Originally Posted by
DrPete
One of the reasons Zipp was late to the market with carbon clinchers was that they honestly didn't feel they were worth it--less heat tolerance, durability issues, etc. It took them a few years to get the materials/design/testing to the point where they were willing to put Zipp decals on a pair. Of course that's kinda the difference between buying Zipps and buying cheap Chinese anonymous rims.
To be fair, the reports of detonating Firecrest wheels are surfacing already, which you didn't really hear with the aluminum rim carbon 404/808 models (my 404 clinchers really do appear to be rather bombproof). So Zipp's concerns were well founded. As to whether a pair of 404 Firecrest wheels are actually worth $2700 vs. $1000 for a set of Williams 58c's - to save 60 grams per pair - I don't see that. I'm sure the performance in the wind tunnels is reasonably close, and you're not getting a set of wheels that's really delivering nearly 3x the value or even 2x the value of Williams who is doing some QC here as well - making sure he sources from the best Pacific rim supplier he can. Bikes Direct does the same thing with their Ti frames, and you wind up with a $2300 bike that rivals a 'name' brand bike that's double the cost.
I can see the arguments on both sides. I am friends wit both Psimet (I bought a great set of Zipp Powertap wheels from him) and Dr. Pete. I don't consider the way Psimet uses BF as abusive, just combining business with pleasure. I think he's mainly here for fun, if it sells wheels too, that's fine with me. Rob is much more of an asset to BF members than an annoyance. Maybe not as good as getting valuable medical advice from my pal Dr. Pete, but it still works for everyone in my view : ).