How are the current generation of Zipp hubs?

[weiwentg]

I've heard a couple of people here say that some of the older Zipp hubs are not very durable. November wheels said that in general (https://novemberbicycles.com/blogs/blog/the-new-price-points-from-zipp-and-enve), Zipp has not had much luck with hubs. Can anyone corroborate this? I'd possibly be interested in the 303 S, which has their 76D and 176D hubs.

I mean, I have to admit the price is very competitive. One of the LBSes runs a monthly 20% off coupon for members, so I could get the 303 S for pretty cheap. The thing is, if the hubs give me trouble, it's not worth it - these are going on my gravel bike as well.

[Gummee]

I pretty much despise Zipp hubs. They've been junk since the original hubs with the bushings in em.

I'll re-hub rear wheels especially as soon as I can

M

[nobuseri]

I hear this quite often. Just wondering, specifically, what’s sub-par about the hub? Is it the bearings they use? Surely, those can be swapped for something more desirable.

If we are talking flanges or hub design and such, that’s a diff story.

Rear hub engagement didn’t strike me as out of the ordinary. Pawls seem to be standard.

Only thing I can think of is the number of recalls seems excessive, but support on them seems decent. Drop off the wheel, comes back in a reasonable amt of time (or, at least they used to).

[Tim Porter]

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the 5 sets of Zipp wheels I've had, but the problems I had never related to hubs, oddly enough given the hate for them online. My biggest problem is that the build quality was a bit patchy and a couple of them would not stay round and true.

I'm currently riding a set of the 404 Firestrikes that has been pretty amazing performance-wise and reliability-wise, too. With Spec Turbo Cottons in 26mm, they're stellar wheels. I also have a set of the 454s (won in a raffle at my LBS :banana:). Really like these, too. The bio mimicry thing seems a bit of a stretch, but they are very "calm" wheels in that they don't seem to over react to side gusts all that much. No hub problems with either of these newer generation hubs.

[ldamelio]

I can't speak to current; they may have gotten it right in the interim.. On my circa 2012 404s, there was a recall on the front (I don't recall why, mine was fine). My rear hub shattered (2-3 spokes ripped off a chunk of flange, unrelated to impact, web search revealed it to be known phenomenon). I skipped warranty and rebuilt it with Chris King. Campy only (Fulcrum if you're a Shimano/SRAM guy) and you'll never worry.

[oldpotatoe]

I can't speak to current; they may have gotten it right in the interim.. On my circa 2012 404s, there was a recall on the front (I don't recall why, mine was fine). My rear hub shattered (2-3 spokes ripped off a chunk of flange, unrelated to impact, web search revealed it to be known phenomenon). I skipped warranty and rebuilt it with Chris King. Campy only (Fulcrum if you're a Shimano/SRAM guy) and you'll never worry.

W/O sram buying them, I think they would be gone or at least going the way of mavic, a long time ago...

What he said...

[Keith A]

I don't know which generation of Zipp wheels my friend has...but just this past Tuesday night on our ride, his rear hub had a catastrophic failure. The next time I see him, I'll try and get some more details.

[nobuseri]

I have probably just been lucky so far. My first set was a set of (alloy) Team Edition and I have had a few carbon sets since. Haven't had any spoke or hub issues (knocks wood).

Thanks for the info!

[Tim Porter]

You guys are scaring me (see above). For the Record (heh heh), I most often ride Campy wheels, both clincher and tubular.

[billspreston]

Lots of hard miles on my daily-driver 77/177 hub-set without any issues. Really happy with them. Chinese bearings spun fine and lasted a normal amount until they were replaced with some nicer Japanese stuff.

[Mike Bryant]

I’ve got a couple of sets of Firecrest 202s. Never had any real problems with the hubs but know others that did. One set had the 188 v8 rear hub that had the drive side spokes radial laced. Didn’t trust those with my Clydesdale physique so had them rebuilt with the 177 hub. The 177 doesn’t have the bearing preload adjustment like the 188 (which is a little trouble to get right); but the 177 uses a very thin washer in it that easily sticks to another part when disassembling and if lost creates problems. My 88 v8 front hub was replaced under recall with an 88 v9 which has a more robust bed for the spoke heads. The other 202 wheelset had the 88/188 v9 hubs. Other than the bearing preload adjustments, they’ve held up well.


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[weiwentg]

I hear this quite often. Just wondering, specifically, what’s sub-par about the hub? Is it the bearings they use? Surely, those can be swapped for something more desirable.

If we are talking flanges or hub design and such, that’s a diff story.

Rear hub engagement didn’t strike me as out of the ordinary. Pawls seem to be standard.

Only thing I can think of is the number of recalls seems excessive, but support on them seems decent. Drop off the wheel, comes back in a reasonable amt of time (or, at least they used to).

This is exactly what I'm trying to figure out. I, too, have heard this on and off, but not a lot of details.

You're right that if it was just poorly sealed bearings, you could let them die then change them for something nicer. But then again, it's not cheap to do that if you're paying a professional, and that's something I'd want to consider. Even if you're doing it yourself, it's time.

If it's the hub tolerances or a design issue, then that's more fundamental.

[billspreston]

IMO the issues people talk about with Zipp hubs were with the older 88/188 hub-set. The large hub flange recall that was done (and rightly so) is what people are remembering. And they did a fine job with that recall as I had multiple wheels rebuilt with new hubs free of charge in a timely manner.

Sadly, their hub issues seemed to mostly go away when they moved hub production out of the States. I wouldn't hesitate to ride a new Zipp hub in the slightest and their customer service is good if issues do arise. I had a rock missile thrown from another bike puncture the sidewall of a 303 rim and they rebuilt the wheel with a new rim for $450, for instance.