Zipp 303 Firecrest Carbon Clincher Disc Wheel - Rear

Zipp 303 Firecrest Carbon Clincher Disc Wheel - Rear Info

The Zipp 303 Carbon Clincher Disc Wheel is an all-around wheel that can get the job done on any road and even venture off of it. The Firecrest 303 rim is a natural for disc-brake applications. The rim hits the sweet spot of strong, light, and aero. The rear wheel comes in at just 885 grams. The rim possesses Zipp’s Firecrest shape. It is 45mm deep and 26.4mm wide at the brake track but 28.5mm a bit below. Its wide shape also decreases rolling resistance, improves grip, and even gives you more of an air cushion over rough roads. The width adds comfort and reduces rolling resistance by increasing air volume inside the tire. It is not only a bigger cushion, but at a given tire width and pressure, deformation over bumps and surface imperfections happens more easily. The Clincher rim is the same one found on the rim-brake version. This allowed Zipp to maintain their ideal weight to stiffness ratio that they found with the original model.

Zipp employs their 177D hub, which was purpose-built for disc brake riding. There are 24 Sapim CX-Ray spokes on this wheel which cut through the wind with ease. A cross pattern is necessary in front to counter the forces of braking. The flanges are slightly taller to work around the six-hole rotor mounts and the 17mm axle. While you can see that the spokes have a two-cross pattern, it actually possesses the lateral stiffness of a three-cross thanks to the size of the flanges and the orientation of the spokes. The benefits of the design are more aero and shorter spokes.

For rear wheels, Zipp offers both a Campagnolo-compatible, and Shimano/SRAM-compatible cassette body. The latter comes with a spacer for 8/9/10-speed cassettes. In both cases, the 177D hub body allows you to install a SRAM XD-cassette body for super-wide range gearing. The wheel comes with quick release, endcaps to convert the hub for thru-axle use (endcaps are hand swappable), rim strip, valve extender, and Zipp Tangente tube. They are, better machined, and possessing a removable valve core. It also improves the balance of the spinning wheel. The wheels are not designed for compatibility with tubeless systems. The Zipp 303 Firecrest wheel gives you everything you need on any road surface