Words and Photos: Tim Bardsley-Smith
Zipp has long been the must-have brand for road wheels and triathlon. Everyone who was anyone and even those that weren’t either had Zipps or wanted them badly. It’s only in recent years that they have been challenged by the likes of Enve and some more boutique wheel builders using Chinese and Taiwanese rims.
Zipp’s sale to the SRAM group of brands has seen them move manufacturing of the Zipp 30 Course wheels to Taiwan from USA (where the majority of its line is still made). That has enabled a sharper price point and a lift in its marketing push.
The Zipp 30 Course wheels were built as a high-performance aluminium wheel set, also being their first tubeless offering. With a 21mm internal width the 30 Course was aimed squarely at those running larger tyres, from disc road to all day gravel riders and of course cyclocross. Essentially it’s a newer, more capable replacement for the Aluminum Zipp 101.
Initial Impressions
The Zipp 30 Course wheels undoubtedly look like an expensive set of wheels. Possibly it’s the appearance of the Zipp logo alone that gives people the sense that you have a better paying job than you actually do. Although these rims are not the cheapest on the market they are certainly not the most expensive either. At $1599 they are about $2000 cheaper than their carbon counterparts. But that’s not surprising, as the carbon Zipp wheels are considered super high-end. What is surprising is the 30 Course wheel set uses exactly the same hubs, nipples and spokes as the 202s and 303s and come in at only 120g heavier than the 202s. That’s quite a bargain if you don’t want the vulnerability of a carbon rim but still want the aero aspects and quality that Zipp are known for. Of course it won’t appease those who desperately crave the stiffness, feel and café cred of the carbon bling.
In Use
The 30 Course have been amazing, with not a single issue after abusing them for an extended period of time. Not even a single nipple has needed to be tweaked, and they run as true as if they were fresh out of their silver packet. While the 26mm high rim would not be considered Zipp’s most aero rim, the wheels do seem to roll extremely well.
If you’re like most serious cyclists these days, there is a good chance you have more than one bike that these wheels would be potentially suited to, or you are already thinking about a potential new frame purchase and wondering if the wheels will work with a future frame. With the Zipp 77D and 177D hub’s compatibility you can take these wheels to almost any type of dropouts available on disc road, gravel or ‘cross bikes available at the time of writing. Even most mountain bikes could potentially use this wheel set. There is also an after market XD driver cassette body available, making it ideal for your Sram 1x group set and wider range cassettes.
While Zipp have had issues with bearing play developing in some of their older wheels, most of the new ones seem to have less of an issue. With their new bearing preload precision set, so far the 30 Course have been super solid. With no obvious play after nearly a year of riding all types of terrain.
Our Take
With the aluminum rim, and the same hubs and spokes as seen on Zipp’s much more expensive carbon 202s and 303s, it’s no wonder these have become popular with the gravel crowd. The Zipp 30 Course wheel sets means you might not worry about cracking your rim as much when you hit a massive rock or cavernous pothole, while still maintaining that Zipp aero quality. The wider rims also give you a little extra cushion with the larger air chamber created with the tyre, and this also helps smooth out the rough stuff making it easier on the hands and forearms. The solid engagement of the hub does makes an odd reverberation noise with carbon frames, but that just takes a bit of getting used to.
PROS: Reasonable weight for price / Tubeless / High end hubs and spokes
CONS: Noisy rear hub engagement
RRP: $1599, FROM: echelonsports.com.au