Zipp 404 Tubular and Carbon Clincher
Sizes:
700c
Speed, and lots of it. That’s what every cyclist and triathlete wants. Speed isn’t just about aerodynamics. It’s about a light wheelset that helps you pull out of a corner faster and spin back up to speed. At 1278 grams for the tubular version, the Zipp 404 wheelset will help you disappear down the road before your competition can respond. It’s also about a stiff, responsive wheel that won’t hammer the fillings out of your teeth on rough and choppy pavement. Zipp has been refining the 404 since the early 90’s, giving the current version the third generation of Zipp’s patented ABLC dimples to fool the air into thinking they’re even narrower. Like all of Zipp’s wheels since 2009, 404’s are entirely true-able and rebuildable, unlike some of the competition, and they’re backed by a solid 2 year warranty.
Tubulars aren’t for everyone. But what if you want Zipp’s latest carbon technology, but run your favorite clincher tires? The Zipp 404 carbon clincher is your new best friend. Its Firecrest™ rim shape is the first deep-profile carbon clincher design to offer the superior aerodynamics, ride quality, strength, and handling of a wider rim body. Yet the 404 Carbon Clincher weighs just 1557 grams per wheelset, putting it among the lightest deep-profile carbon clinchers available. And like all Zipp carbon rims, the 404 Carbon Clincher is handmade in Speedway, Indiana.
To account for the differences in airflow patterns between clincher tires and tubulars, Firecrest employs a set of high-radius curves to adjust the width of the rim from 25.5mm at the braking track to 27.5mm at the rim’s widest point. This less tapered version of their proven hybrid-toroidal clincher rim shape particularly improves the aerodynamics of a clincher wheel. With Firecrest and Zipp’s ABLC™ dimples, the 404 Carbon Clincher will help you spend as little energy as possible as you vanish down the road, while your competition has their jaws dropping en masse.
If using a thin rim edge lightens the rim, does it make it susceptible to overheating? Heavy, continuous braking on carbon surfaces can cause spikes in rim temperature, and clincher tires are more susceptible to the effects than tubulars are. To solve this challenge, chemists and engineers from our composites supplier made repeated visits to Zipp’s R&D lab to test and refine a new heat-resistant resin based on the materials used in motorsports brake systems like Formula 1 and Le Mans prototypes. Available solely to Zipp, this new technology resists heat for more consistent braking performance and tire pressure on steep, twisty descents.