daanbr78

So I’m a sucker for looks. And higher rims (in my humble opinion) always make a bike look better ;-)

for my gravel bike (Canyon Grail CF 8.0 with 30mm rims) I want to buy a new set at 45mm

I’m looking at Zipp 303 S or FFWD Tyro 2.0.

any advice as to why I should pick one over the other?

StanSeven

I personally don’t know about either wheel. But if I were buying now, I would go with the Zipps. There are several online reviews and road.cc did both. They rated Zipps slightly higher. Zipps are noticeably lighter - more than 200 grams. And Zipps are known for reliability, customer service, and sells many times more.

WhyFi

Are the FFWD tubeless only? The Zipps are hookless and require the use of tubeless tires. If you're okay with that, or were planning on it anyway, then I think that they're fantastic wheels. I've had mine for 12k+ miles, and they've been awesome.

DaveSSS 

I have the 303s wheels. They're hookless with 23mm internal width. The TYRO is 21mm internal width and hooked. The 303s wheels are 145 grams lighter.

The hookless rims will allow lower tire pressure, but the tires must be hookless compatible. See the tire pressure calculator at zipp.com. With 30mm tires I use 52/56 psi.

I have found that the deep profile can get hard to handle in some of the cross winds that I encounter on mountain descents. I have a new pair of BTLOS 29mm deep wheels coming that are also hookless with an even wider 25mm internal width. They only cost $816 with free shipping. They only weigh 1400 grams.

Caliwild

I've had FFWD wheels before (clincher only) and loved them... But I now have the Zipp 303S wheels and love them. They're the perfect balance of weight, price, and quality. I actually looked at those Tyro wheels a few months ago when I was deciding, but I went with the Zipps... You really can't go wrong either way but I'd go (and I did go) with the Zipps.

daanbr78

Thanks for the quick answers!

after your answers and after having watched a video on YouTube where Si from GCN explains the hookless technology I am feeling confident and am leaning towards the Zipp

Sy Reene

Is this correct? Or is that hookless rims may require lower tire pressure? Haven't heard but could easily be mistaken that there's a different low PSI limit for hookless than vs hooked.

daanbr78

this is pretty informative

DaveSSS 

There is a 73 psi pressure limit imposed on hookless setups, but most users won't need that much pressure. If the zipp pressure calculator calculates a higher pressure, it will suggest a larger tire and/or a wider rim. I weigh only 60-62 kg, so that's not a problem for me. A 100kg rider only needs 56/60 with a 32mm tire, but with a 28mm tire on 23mm IW rims, it's still only 65/69.

Another big advantage with hookless is a fabulously smooth ride and no pinch flats. The down side is a lot of older frames won't take 28-32mm tires.

phrantic09

I would do the Zipps as well (and did). I’ve been pleased with them, have close to 4000 on them miles since I bought them in January.

I’m 180# and running 58/60 on 28s

procrit

I've put 1500w through my hookless setup at 50 psi and the tire didn't spin on the rim. I've also run 40-80 psi without any pinch flats or blowouts. I was a skeptic as well, but it's well sorted out and I see zero reason to go back to hooked rims at this point. Enjoy the Zipps!

msu2001la

Another happy Zipp 303S owner here.
From my perspective the hookless aspect is a non-factor. I was planning on only running tubeless tires on these wheels regardless, and I have no need to go over 60psi, so the absence of a rim hook seems to have zero impact on anything I've noticed.

I'm around 165lbs and I've been using GP5000 S TR in 28mm size for road riding @ 60psi. For gravel/CX I've run a few different tires between 33-35mm @ 25-40psi. I did burp the front the other day in a hard grippy corner when running 25psi, so I probably will stay above that number going forward.

Overall the wheels are great - the wider internal dimension works well with a range of tire sizes and they're reasonably light/fast and they look cool with the subtle graphics. Zipp's lifetime warranty seems pretty solid - hopefully I never need to use it, but nice to know that it's there if needed.