Zipp 101 XPLR Tubeless Disc Wheelset - 700c

The Zipp 101 XPLR Tubeless Disc Wheelset - 700c is Zipp's first wheelset designed specifically for gravel riding, and the numbers make that clear from the start. Where Zipp's road wheels chase aero depth, the 101 XPLR runs a shallow 15mm rim — a sign that this wheelset's priorities are compliance and tire volume over cutting through the air, because on rough gravel roads, absorbing the terrain matters more than a few watts of aero savings.

That compliance comes from Zipp's MOTO Technology, borrowed from the brand's 3ZERO MOTO mountain bike wheelset. The rim uses a single-wall construction that's built to flex and pivot slightly side-to-side within the spoke bed, rather than staying perfectly rigid the way a road rim does. On rough gravel, that flex works with the terrain instead of fighting it, damping vibration and chatter from washboard roads and letting the wheel deflect small bumps instead of transmitting every hit straight to the rider's hands. Over a long day in the saddle, that adds up to noticeably less fatigue than a stiffer, road-derived wheel would deliver on the same terrain.

The rim itself carries a 27mm internal width and 34mm external width, built as a hookless, straight-sided tubeless design. That width range is wide enough to run tires from 42mm gravel rubber up to 2.2-inch mountain bike tires, which Zipp positions as Tour Divide-ready — built for riders doing long, unsupported gravel and bikepacking routes as much as a weekend gravel race. The combination of the wider internal bed and the MOTO flex lets a rider run lower tire pressure with less pinch-flat risk than a narrower, stiffer rim would allow, and Zipp built the bead shape for what it calls frustration-free tubeless tire installation — a real consideration on a wheel meant to be set up and serviced away from a shop.

Underneath, the 101 XPLR runs Zipp's ZR1 hubset, built around steel cartridge bearings and a six-pawl leaf-spring driver mechanism that delivers 66 points of engagement with a 5.45-degree maximum pickup lag — quick enough to matter when you're picking your way through technical gravel and need power down the instant you start pedaling again. Zipp designed the hub's seals for long service intervals even in bad conditions, which matters more on a gravel wheel that's going to see mud and grit than it does on a road wheel. The wheelset laces 28 Sapim spokes into the ZR1 hubs, running 12mm thru-axles front and rear, with a choice of an HG11 driver for Shimano/SRAM 11-speed or an XDR driver depending on the drivetrain.

In the 700c build with a 12mm thru-axle and XDR rear hub, the wheelset weighs 1,665 grams, not including tubeless tape and valves — light enough to keep the bike feeling quick over a long gravel day without giving up the durability this terrain demands. All of it points toward a rider doing serious gravel racing or multi-day bikepacking routes who wants a wheelset built around comfort and tire flexibility rather than one adapted from a road platform, at a price well below the $1,899 this wheelset normally runs.