The Zipp 303 carbon clincher has been a pure do-everything, ride every day race-level wheel. Lightweight, 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 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 Rear 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 785 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 tire 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. Called the Cognition series, this design is featured throughout the NSW line. This stout, lightweight alloy rear hub has been built with a star-flanged straight-pull type hubshell that distributes the load placed on the hub flange away from the bearings in order to keep the Swiss steel bearings precisely in line with each other and the oversized alloy axle. This reduces friction and maintains pure rolling speed. Every watt of energy conserved or gained through design saves valuable seconds in performance terms. Despite the truly stiff design, the real magic of the Cognition rear hub is in the new drive system. This proprietary Zipp design features a new Axial Clutch™ system with 36 points of engagement controlled with magnets. The magnets move and engage the light weight Metal Injection Molded (MIM) ratchet rings for unmatched reliability and consistent operation. The Axial Clutch system reduces drag by disengaging the ratchet mechanism when coasting. The magnets then re-engage once the rider starts pedaling again. The system is quiet, wonderfully efficient, and 100% reliable.

Zipp laces 24 Sapim® CX-Ray lightly bladed, straight pull steel spokes in a 2x pattern via Sapim's SecureLock external nipples. With the spokes disappearing into the hub, the overall effect is visually and aerodynamically very clean. The carbon clincher rim can easily handle the high tension required, and the wheel can easily be trued in the traditional fashion. Zipp's clincher technology is well proven and has made clincher use for events not only feasible, but common with today's top clincher tires like the Zipp Tangente series.

Braking with carbon wheels is a huge consideration for racing cyclists in particular, and Zipp's outstanding Showstopper™ brake track offers unparalleled braking and heat management through pairing of a directional, molded-in, texture with silicon carbide particles suspended in the surface resin in a molded groove pattern. That pattern has been matched with the surface and cooling channels of the included Tangente Platinum Pro Evo brake pads for incredible stopping power in dry or soaking wet conditions, in any terrain. The leading edge of the pad and first two channels efficiently wipe water and debris outward, cleaning and drying the braking surface, while the second two channels have maximum interference as the grooves create greater braking force without heat build-up.

With the Zipp 303 NSW Carbon Clincher, Zipp provides their Tangente Black Titanium Skewer, the Tangente Platinum Pro Evo brake pads, a Zipp valve extender by Silca, 20mm rim tape, a Tangente tube, and an individual Zipp wheel bag. All of which is expected, of course. Just raise the bar a little higher, Zipp uses ImPress™ technology to apply graphics directly to the rim surface, giving the wheels an even stealthier appearance without mitigating the aerodynamics of the dimple structures. The NSW design has already been featured on race winning road and triathlon bikes. Now, you don't have to be a racing cyclist or triathlete to enjoy and benefit from the 303 NSW Carbon Clincher Rear Wheel. There are plenty of serious cycling enthusiasts who can push the capabilities of the 1425 gram complete wheelset. You truly can ride these wheels as your every day option. Sure, you may opt for an alloy training set in the worst conditions or over the winter, and that is fair, but you will be making that choice simply to preserve your first option, not because they can't handle it. We love the 303, and with the new NSW design, we know you will have the same smile on your face as we did during and after our first, and every, ride.