholes (I know, I know). You don't want to futz around changing them, you prefer the Zipp's handling in the wind, and you live in the windy city.

MikeyBoyAz

just about ready to put on my third set... they're getting thin and are missing a few chunks here and there (not entirely sure how)

grwoolf

You should have no issue getting 20k+ miles out of a set of 404's, probably much more. I've been riding firecrests as my everyday wheel for years and have hit a bunch of nasty stuff with no issues. Use them for cross is you want, I've seen people do it. There is nothin fragile about a 404.

I have burned through the braking surface of an alloy wheel before, they wear much faster than carbon in my experience. Good pads for carbon are expensive, but you should get at least a couple years from a set if you are riding 1k miles per year on flatish roads.

Dunbar

I would definitely keep the Zipps since you have already purchased them. I was a little bit annoyed that they dropped the price so much after I bought mine a year ago for around $2100 from PBK (although I do prefer the CX-Ray spokes on mine). I rode 10k miles last year and put about 5-6k on the Zipps. I take them off in the winter months (such as they are in SoCal) to save the wear and tear. I am a bit more careful with the Zipps installed but I definitely don't baby the wheels. I've heard the wheels themselves are very robust. It's the hubs that have a bad rap but they have gotten much better over the years. Zipp also has a pretty good crash replacement policy which limits your exposure if something bad happens to one, or both, of your wheels. I think it's around $400-500 and you get a brand new wheel. More frequent, and expensive, brake pad replacement is one of those things you just need to accept with carbon clinchers.

Gus90

The price drop was a nice surprise, I actually picked up mine for $1,650 which not including tires. The 2016's have the new rims too if I'm not mistaken.

I appreciate the advice, putting my Mavics on ebay . Will be nice to offset some of the cost of the Zipps anyway.

StanSeven

I'm well over 20,000 miles with Zipp 404s with absolutely no problems. I'm on my second set of brake pads but that's it.

I previously had 303s and had new bearings at 12,000 but they were the older 2009 model. Zipps are really solid.

Bumnah

I just got my set of zipps. I went from RS010s to 404 firecrests. There's no way I'm going back to anything else.