Originally Posted by
Homeyba
I don't know what the "rating" was but if you read my whole post you would have read that my race team was sponsored by Zipp and it was their engineer (not salesman) who told us which wheels to use. I don't think they would have put us on wheels that were going to fail. My race team, with eight tandems, has done three RAAMs (two for me) on them plus all the training and pre-race miles. All with only one failure which was mine when I hit a pothole at 50+mph. I destroyed a 30mm aluminum rim in a similar incident.
I also have a set of standard Zipp 404's on my single bike. They've been on there since 2006 including two RAAMs. These wheels aren't as fragile as a lot of people let on. I ride many more miles than your average cyclist in often much worse conditions.
Really the only reason they aren't usually daily riders is that they are expensive. They are no less reliable than any other wheel.
I'm not saying that you are wrong in your experience but Zipp claims a max rider weight of 275 lbs. on their 404 Max wheels. I understand that your team is sponsored by them, but it seems odd that they would recommend a wheel for your tandem but not recommend it to others. I was 240 lbs when I bought mine and they are very strong for what they are designed for. However, I was just stating that for everyday wheels, they aren't practical. I had to have my front wheel replaced due to a crack in the rim. That's when I decided to use them as race only wheels. Theirs a local team in my area that are sponsored by Zipp as well. A few of the guys had to replace their wheels because of cracks as well. Maybe you are lucky or we have been unfortunate. I've spoken to quite a few wheelbuilders who say that they are race-day wheels and thatr I would be foolish to ride on them everyday. My other wheelsets? Velocity Deep Vs!!! BTW, I love the Dura Ace rings on the FSA crankset. It looks sweet.