Older Zipp wheels- any good?

[TronnyJenkins]

I'm building up a retro mod build and can go quite a few different directions in really all fronts. But I know for sure I want dark or black rims, 90% on carbon for weight and brake track will stay black. The build will be 11sp. However, I'm kind of thinking I want silver hubs for a touch of retro...

I'm seeing some really good deals on "old" Zipp tubular wheels with silver hubs and spokes. Were there any things to watch out for on certain eras of their wheels? I'm probably not going to go THAT old, but maybe first gen firecrest (if I can find the right deal) or whatever was before that. Slap a Campy freehub on there and bam. Just wanted to see if there were issues since the modern hubs are on, what, revision 10?

[sales guy]

if they are the older ones with the carbon caps on the ends, they had an axle issue at one point. There was something else but I can't remember it.

if it's the one with the lube port inside the center of the hub, those things sucked and you need to lube them all the time.

[oldpotatoe]

I'm building up a retro mod build and can go quite a few different directions in really all fronts. But I know for sure I want dark or black rims, 90% on carbon for weight and brake track will stay black. The build will be 11sp. However, I'm kind of thinking I want silver hubs for a touch of retro...

I'm seeing some really good deals on "old" Zipp tubular wheels with silver hubs and spokes. Were there any things to watch out for on certain eras of their wheels? I'm probably not going to go THAT old, but maybe first gen firecrest (if I can find the right deal) or whatever was before that. Slap a Campy freehub on there and bam. Just wanted to see if there were issues since the modern hubs are on, what, revision 10?

Find some Campagnolo carbon wheels and stay away from early Zipp anything.
IMHO of course.

[TronnyJenkins]

You guys were supposed to say "oh ya, those things are bombproof!"
Haha. Just kidding, thanks for the honest opinions. There's usually a reason things can be had cheaply.

[ldamelio]

First gen Firecrest: rear hubs implode, not a recall item. Front hubs recalled, Zipp very good with warranty replacement even if you're not original owner. All in all, you can do better.

[FlashUNC]

Steer clear.

[sales guy]

These hubs sucked. The rear needed lubed constantly. Stay away if it's these.

[sales guy]

These ones had an issue if I remember right with the axle.

and then the ones with the aero shaped end caps had a recall. Those were black and were from like 2010 to 2015 if I remember right.

[TronnyJenkins]

Yikes.
This all tells me I'm rather spoiled by my second hand Enve 4.5s/DT240s on my main bike as I almost bought Zipps for it...

I'd heard of the recent Zipp hub nonsense, but it's crazy that they have that much history with horrible hubs.

[carpediemracing]

These hubs sucked. The rear needed lubed constantly. Stay away if it's these.

The gold ones before those were a thousand times worse.

Also the rims from that era (340, 440, and those are not typos) are very flexible. They also split in half if you put anywhere near normal tension on the rims. I have one 440 left, I built it with as much tension as I dared and it's the most flexible rim I have around. My 340s and other 440s all split.

[chiasticon]

personal opinion is that I'd only buy Zipp with the last two generations of hubs. and I'd make sure to avoid their drive-side radial-spoked nonsense. that's not to say those two gens will never be recalled, but they seem to be the most stable.

I always saw Zipp designing their own hubs as a double-edged sword: if you're asking that much for wheels, it's good to say you've designed a proprietary hub which maximizes performance benefits as well as the rims do. but then making notoriously garbage hubs does you no favors...

their rims are awesome though. a wheelbuilder.com build with quality spokes/hubs is the best way to go, for sure.

[shovelhd]

Another thing about the early 10 speed 188 rear hub is that the freehub seal sucked. Water and dirt got in there easily, which can rust the pawls and make it skip. It's very easy to service, you just need to do it often if you ride in the rain.

[nooneline]

I still race some hybrid-torroidal, nondimpled Zipps. What is that, 12 years old at this point?

They're fine.