Our mind was blown when we heard that Zipp was about to debut a disc that produced negative drag -- aka lift. All our experience tells us that drag should go up as wind whooshes by a product. There are definitely ways to minimize drag. Maybe, maybe, there is a way to flatten the drag curve. But turn it the other way and get lift? That's for planes and shows in Vegas.Until now. This Zipp disc actually reduces drag as it moves. The Zipp Sub-9 is the kind of wheel we want under us all the time -- and hope that our competition doesn't find out about it. The Sub-9 is substantially faster than the next-fastest disc wheel available, the Zipp 900 disc.The shape, the dimples, the spinning, it all works in your favor when it's on your bike. It doesn't look like a flat disc or a lenticular disc. It looks like a deep dish Zipp rim with a disc in the middle. Zipp has tested this wheel to have an 80 gram drag reduction at 15 degrees of yaw. That means you gain 11 watts of forward power. It's like your threshold power just got dramatically better, because? well, because it did. Zipp has determined that 75% of real-world riding conditions occur where the wind is at a 10-20 degree yaw angle. As a result, they design for this range and the middle of the sweet spot is 15 degrees, One concern we had is that if lift were produced, then the rear wheel might not be on the ground as firmly. Zipp's technical people assure us that doesn't happen.There is one catch to these stupendous numbers. Use of Zipp's Tangente Tire. Zipp optimized the shape to work with a specific tire, and naturally they chose their own, which they also optimized to be faster in the wind. Put on another tire, and you gain 5 watts of forward power. Still pretty nice, but not 11 watts.The funky shape takes another design element from Zipp's deep dish rims. The Carbon Bridge construction that has lightened up all their tubular rims. Here, the advantage of the design isn't so much the weight savings, but both the strength of the rim and the comfort of riding the wheel. Paradoxically, the wheel is both more compliant to ride and harder at the top of the sidewall. Harder at the sidewall thanks to Kevlar stitching and more compliant because the slightly bulbous end of the wheel, flexes to absorb shock better than a traditional disc. Not only does this add a degree of comfort to riding a disc, but it also makes it faster on pavement because it rolls over uneven pavement better. The Zipp Sub-9 is available in 700c only. The disc gets as wide as 28mm in the deep dish segment of the wheel. The cassette body can come with Campagnolo splines or Shimano/SRAM splines for the appropriate cassettes. The hub bearings can be upgraded to ceramic. The disc comes with an angled valve adapter so that the tire can be pumped up and six Zipp "jersey" patches for covering the valve cutout. The weight is 1000g. A skewer is not included. Please Note: Zipp's Tangente Platinum Pro and cork brake pads are designed specif
