As I have said before, I have Zipps. As a matter of fact I have 303's, 404's and a set of AC Classic Carbons (303 rims). All of this talk of Zipps being bad is ridiculous. I have never had problems with any of these wheels and I weigh 190 lbs. Bottom line is if you haven't tried a product don't comment on it saying it is bad. Of course with any product there are a few bad eggs out there. I can only say that in my experience that Zipps are well made and hold up well. I also know of many here in the Southeast who race on them and have had no problems. They are very popular around here. For the money I think that Zipp makes the best carbon rims out there (I don't know much about the new reynolds they might be great to?) Sure Lightweight and ADA have great products, but at a much larger cost. There is a reason why you see so many Zipps being in the US; because they have been making them for a while now (may be longer than any other manufacturer but don't know that?) and they produce a great product. If anyone comes up with the conclusion that Zipps are no good b/c they do not do well for everyday riding is a moron. No carbon rim should be used for everday riding no matter what the manufacturer clames. If you have an unlimited budget than sure they are great for everyday riding otherwise use them for racing and fast group rides/TT's. I'm off my soap box now.......and no I do not work for Zipp.

[quote="Superlite"]Your right, they used ADA's. But either way if the 303's sucked that bad then CSC wouldn't have used them. Maybe Zipp cherry picks the wheels for them and most do suck. I don't know. Anyone who has 303's care to comment?[/quote]

Pros seem to ride only the Z3 models which are all hand picked so that probably eliminates any QC issues. I have gotten both good and bad zipp 280 rims. I originally got a set of 2002 AC Carbon wheels (I rebuilt them with CX-Rays, build quality was not that good). Both rims were a bit uneven braking, though the front was not that bad. I got a couple 2003 no fault replacements from zipp (car related incidents) they were both much better - didn't have uneven braking surfaces and also didn't get the saline breast implant stretch marks from spoke tension. Whether that means those issues have been resolved or it was just luck of the draw who knows.

Hmmm, don't know why you think pros moslty use Z3's, it the other way around. Most ride 303's, and the teams better riders use the Z3's. Most of the CSC riders where on 303's.

Saline breast implant stretch marks? Care to fill us on on this?

Just wondering, are you a female weight weenie? Welcome to the board.

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MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT! HUH!

No offense to any female weenies but if my wife is anything to go by numbers are not their strong suit. When she goes shopping and spends "only $20" she really means "only $200" and the speeding ticket that was "only 20km/h over" is really "50 km/h over"
Anyhow welcome aboard, I am off to work to pay for Xmas

I think you quoted the wrong person drew.

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MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT! HUH!

man i can believe what i'm reading. pros ride what is given to them to ride. they are paid to ride what they ride, that's the reason.

i once read in a velonews how a women's pro team had stems that broke off at the the end. it happenned in a race and the girl had to grab the stem to steer and brake with the detached bar. they wouldn't name the stem company because the team needed to still continue with the sponsor. free bad stems were still better the paying for good one.

lance rides what ever he wants because he's a sponsorship slut. he's like the highschool football player that treats women like crap and they keep throwing themselves at him. everyone want a piece. he doesn't really like anything, he just uses something until something else "different" comes along. he rides a different set of wheels every year. what will he ride this year?

"they are great wheels but they don't work when they are wet." stopping when i need to stop is pretty important to me i don't know about you. if carbon can't do this then maybe it is not the best material for this application.

i think it's almost refreshing to hear an honest opinion in a product review. in case you haven't figured it out but most reviews are a bonus from the magazine for $ spent in advertising. they aren't going to say the product is bad. they are paying for your house payments, your kids braces and your fat ass wife's lipo suck.

you don't have to ride something for long to know if it's crap or not. it braking is bad you'll find out pretty quick. it the wheel is to flex or wobbles on decents a week of riding isn't exactly needed.

some csc riders might like 303, some probably don't but they are paid to ride them and they get them free. if your a no name and you don't want to ride the wheels guess what there are a 100 guys that will in your place.

[quote="Superlite"]Hmmm, don't know why you think pros moslty use Z3's, it the other way around. Most ride 303's, and the teams better riders use the Z3's. Most of the CSC riders where on 303's.

Saline breast implant stretch marks? Care to fill us on on this?

Just wondering, are you a female weight weenie? Welcome to the board.[/quote]


I was basing it on the better riders. Domestiques can fall off and nobody cares so I am more interested in what the guys who are trying to win are using.

The stretch marks are harder to explain - if you fill a plastic bag with water it gets ripples in the direction of the greatest force, and the older rims got similar ripples going from the braking surface to the spoke hole. According to Zipp it was not indicative of any problem, but it seemed like a waste to develop some aero rim profile and then have it get ripples.

Not a female, I just watch porn sometimes when the bike tapes get old during my winter hours on the computrainer and have learned that those ripples - which are easily seen (and no more attractive than on the rims) when the owner is leaned over - allow you to easily distinguish saline from silicone. You don't just learn screenwriting from them.