Thursday, January 26, 2012

Zipp 404 Firecrest Clincher Review

Zipp's new 404 Firecrests mounted up and ready to roll.
Before I get to the review, I want to give a big shout out to Dave and Geoff at Durham Cycles for hooking me up with these wheels to test.  If you're in the Durham, NC area and you're in need of work done on your bike, parts/accessories, looking for a new bike, or just want to hang out and talk bikes, you'd be hard pressed to find a friendlier or more knowledgeable couple of guys.

Folks, first of all I apologize for the lack of updates.  Writing a PhD. dissertation is really starting to get in the way of riding bikes.  Today it hit 60 degrees, and I decided I had to put in a ride.  Thanks to the fine folks at Durham Cycles, I got to demo a pair of Zipp's new 404 Firecrest wheels wrapped in Vittoria Rubino Pros for about 50 miles today. According to Zipp, these are the new hotness in aero wheels, claimed weight of 1557g, the new blunt Firecrest shape, 58mm deep with the familiar dimples, a new heat resistant brake track, and yours for a mere (sit down for this one) $2700.  I won't bore you with the details, and just get right into answering the question: so how do these super-wheels ride?   Hit the break to find out.