Zipp 303 Firecrest Carbon Tubeless Wheel Test

This third generation of Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels features wider, lighter rims that are only compatible with tubeless tyres, with versatility and comfort as the goal. After more than 1700 km of testing on varied terrain, we really appreciated their liveliness and smooth rolling.

Photos: @3bikes.fr/zipp.com

At Zipp, the carbon wheel range keeps growing, especially in the 303 family, which now includes three models. With their intermediate rim depth, the 303s are the all-round wheels in the American manufacturer’s lineup, while the lower 202s are rather meant for mountain riding, and the 404s or 808s are wheels designed to fight the wind and the clock with deeper rims.

The 303s now come in three versions, including the well-known 303 NSW, which focuses on aerodynamic advantages for this type of profile, at 3000 € per pair. At the other end of the range are the new 303 S, still with a 45 mm rim depth but with an internal width increased to 23 mm, at a more accessible price of 1100 € per pair. And finally, the 303 Firecrest, now in its third version, whose characteristics have evolved toward more versatility, strength and comfort, while gaining nearly 300 g over the previous version, and sold for 1800 € per pair.

Completely reworked rims

The new Zipp 303 Firecrest Carbon are now only compatible with tubeless tyres, since the internal rim bed has no hook. This saves weight, and is also made possible by the exceptional 25 mm internal width (for an external rim width of 30 mm), and compatibility with tyres from 28 to 55 mm. With wider tyres, you can therefore inflate to a lower pressure, while avoiding excessive sidewall deformation thanks to the width of the rim/tyre pairing. With 28 or 30 mm tyres, the aerodynamic qualities are kept (since the tyre width does not exceed that of the rim), while clearly gaining comfort from a lower pressure, grip on wet surfaces and versatility across terrain.

Compared with the 303 S and 303 NSW, the Firecrests are therefore wider, but also slightly shallower, with a profile going from 45 to 40 mm. This gives the rim a rounder shape, and therefore offers less wind resistance and better handling even in strong gusts. The reduced depth is accompanied by a big cut in overall weight, thanks to a new construction technology called TSE (Total System Efficiency). The result: the wheelset weighs 1410 g with the tubeless valves, which is particularly impressive for carbon wheels meant for varied terrain, whether on the road or on gravel tracks.

New hubs come with these new rims, designed in Germany and named ZR1 DB. With new seals for greater durability and 66 engagement points in the freehub body for quicker response when accelerating, they also contribute to the overall weight saving of the wheelset while promising more reliability. Zipp rims have long been recognized for their strength (Zipp wheels were the first carbon wheels to allow a rider to win Paris-Roubaix), but this has not always been the case for the hubs used in the past, which sometimes suffered from bearing problems or play. It is worth noting, however, that we experienced no problems of this kind over the 1700 km ridden this summer, whether on the flat, in the wind, in the mountains, in Paris traffic, or even on gravel tracks.

Comfort and liveliness

For ultra-versatile use, the Zipp 303 Firecrests come very close to being the ideal wheels, because they offer a perfect compromise at every level. Let’s start with comfort, which is really surprising, yet not achieved at the expense of efficiency. The combined width of the rims and tyres, here in 28 mm, keeps the tyres from bulging out above the wheels, and therefore from losing steering precision even at a fairly low inflation pressure. The tyre sidewalls follow the shape of the rims, so they do not sag, at least once you find the ideal pressure.

After some trial and error, we settled on 3.7 bar at the front and 3.9 bar at the rear, for a rider weight of 70 kg. The setup is actually quite sensitive to pressure changes (within 0.2 bar), since with slightly higher pressure we feel a small loss of comfort, while with lower pressure you feel a bit of flex when standing up on the pedals.

This is a fairly modest inflation pressure compared with our references, yet it brings comfort by clearly damping vibrations on bad roads, efficiency by ensuring excellent traction whatever the surface, and reassuring grip on fast descents, on wet surfaces, and even on dirt tracks.

When we plotted routes blind, using only a map and importing them into our GPS, we were sometimes surprised to end up on gravel tracks, or at least on packed dirt. With any other setup, we would have turned back. But here, we were amazed to ride over tracks at 25 to 30 km/h without a second thought, without getting a flat, and above all with complete confidence.

Light, lively and dynamic, the 303 Firecrests do not penalize the rider on climbs, even at high altitude. This model even becomes the lightest in the Zipp range, and one of the lightest on the market, at least for disc brakes and tubeless tyres. This light weight makes you forget a little the total weight of our test bike, which comes in at close to 8.5 kg fully equipped and ready to ride. Responsive when changing pace, the 303s stand out for their smooth operation and rolling qualities, and for the fact that you quickly forget about them on long rides, even when riding over rough roads.

For versatile use that is not geared toward extreme performance, the 40 mm profile is in our view just right, since you never feel disturbed by crosswinds that could unsettle your steering, while still benefiting from a medium depth that gives a bit of positive momentum once you are rolling on the flat.

Fitted for our test on a Trek Domane with an endurance-oriented geometry, the Zipp 303 Firecrests are easy, comfortable wheels that open new possibilities for exploration, whether in terms of surfaces or the distances you can cover. And although these wheels are compatible with wider tyres to make them true all-terrain wheels, our only regret is that we could not test them on a bike with more aggressive geometry and handling. Because these all-conditions wheels are also, in our view, very capable for more traditional use.

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