halocon

im thinking about getting a set of Zipp 303s. would you guys recommend getting these for training? are they tough enough to stand up to many, many, many miles of riding? or is this strictly a wheelset for racing? any help is much appreciated. thx!

cmh

Actually, you should get 404s. The additional aero advantages outweighs the added weight of the 404. And they are tougher. I think the 404s and probably 303s can stand up to many many miles of riding (unless maybe if you are a clyde), but they can't stand up to crashing as well as a good Al wheel.

Either way I wouldn't train on a pair of zipps, but that is just me.

Jim Bonnet

I have a set of 303s and a set of 404s. I train daily on crummy roads with the 303s. For race day and fast group rides I toss on the 404s.

I weight 158lbs and have {knock on wood} not had any issues with my zipp wheels...

regards-
jim

halocon

any recommendations for a set of "deep dish" wheels that are good for training on?

Duke of Kent

Sorry, but you live in SoCal.

You don't have freeze thaw. You don't know what a "crummy road" is.

slvoid

+1
Come to nyc, we'll show you crummy. Some roads can make paris to roubaix seem like a walk in the park.

Looneytuna

they pave the roads here once in a while (during a bluemoon and during rush hour) and they sometimes even make it thru a full season before the craters return..

I ride a pair of 404's and I am 200 lbs... don't ride them every day, but pretty much once a week.. have them 4 months... cracked the rear rim on it's 3rd ride.. hit a hole at 30mph in a tight group.. I got the front wheel to jump the hole and probably saved 10 riders from going down hard... including me..
Luckily Amex's purchase protection covered the cost or replacing the rim...

I also have a pair of Rolf Prima Elan Aero's and they are not as aero as the zipp's but they are really light and roll pretty fast..

BHBiker

Check this out: https://www.trigearreview.com/forms/A....aspx?REVID=20

This site is pretty fair and straight shooter when it comes to reviewing stuff....303 has quality control problems...unless they have corrected it by now. Stick with 404s mate.

MulliganAl

I see a lot of threads on the Zipp 303 and 404 wheels, but what are some of the other top makes/models that compete with the Zipp wheels?

Jim Bonnet

Those are not the same wheels as the newer 303's.

Jim Bonnet

reynolds, easton, ritchey, lightweight, fsa, lew

zzzwillzzz

if you have to ask that question you probalby shouldn't be buying them. and especially not for training. they're race wheels use them for racing and train on basic and cheap wheels

Cateye

You can train on them just fine. Of course if you train on a non-aero wheel you get more out of it because training will be harder and then when you have big rides put on the zipp's and go.

If you are looking at the 303's for climbing they are good however if you put a 303 on the front and a 404 on the rear the weight is not enough to matter and you will be 18% more aero. Zipp states that they have a 3% failure rate.....from non-crashes......and will replace any wheel that is found to be Zipp's fault.

Jim Bonnet

Why not? They have a great replacement policy and I've got about 10,000 training miles on my 2007 303 set. Seems to work for me.

blonduathlongrl

works for me too, Ive put on many miles on a set of 343, bought them for racing and I have another set of mavics SL, I switch on and off but mainly rode many miles on the zipps.

Yep

Manager of a store selling Cervelo/Zipp told me he doesn't really sell 303s anymore. According to him, 404 aero advantage makes it silly to buy the 303s. He also said matter-of-factly that it's normal to replace those rims every 1-2 years due to wear.

Jim Bonnet

I race on the 404's or 404/303 mix..

I've got nearly 10,000 miles this year on my 303 set. There is no sign of wear. What sort of wear should I see?

I'm harping on this because I have first hand experience with BOTH sets of wheels. I train on 303s everyday. They have held up just fine. You read SO much stuff about these are race wheels blahblahblah they break, etc.. When in fact, in my isolated case, that has not been the behavior I see.

Cheers-
Jim

GatorFL

Mavic Carbones. They're heavy, but they're bombproof.

jbwilmoth

Easton Vista SL or FSA RD-600

merlinextraligh

I train, and sometimes race on 404 clinchers, and also have a set of 303 tubulars that I use for races, particularly races with a lot of climbing.

Whether you want to train on Zipps depends on what you're willing to spend. They're going to wear out over time, and they're going to break eventually, whether its a pothole, a crash, or just fatigue.

If you figure you can afford to replace them every few years, then I'd say go ahead and train on them. If $400 for hitting a bad pothole wrong is something you don't want to risk, don't train on them.

Jim Bonnet

WELL SAID.

Yoshi

You should train on your aero wheels at least occasionally if you are going to race on them. They are going to handle differently that non-aero wheels, especially in crosswinds so it's important to get used to that before racing.

Cateye

True......but real heavy.

DocRay

hmmm...deep dish

StanSeven

The newest 303's are deeper than they used to be - 44mm. The 404's are 58mm but 44mm is still aero. The 303's are much lighter, which makes a difference if you do a lot of climbing. I train on 303's and haven't touched them for truing. I have maybe 5,000 on them and they reamin perfectly true