Plainsman

I “kinda” walked into a deal on some new Zipp 303s wheels ($300-ish under retail) and picked them up. Wondering if anyone is running them for gravel, or if there are better $1k options out there. The lifetime warranty is pretty attractive for gravel, but I also know the likes of Light Bicycle and Winspace can be had for $700-$800 and the same weight or a few grams less. Trying to figure out whether or not I want to hold on to these or punt. Any advice?

Koyote

Those wheels should work fine for gravel riding (and typical gravel tire widths). Probably not a common wheelset choice for gravel riding, but the inner rim diameter and other features seem suited for it.

You can get lighter wheels for less money, and they might even have better hubs. (Those Zipp hubs are nothing special.) But, as you note, the name brand and warranty are worth something.

phrantic09

I have/do. They’re great, not the lightest but do the job well.

KJ43

I have two sets of Light Bicycle wheels would recommend them. Excellent customer service and you can buy a lifetime warranty if you want.

Caliwild

Been running them for a while on my Santa Cruz Stigmata with the Zipp gravel tires and love them...

Plainsman

The WR series was one I had in mind. How much extra does the lifetime warranty cost, and does it cover everything? (If you break a Zipp while out riding, assuming you didn’t drop it off a mountain, they’ll replace for free). The WR series from LB is intriguing because it would seem to have better aerodynamics with wider tires - for those portions of gravel events where you are on tarmac and need road speed.

Plainsman

Those look fantastic. Which model and width Zipp tires?

KJ43

The cost is $100 per wheel for the lifetime warranty I'm pretty sure. Their warranty policy is on their website and from what I've read over the years they bend over backwards to help customers with any issues.

Caliwild

Thanks! They're the matching Zipp tires...

https://www.sram.com/en/zipp/models/ti-tngc-gcln-a2

Plainsman

hmmm…that is good to know, and throws in a little wrinkle. Makes the diff between the Zipps and LB with equivalent warranties only about $50. The deciding factor moves from cost/warranty to pure performance.

Plainsman

I read up a little on those tires. I’m running 37mm stock Giant tires right now, but had planned to move to the Specialized 2bliss pro in 45mm. How do you find the 40mm grip on loose surfaces?

Caliwild

I actually like them a lot. I'm riding mostly loose over hard in Southern Cali. 465 grams and pretty tough. Was thinking of getting lighter tires but these roll well and have been holding up great too...

KJ43

Hehe...if we are posting pics of our Stigmatas...here is mine with the Light Bicycle wheels.

Light Bicycle Falcon Pro - WR38 Disc - 24H - Hooked Tubeless:

• DT SWISS 240 EXP straight pull Center lock Black
• DT SWISS 240 EXP Shimano Road 11S straight pull Center lock Black EXP 54
• SPOKE Sapim CX Ray with black aluminum nipples
• Quoted weight (no tape, valves, etc) 1428g

dvdslw

I had the 303S wheels on my Warbird with some 40's, 42's, and even some 47's. The wheels look good, are fairly light, internal width is ok, but I didn't like the rear hub. Once you get used to riding a hub that has more points of engagement you can never go back. For the same money I'd look at Easton EC90AX wheels with their Vault Hubs that are a bit wider, lighter, and can usually be found on sale over at Bike Tires Direct.

KJ43

One thing I liked about the Light Bicycle wheels is that you can pick the hub you want. I got the DT Swiss 240 with the 54 EXP - they are loud (which I like) but with the extra engagement the feeling is very responsive when riding. If the configuration on the LB website doesn't have what you want you can email them and from what I have heard they will work with you on just about anything you want.

Plainsman

Thank you very much for sharing the spec (and I like the spec)! That looks to be at least an equal in warranty and probably a better hub. I just built that wheel up on their site and before shipping and tax it comes out to just about $400 over what I spent on the Zipps, so about a $500 swing with taxes and shipping. Killer looking wheelset though, and I like that wide rim profile. I probably should have mentioned I’m looking to be $1000 or less.

Plainsman

I’m surprised I don’t know (since I run a set on my road bike), but how many points of engagement on the Zipps?

msu2001la

Do points of engagement really matter on a gravel bike? I get that on MTB, BMX/Freestyle bikes where speeds are very low and the terrain is highly technical this matters. I could even buy an argument for CX bikes where you're constantly coasting in tight corners then getting on the gas. But on a gravel bike?

Anyway to answer the OP's question - Zipp 303S is great for gravel. I have a set and use them for Gravel and CX. I know several others who use these wheels for gravel and road. They're more expensive than options from LB. The warranty is very solid - SRAM covers crash damage (even during a race). For me that made the extra cost over LB options worth it. I would agree that the rear hub is pretty standard fare, nothing special. I've got several thousand miles on my set now and never had any problems with it. It makes a pleasing noise that isn't obnoxiously loud. If you really want some fancy hubs on Zipps you can do that. Zipp sells their rims wholesale to wheelbuilders - Chris King has the 303 Firecrest with their R45 hubs on their website. I'm sure there's lots of people out there who could custom build you some 303S with CK's or White Industry, etc.

Caliwild

I agree... I don't ever feel that more points of engagement would help me on a gravel bike. Mountain bikes, yes, I'd look into more. But, to each his own.

KJ43

I ride my bike on everything from full road rides to fairly technical singletrack and other trailriding, so yes. On a steep technical climb with rocks and roots if you have to do some stutter peddling without losing traction it absolutely makes a difference.

Koyote

On my gravel bike, I have two wheelsets: one with an 18 tooth ratchet, one with a 36 tooth ratchet. I don’t really even notice the difference.

msu2001la

OK, but you're basically describing mountain biking. I agree that points of engagement matter in situations like this, but I think most people are not using gravel bikes to ratchet up steep rocky/rooted technical singletrack climbs on a regular basis.

There's not much downside to high engagement hubs other than cost and noise, so I don't see any reason to avoid them, I just don't understand why it's a selling point on a drop-bar bike. As I said earlier, I could see it mattering a bit in CX racing but situations like what you describe are rare (for drop bar bikes).

More to the point of this thread, I certainly don't find the Zipp 303S hub to be lacking in engagement for typical gravel/CX use. Avoiding this hub due to it having less points of engagement than a DT Swiss hub seems like marketing nonsense.

KJ43

Sorry, but that's just silly and it doesn't sound like you have much of a clue about the gravel scene. There are trails and the bikes suitable for them. I have ridden mountain bikes all the way from the days of my first completely rigid steel Stumpumper to XC rides, to enduro, dirt jumping, freeriding. There are bikes that suit some terrain more than others. I'm not hitting any big drops or bigger jumps, but it's plenty suitable for a wide variety of terrain. On my rides I see plenty of other gravel bikes on the same trails too so its not like I'm doing something unique. Even the gravel racing scene includes races that ranges from wide open smooth stuff to races that add steep/rocky terrain like the Rock Gobbler.

msu2001la

This is a thread about the Zipp 303S wheelset and if it's good for gravel or not. If you honestly believe that this wheelset isn't good for gravel because the hub isn't high engagement enough, I think your point has been made.

KJ43

Please don't put words in my mouth as that is not what I said. Please continue making silly posts. Carry on.