[Tig]

This is the front wheel of a teammate who crashed during last week's Lago Vista race. Apparently the guy in front of him went down so quick he t-boned him and was catapulted. This 303 took all of the energy at 40+ MPH (descent) and the Giant TCR composite came away unscratched. The Record rear derailleur had a good scratch and the left shifter body broke.
Oh yeah, the teammate destroyed his gloves but somehow survived with only sore wrists. The guy who first crashed wasn't hurt too bad either. Even at the price of a Zipp 303, I'd rather replace it than break some bones. At least the tubular glue held!

 

[Tig]

Zipp photo 2

Ouch!

 

[Thorn Bait]

ouch

Yikes! Although, bones at least heal.

 

[MikeBiker]

And sex is great until you get VD.

Fix the problem and get on with it.

 

[CFBlue]

so what about warranty?

This is the front wheel of a teammate who crashed during last week's Lago Vista race. Apparently the guy in front of him went down so quick he t-boned him and was catapulted. This 303 took all of the energy at 40+ MPH (descent) and the Giant TCR composite came away unscratched. The Record rear derailleur had a good scratch and the left shifter body broke.
Oh yeah, the teammate destroyed his gloves but somehow survived with only sore wrists. The guy who first crashed wasn't hurt too bad either. Even at the price of a Zipp 303, I'd rather replace it than break some bones. At least the tubular glue held!

just kidding

 

[suds]

Pony up and replace the rims...

Looks like the Zipps might be desinged to fail resposibly, ie not blow up to pieces. I'd be happy walking away from a 40mph crash with little bodily harm. I've seen worse things happen to alloy rims from lesser impacts. Have your friend call Zipp and see if they have a crash replacement policy for a discount to rebuild his hub with a new rim & spokes.

 

[Tig]

I think the well-glued tubular helped keep it intact

I agree with the wheel holding up well under the circumstances. When we take off the tubular tire, the rim will likely be in two pieces though. If this happened to a clincher of any material, it may have been worse. On the contrary, if Beloki was on clinchers in the last TDF, things could have gone better... perhaps...

Looks like the Zipps might be desinged to fail resposibly, ie not blow up to pieces. I'd be happy walking away from a 40mph crash with little bodily harm. I've seen worse things happen to alloy rims from lesser impacts. Have your friend call Zipp and see if they have a crash replacement policy for a discount to rebuild his hub with a new rim & spokes.

 

[carbfib]

I agree with the wheel holding up well under the circumstances. When we take off the tubular tire, the rim will likely be in two pieces though. If this happened to a clincher of any material, it may have been worse. On the contrary, if Beloki was on clinchers in the last TDF, things could have gone better... perhaps...

Do you, or anyone that comes on here, wanna compare the Zipps vs. the Campagnolo (both tubular and clincher)

 

[gray8110]

I did that without crashing..

I got out of the saddle on a climb on the final Stage of the Elkhorn Stage Race this year and the rear wheel just crumpled - the rim just folded in on itself at three points . Maybe 500 miles on the wheel.. ridden only in good weather races and I'm not exactly a clydesdale. I'm SOO happy it was on an early climb not a descent. As it was, the wheel just stopped turning and I came to a sudden stop in the group but managed to stay upright.. get a support wheel and get back on. No more 303's for me.. I have no confidence that a carbon rim will hold up for me.

 

[JohnStonebarger]

Sore wrists

...the teammate destroyed his gloves but somehow survived with only sore wrists...

Tell your teammate to get his wrists checked out soon if they don't feel less sore. Falling onto outstretched hands is how people usually break the scaphoid bone in the wrist, and broken scaphoids are often "just sore."

 

[Francis Cebedo]

I'm working on a tubular wheel shootout here:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?postid=298865#poststop

The Zipp 303 is a scary light wheel. I measured 1025 grams for a front and rear wheelset. That is insanely light for an aero wheelset. It shares the same rims as the American Classic carbons at 1015 grams.

I'm pretty sure these rims weigh less than 200 grams each. How is this done on an aero rim? The deep sections of the rim are paper thin. On these wheels, you can pinch the rims with your fingers and they depress noticeably.

How do they ride? Well the braking is awful. It pulses like an ABS brake as the brake pads hit the hard and soft sections of the rim. Performance? Climbing and acceleration are fantastic. Flat performance is pretty good too because of the aero profile. Cornering on the American Classics are better than the Zipps because of the better wheel build and spoke tension.

I've been riding 6 months 100% on tubulars. Some of them are really good and solid like the Cane Creeks and the Reynolds. I would say Zipp 303s are just for race day (climbing) for sub-140 lb riders.

francois