New disc brake Zipp 303

April 3, 2013

Today, Zipp announced that they will finally – finally – be selling a disc brake version of their 303 to the public.

Let's take a look:

For years, we’ve seen various iterations of this wheel under top cyclocross professionals, such as Tim Johnson, Kaitlin Antonneau, and Ryan Trebon. The earliest versions of those wheels used 24-spoke mountain bike hubs from White Industries. More recently, they switched to the SRAM Rise 60 mountain bike hub. Now, they have their very own Zipp hub, called the 88/188 disc:

Zipp does not publish a limit for rotor size, but noted that the maximum for most road or cyclocross frames is 160mm.

The front hub uses standard 100mm spacing; the rear follows the mountain bike standard of 135mm.

I inquired with Zipp about what appears to be some sort of plastic insert that takes up space in the spoke pockets (seen in the above photos). What gives? According to Zipp PR Manager, David Ripley,

“They serve three functions. They keep mud and grit out of the spoke pockets, they aesthetically look better than bare openings, and in the event of a catastrophic impact, they will keep the spokes retained in the hubshell.”

I also inquired if the rims are any different than the standard 303. Do they have unique a unique rim shape or structure? Do they have a braking surface? According to Ripley, the rims are identical in shape and structure to the rim brake versions – however, they do not have a brake track sand-blasted on to them. In addition, the spoke angle differs slightly from the rim brake wheels.

What about aero? How do these wheels compare to rim brake wheels – and will we see other Zipp wheels with disc hubs (202, 404, 808)? Zipp tells us that it will only be the 303 for the time being. They also say that aero testing was not a high priority with this project, and do not have drag numbers at this time.

I also inquired if Ripley sees disc brakes in the future of triathlon. Does it serve any purpose or provide a benefit?

“[We would] really need to see where the market goes. Not having a top mounted brake certainly opens up some opportunities for fork shapes, doesn’t it?”

I sense that the last remark was made only half-joking. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see where the braking game goes. That also makes me wonder about the timing of this product launch. Is it just coincidence that it happened only two days after SRAM launched their “22” video on YouTube?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6QJkKQXCx4&feature=youtu.be

SRAM (who owns Zipp) has talked over the past couple years about road hydraulic disc brakes. Clearly there are 11 cogs in the cassette in that, suggesting that new SRAM road components will be 11-speed. Call me curious, but I have to wonder if they’re bringing out road hydraulics at the same time. As of today, the only mass-market road hydraulic brake is the Magura RT8, which we recently reviewed (linked at the bottom of this page).

Zipp 303 Disc-brake Specifications:

MSRP:

Carbon Clincher Front $1,272/€1,165 Rear $1,553/€1,435
Tubular Front $1,130/€1,035 Rear $1,370/€1,265
(Available with SRAM/Shimano® Cassette body or Campagnolo®)

Weight: Carbon Clincher Front 780g, Rear 900g

Tubular Front 660g, Rear 775g

Hubset: 88/188 Disc-brake (OLD spacing (100–front/135–rear))

Decals: Classic White or Beyond Black

Spoke Count: Front 24, Rear 24

Rim Depth: 45mm

Max Rim Width: 28.5mm

Compatibility: 10/11 Speed

Availability: July 2013

All images courtesy of Zipp