Zipp 101 XPLR Tubeless Disc Rear Wheel - 650b

Zipp 101 XPLR Tubeless Disc Rear Wheel - 650b is sold here as a single rear wheel, which suits a rider replacing a damaged wheel, building a mixed front-and-rear setup, or completing a pair around a front wheel they already own. The 101 XPLR was Zipp's first wheel built specifically for gravel from the ground up rather than adapted from a road platform, and this 650b version is aimed at riders running larger-volume tires for rougher, more technical terrain than a 700c gravel setup typically handles.

The defining feature is Zipp's MOTO Technology, built around a single-wall rim construction rather than the double-wall design most carbon wheels use. That single wall is intentionally less rigid side to side, which lets the rim itself absorb some of the impact and vibration from rough gravel instead of transmitting all of it straight into the rider's hands and legs. The result is a wheel that feels noticeably calmer on chattery, rock-strewn terrain, with better control and less fatigue over a long ride — without needing front or rear suspension to get there.

The rim is carbon and hookless, with a 27mm internal width tuned around wide gravel tires rather than road-plus sizes. Zipp rates it for tires from 35mm up to 65mm, with an ideal range around 40-55mm — the sweet spot for mixed-terrain and technical gravel riding. Because the rim is hookless, Zipp requires a tubeless or tubeless-ready tire with a stiffer bead; running a tube is fine, but the tire itself still needs to be tubeless-rated. That wider rim and tire pairing lets you run lower pressures for better traction and real pinch-flat resistance on rocky, technical sections, which is exactly where a narrower setup runs into trouble.

The hub is Zipp's ZR1 Disc Brake hub, built with an improved seal design for durability in dirty, wet conditions and 66 points of engagement for a quick, responsive pickup out of technical sections. Rotor mounting is Center Lock, and this rear wheel is available with either an XDR driver body or a Shimano/SRAM HG11 body, covering the two most common gravel drivetrain standards. Independent teardown weights put this rear wheel at right around 915 grams with tape and valve installed — reasonable for a wheel built more around compliance and durability than minimum weight.

For a gravel rider who's already running or building toward a 650b setup and needs a rear wheel specifically, the 101 XPLR brings genuine, purpose-built gravel engineering rather than a road wheel with wider tire clearance bolted on. It's a strong choice for technical, rough-terrain riding where control and reduced fatigue matter more than outright weight.