ZIPP 303 Firecrest carbon clincher

sirdjango

Hi all, i would like some advise please. I am considering to get myself this 303. I'm not doing races but often do long rides in the weekend. On weekdays i do a short 20-30km rides. I have read some good reviews about the 303 on the net. i dont have a very high end bike, just an alu frame with ultegra 6600 grupo and mavic CXP rims (al together quite heavy) for my riding. I onced borrowed a friend of mine his spinergy high profile carbon wheelset and it feels great on the flat as it holds the speed very well but a bit struggle on hill. I'm planning to use the 303 for my long rides and my current rims for my everyday ride. So what are your opinion, thank you.

saprkzz

I am in the same position,

I am just purchasing a bike at the moment which comes with 404's, but i reckon these will be too aero for me,

I climb quite a lot, and reading reviews on these, the 303's seem the best option, supposed to be a very versitle wheel. Climbing, aero, holding speed etc.

ugo.santalucia

The tubular version is an exceptional rim, as demonstrated by Tom Boonen in the spring classics... as for the clincher... certainly inferior, but as said a quality product. That said, do you really want to spend that money for something that will inevitably wear off upon braking? If you have thousands of disposable income to burn, fair enough, but if instead you then have to worry about using them only on those sunny days on those selected roads, it's not worth, is it?
My advice is to get the tubular ones for racing and those super sunny days and by doing so saving 300 pounds... with the 300 pounds I know builders like myself who can do a set of light wheels based on Velocity A 23 or Aerohead rims for more every day use

A no brainer... 8)

Monty Dog

By the sounds of it the OP isn't riding fast or far enough to really warrant the benefits of carbon wheels - I would recommend a pair of lightweight, stronger clincher wheels like American Classic 420s - they're light and aero enough to be noticeably different from regular wheels.

Scrumple

And he wont have factored in the pain of changing wheels on a bike, and finding you need new brake blocks, and the cassette is ot of synch, meaning indexing the gears...

It is a faff - better getting a cheaper do it all wheel that will last.