Zipp 303s for gravel vs other options
03-24-23, 10:13 AM
#26
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Hmmm...Not once have I ever had the thought that my hub wasn't engaging fast enough, or been able to tell the difference in engagement quickness between hubs. I've just ridden what I have and made it work, since before high-engagement hubs were a thing.
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03-24-23, 10:17 AM
#27
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Great! It's almost like different riders have different experiences, levels of experience and opinions! Weird!
03-24-23, 10:37 AM
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Right. I shared my experience that I haven't noticed a difference when riding, which seems to align with what Koyote posted. If others have had different experiences, that's fine with me. I'm not implying that anyone else is wrong just because their experience is different than mine. Maybe it's just something that I haven't paid attention to in the past, and I'll be more aware now. Maybe I still won't notice a difference.
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03-24-23, 04:26 PM
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Pretty much my experience nowadays but when I used to mountain bike I found myself bothered occasionally by hubs with slow engagement (relatively speaking).
03-24-23, 04:43 PM
#31
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I ride road, gravel, and MTB on a regular basis. Maybe I would notice a difference if I was swapping wheels that had different freehub configurations in the same bike. Maybe not.
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03-24-23, 05:16 PM
#32
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I ride mild terrain compared to most of you so the biggest difference between hubs is the frequency of the freewheeling buzz. Other than that I do not notice when switching between bikes having rear wheels with 36, 40, or 90 points of engagement.
03-26-23, 07:02 PM
#33
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Nice wheelset and we sell them in our shop, but if you are a high mileage rider we fine the hubs are not as durable as some others. There are some great aluminum wheelsets that are as light as some carbon. We think the Shimano GRX wheels as a fantastic high-quality value, and the Easton EA90s are really hard to beat for aluminum, and the new Shimano carbon wheelset at ~$1050 is something we will be trying out soon as well as it looks compelling.
03-26-23, 10:44 PM
#34
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I really appreciate all of the feedback and different experiences. I did a gravel ride on Friday and the one thing it confirmed for me was that the stock wheels I'm running spin up slow and the tires feel cumbersome whenever I have to hit pavement. Hearing the experience of those that have them, sounds like I would be just fine with them. During my ride, I realized that the only time I would probably benefit from the depth of the 303s would be in gravel events that also include some pretty fast pavement sections. Not that you can't go fast on gravel either, but the only time I'm doing that is probably in an event as well. Of course, IMO the deep sections look great at any speed, even standing still. Definitely have some decisions to make. Thanks for the advice, and feel free to share other favorite gravel wheels!
03-27-23, 08:56 AM
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I have the drive 50v if I were to buy another set of carbon wheels I'd probably get them again.
