WHEELS
2010 Ambrosio Complete Handbuilt Tubular Wheelset
It's foolhardy for us to tout these wheels when there's already such fine eloquence on the record courtesy of the (now-defunct-or-nearly-so) blog Belgium Knee Warmers. Their heart and soul is their rims -- hard-anodized 32 hole Ambrosio Nemesis tubular rims. If you're a student of authentic ...read more
2010 Zipp 202 Wheelset
Many folks consider the Zipp 202 to be a "climbing" wheelset. Looks can be deceiving, though. The 202's have a rim depth of 32mm which means the wheel rolls at lower drag down hills and along the flats, as well as shallow uphill grades. It is 4-6 watts more aerodynamically efficient than the ...read more
2010 Zipp 303 Tubular Wheelset
If you read carefully between the lines of Zipp's offerings during the 2009 season, you would have noticed that they placed themselves in a pickle with their 303 Tubular Wheelset. They were able to improve the aerodynamics of both the 202 and the 404. The 202 is lighter than the 303 and has nearly ...read more
2009 Zipp 303 Tubular Wheelset
Yes, the multitude of Zipp wheel offerings makes for hard decisions when it comes time for buying a new wheelset. Lighter or more aero, what should be the deciding factor? For many, the Zipp 303 and 404 make up the short list for their ultimate racing wheelset. They're both feathery light and ...read more
2009 Zipp 303 Clincher Wheelset
To choose is to live. We have to admit that we find ourselves splitting hairs when choosing between the Zipp 303 and the 404 as the ideal racing wheelset. They're both feathery light and extremely aero, with the 303 being a bit lighter and the 404 being a bit more aero. What should be the tipping ...read more
2010 Zipp 404 Wheelset
Weight isn't everything when it comes to wheels. Aerodynamics, especially Zipp-tuned aerodynamics can make a big difference. Their ABLC rim dimpling, as you know by now, reduces drag just like the dimpling of golf balls. And on the 404 you get a totally-redesigned rim profile. It's now fully ...read more
2010 Zipp 808 Wheelset
There was a time when a 35mm deep rim looked oddly deep. In that era, 19mm deep box-section rims were the norm. Nowadays, 35mm looks normal. And at 82mm deep, wheels like the Zipp 808 look deep. The tubular version of the 808's rim is only 460g, which is lighter than many box-section clinchers. ...read more
2010 Zipp 1080 Wheelset
We'd love to be a fly on the wall at a Zipp imagineering session. Like for this Zipp 1080 Tubular wheelset. Zipp started with a few knowns, like the fact that some people already can handle Tri-Spokes in crosswinds. They then used that info to figure out how they could make a wheel that's faster ...read more
2009 Zipp Team Issue Wheelset
The Zipp Team Issue Wheelset was known for many years as the "Team CSC Wheelset". It was Team CSC's go-to wheel for training and for the nastiness of Belgian pavé in the spring classics season. Money talks, though, and after a long spell of Zipp/CSC collaboration, Specialized backed up a Brinks ...read more
2010 Zipp Front Wheel Only
In our experience you need a single front Zipp wheel for one of three reasons: (1) You tacoed it in a crash. (2) You need a match for your rear Power Tap/Zipp wheel. (3) You want a split set of Zipp wheels, i.e. 303 front, 404 rear. What you have here is that single front wheel. Take your pick: ...read more
