Although the Zipp 404 Firecrest 58mm deep wheel is a great all-around road and triathlon wheelset, we prefer the 303 carbon clincher for a pure do-everything, ride every day wheel. Lighter, with a lower 45mm profile, and uncommon strength, the 303 can tackle the cobbles or gravel, dash up your favorite big climb, and accelerate instantly out of corners or when a prime competitor jumps the pack. The 303 is also more forgiving than it's deeper section sibling, and plenty aero as well. As with the 404, Zipp has brought NSW technology and design to the 303, instantly ensuring this will be the weapon of choice many riders- those who race and those who don't. The Firecrest design offered unrivaled crosswind stability and the most aerodynamically efficient rim. The 303 NSW takes it all to the next level. Zipp's top engineers work in The Nest, an advanced development lab (think Nest Speed Weapon) in the company. By combining dozens of iterations using Computational Fluid Dynamics and hours upon hours in the wind tunnel, the Nest engineers incorporated improved aerodynamics, enhanced stability, industry leading braking performance, and reduced rolling friction to produce the lightest, highest performance 303 wheelset Zipp has ever made.

The 45mm deep 303 NSW Carbon Clincher Front Wheel was developed to be raced, but it is strong and resilient, with a smooth ride that makes this a great every day wheel. Training and racing on the same wheels equals incredible confidence and familiarity when the time comes to push the boundaries of performance. Clinchers make tire management simpler and more cost effective than tubulars With it's lower profile incredible stability and 640 gram weight, the 303 NSW can adeptly handle corners at high speed, and spins up immediately as you power out and onward. The internal width is 17.25mm, with a brake track width of 26.4mm, and max width of 28.5mm, so carrying a tires from 23-28mm wide means you can maximize the tire/wheel aerodynamic relationship carried through the ABLC Sawtooth™ rim dimple patterning. This advanced NSW dimple design consists of 12 nodes that are precisely clocked to start aerodynamic shearing at a rate of 50hz at a rider speed of 20mph. Sawtooth accomplishes this by inducing small sheet vortices that shed at a low magnitude, but at a higher natural frequency, thus decreasing the laminar bubble effect on the aerodynamically shielded side of the rim’s profile to further reduce high yaw drag and improve crosswind stability while providing aerodynamic speed.

The hub design of the 303 NSW is also new. The set name is Cognition and while the real magic happens in the rear hub, the front hub was developed with a unique scalloped edge hubshell design that optimizes the stiffness of the lightweight alloy hub design to preserve the effective bearing bore diameter under load. It is hard to envision a hub shell flexing and reacting under high spoke tension, but it actually happens. In order to keep the Swiss steel bearings precisely in line with each other and the oversized alloy axle - for the lowest friction and resistance possible, the scalloped edges and even, high radial spoke tension, ensure the hub shape won't distort. This is type of detail that wins races and establishes record times. Every watt of energy conserved or gained through design saves valuable seconds. The Cognition front hub rolls faster for longer periods of time due to it's torsion defeating design and you can feel the difference when you are cornering under load or railing a switchback descent.... Read More