Over the last few years, there’s been a real sea change in what is being pushed to consumers. It wasn’t long ago that every component on a bike would put the focus on weight before anything else. Wheels were not only a part of this but often the primary driver given the opportunity for more weight reduction.
Tech Specs: Zipp 353 NSW
Price: £3,200.00 / $4,000.00 / €3,600.00.
Rim Dimensions: effective 45mm deep, 25mm internal width, 34mm external width
Weight: 703 rear, 604 front as measured with rim tape, valves, and XDR freehub
Hubs: Cognition V2
Spokes: Sapim CX-Ray bladed stainless spokes
Tubeless Only
Today things are a lot different. The best lightweight wheels are moving from the best all-around option to more of a niche product for a specific type of rider. For most people, it makes more sense to go a bit heavier with a deeper wheel that’s more aerodynamic. You might be technically slower on some small section of your overall ride but you’ll gain speed overall. Is that all there is to picking wheels though and is it a binary choice? Weight vs aero, pick your poison?
The Zipp 353 NSW promises a resounding no. Zipp makes the case that if you can pay for it, you don’t have to choose weight vs aero and there’s more to think about. I’ve been spending time with the Zipp 353 NSW to see if it’s true. Are these wheels as good as the specs say or are you being asked to pay a lot of money for some headlines that you can’t really feel during a ride? These are the lightest, non-tubular, wheels Zipp has ever made. If you’ve been curious about what they are like to ride, keep reading.
Design and aesthetics
The Zipp 353 NSW isn’t brand new, it came out just over two years ago in 2021. Not only that but the feature that defines both the aesthetics and the technology involved has been around for at least six years now. Still, the number of people who continue to ask about it is high and it’s fun to talk about so let’s dive in.
The story goes that Zipp engineers looked at the fins of humpback whales for inspiration. The term that Zipp loves to throw around is biomimicry but the basic idea is that human engineering has had a slow start compared to nature. Water flow is similar to airflow and humpback whales are fast and manoeuvrable despite their massive size, how did nature do it?
It’s all about keeping the air,…
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