How much should i be paying for zipp 303's secondhand.....

birdy19

I need the help of the great gods of the buying forum!!

Going to buy some 303's, had a look at them today - they are in pretty good nick and the hubs are plush - they are 2003 models though and they are thirdhand. Guy let me have a test ride today and told me all the history - but wouldn't know what to look for as i have never ridden tubs or carbon wheels before? But mechanically they seemed sound, spoke tensions hubs etc....

Guy wants £350 with tubs and swiss- stop yellow pads included...

does this sound alright?

They looked real nice on my bike anyway 8) ...

Thanks!

triboy222

Sounds a pretty fair price to me. Check very carefully each and every spoke hole to check there is absolutely no sign of any spoke pulling through (this is a sometime fault on Zipps that have been poorly built). Sounds like you have already but check the bearings are smooth. Sure you definately want tubs? Otherwise, buy and enoy!

birdy19

I think i want tubs? They are really only strictly for racing and tt'ing....

the guy only has this set i.e. no clinchers, so i can't think where else i could get these good wheels for the same money?

would clinchers have alu braking surface? These are pretty damn light too... actually lighter than the current 303's they are about 1140g per pair!

cheers btw

triboy222

They will be great with swissstops for road racing. Not super aero for the TTs but will do a turn. The clinchers woudl have the alu braking surface but weigh a fair bit more. Don't want to be rude but I presume you aren't 15 stone or something? Sound like a nice pair of wheels to me and I've ridden lots of Zipps in my time.

birdy19

No worries - I am about 67/8kg... and 5'11+ so not exactly a gorilla!

They took so much weight off my bike that it weighed less than a scott cr1pro with ultegra and decent hoops, my bike is only a 7005 series ali carbon triangle bianchi with veloce so dead chuffed!

How well will the braking surface hold up over time? What would it look like if it was worn?

I am a student :oops: so i can only afford one set and i cant even affford that! Bloody students..

Hopefully they will be the best allrounders?

Cheers

ajb72

If they are in fair nick it sounds like you have found a pretty good deal. I followed a set of 2008 clinchers on ebay recently and they went for over £750. For £350 I don't think you could have done any better.

redddraggon

Hmm, 2003? I'd stay away personally.

You can get some new Gigantex wheels from Wheelsmith for not much more.

birdy19

Yeah I have looked but the base price is 70 quid more and they would build up something like 600g heavier for the pair, with cheapo japanese hubs...

I was going to buy some ird aero's off derek before these came up...

The rim weights for these are 240g or something stupid like that! Im fairly sure i own socks that weigh more!

That said they are old...

Why is the age a problem?

I don't think they have been raced all that time season in season out...

ta

redddraggon

birdy19 wrote:

Yeah I have looked but the base price is 70 quid more and they would build up something like 600g heavier for the pair, with cheapo japanese hubs...

I was going to buy some ird aero's off derek before these came up...

The rim weights for these are 240g or something stupid like that! Im fairly sure i own socks that weigh more!

That said they are old...

Why is the age a problem?

I don't think they have been raced all that time season in season out...

ta

Where'd you get your weight numbers for the ancient Zipp 303s from? The gigantex tubs will be about 1400g, and there's no way you'll find the old 303s to be 800g. 1200g maybe.

7 yr old carbon wheels? Your so-called "cheapo japanese" on the gigantex are 7 years newer and are probably better.

akkers

redddraggon wrote:

Hmm, 2003? I'd stay away personally.

You can get some new Gigantex wheels from Wheelsmith for not much more.

Agreed - I wouldnt go near a set of wheels 7 yrs old.....

birdy19

got figures from the old zipp brouchure off their website...

Rim weight ave 284g - 80g lighter per rim than lighweight gigantex tubs.

Don't know where you got me saying 800g from?

total wheel weight per pair 1140g

They will be lighter than gigantex unless i pay twice the price, anyway its the rotational mass that affects the quality of a wheel so closer to the tarmac the weight is shed the faster they spin up. Ligher rim weight is better.

Most Importantly why would you be concerned about the age...

I was worried too but then again loads of people run tt kit that is eons old and it still does pretty much the same job as new....

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redddraggon

birdy19 wrote:

Don't know where you got me saying 800g from?

birdy19 wrote:

Yeah I have looked but the base price is 70 quid more and they would build up something like 600g heavier for the pair, with cheapo japanese hubs...

where'd you get the 600g from then? Because 1400 - 600 = 800g.

I wouldn't touch ancient Zipp 303s with a barge pole.

Rotational mass only has a very very slight more of an effect than normal mass anyway. I'd go with the more upto date wheels if it was my money, rather than the ancient notoriously unreliable zipps. Zipp stuff has a better reputation these days, but I'm not sure I'd go for the really old stuff.

Beatmaker

I agree with redddraggon. £350 for a 7 year old set of wheels that are third hand is the kind of purchase I would only make if I didn't have to worry about writing off £350. It sounds like you are struggling to afford these, what if you have to pay for a re-rim a couple of months down the line? I would spend the extra on the PX's / Wheelsmith / Gigantex knowing I have a warranty and that once span up to speed there will be little discernible difference in performance.

PieterM

I still ride on a set of 2002 303 tubulars and I love them. I have raced a fair bit on them and have used them also on long hard training rides in the Alps with heavy braking. You can definitely see the wear from braking on the rims but performance is so far fine. Apart from a few races they have not seen much rain though. BTW I use the campagnolo carbon specific pads with them which work very well; not grabby at all.
Would I buy them again? For sure! Would I pay £350 for a 3rd hand pair? Probably yes if I needed a pair of lightweight tubbie wheels for racing purposes and they passed visual inspection and the hubs are smooth an without play (a tiny bit is normal for these).