airsoft510

I have a opertunity to puchase used zipp 404 clinchers at a great price, The owner says that they are great wheels and are VERY strong, he said he trained on them for a number of years, this is the second bike shop that says zipp 404 clinchers are very strong. Is this true?, how many miles can you put on them before they give out? anyone else use these clinchers for training?

tlupfer

i've heard the same from my buddy who trains on them 80% of the time, though at a great price why not buy them anyway?

mellowdave

I have a bud here in town that rides em almost all the time too.

He said it spoils him for anything else...


jeez my typing is attrocious.

steppinthefunk 

How much did you get 'em for?...

steppinthefunk 

I just got my Zipp 404 Clinchers in today... They look great but judging from the rest of the bike it came with I'm guessing they've been ridden long and they've been ridden hard... I wonder... If the Zipp 404 does have a weakness, what would it be... Should I watch out for spokes getting pulled through.. or possibly breaking... hmmm...

Anybody ever have a problem with there 404's?... I'd love to hear what happened...

-Jason-

Smoothie104

the rim will support 400lbs of weight, without spokes, so yes they are strong. In regards to durability, it depends on your use, and how much you weigh.

Most common problems are cracks in the carbon where the spokes are anchored, and once its cracked, its very weak.

Obviously the more you use them, the faster they will crack.

Why would you want to train on them?

SpongeDad

With the clincher, isn't the spoke mounted in the aluminum rim, not the carbon?

mellowdave

ZThe Clinchers arent just faired aluminum rims they are still carbon rims with an aluminum outer surface for the clincher lips. So no, the spokes are still in carbon.


I SOOOOOOOOOOO want a set of 303's...

merlinextraligh

i have a set of 404's and a set of 303"s. Im 200lbs plus, fairly strong rider, and race with them. I've had no probelms in 6000 miles with the 404's. (For some reason i've had a spoke breaking probmlem with the 303's) Nice wheels, the 404's are slightly heavier and you feel it when accelerating. The hubs tend to corrode here in florida, mostly a cosmetic problem. Also the bearings on my 404's are weearig out a little quicker tha nI expected. But on the whole, solid, durable wheel when you consider that it is designed to be lightt and high performance

SpongeDad

Learn something new everyday. And who says BF is all about posing and flaming.

I keep looking at the weight difference re the tubulars and think, hell, I can learn how to mount tubes.

mellowdave

Youre not lying. If youre gonna go to the expense of getting the ZIPPs, DOOOD get the tubulars. I guess if you were going to train on them everyday the clinchers would make sesne, but then so would Ksyriums.

merlinextraligh

Before buying a carbon fiber tubular rim, you might want to read Zinn's take on gluing to carbon fiber on Velonews.

airsoft510

A question, Are the mavic cosmic carbons just have carbon fairings and the spokes are mounted to the alu rims? does this make it more durable but more heavy?

nova

Why not just get some aluminum cone washers with flanges and use them to furhter spread the force of the spoke head out over more area?
I can remember where i got the things before but ive had them in stainless steel and aluminum. My alum ones had a very large flange on it. You know the big penciles they make for kids? Thats how big around the flange was and it was about 1/32 inches thick. I used them when fastening a handle to a knife i made so i would not split the wood. They should work perfectly on any carbon rim as well. Youll need rim tape of corse but thats no big deal

mellowdave

Zinn while certainly the subject matter expert on anything bicycle realted has a distinct distaste for anything new.

If he had his way, we'd all be riding split maple rims, with tree latex over worm silk tires.