So Rahsaan Bahati has been in town for the last few days. I met him Thursday morning...a friend of a friend sort of thing. He was in town for some meetings concerning his
foundation, and neglected to bring a bike. So using my considerable juice (wink, wink), I lined up a whip, pedals, shoes, etc., for him to use while here. After some quality hours with Rahsaan, both on, and off, the bike, I can tell you that he's one of the nicest and most gracious guys that I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Some of his past antics have given him sort of a bad rap in the cycling world, but all of that's completely unfounded. He's a competitor. If you don't have a touch of asshole in you, a competitor, you are not!
He showed on Thursday night, and again this morning for the 8 a.m. ride. It was much appreciated by all in attendance. I think the juniors got a kick out of it!
We did a nice, double paceline tempo ride thru LR this morning. 85km in 2:25 on a beautiful SC summer morning!
And now, on to the show...
Zipp 404 Firecrest Full carbon clinchers
$2500-ish for 1550-ish grams. Seems a little exorbitant to me, even before riding them, especially when you consider that wheels in the same weight class can cost hundreds, if not thousands less.
Let's hit the high spots...
Speed- Yeah, they're GD fast! The hoops themselves aren't terribly heavy, so the whole 'rotational weight' issue is pretty moot. Even climbing, the weight isn't at all noticeable. At an average pace they roll well, but once at speed, say 38-40kmh+, the 404FC wheels just haul ass. The 58mm cross section does not hurt in these instances.
Stiffness- Even with the low spoke count (16f/20r), they seem to have plenty of lateral stiffness
, even under my big ass. Climbing, as well as coming out of corners, they seem to jump forward when power is applied. Tall rims, semi-high flange hubs and short spokes contribute to all of this. On the vertical plane, they are pretty damn comfy...more on this in a moment...
Setup- As far as putting on tubes, tires and a cassette goes, situation normal. Here's where things gets hinky. Because of the
width of the rim, which is 26.5mm for those who are to lazy to click the link, one must tinker with the brakes. I ride
Mavic SSC binders, which, even at their widest, would not accommodate the width of the rim. I was forced to replace my NEW
SwissStop Yellows with a set of 1/2 thickness Yellows, so there would be enough clearance. Not terribly difficult, but a slight pain in the ass. For someone without technical ability around the bike, this would be better left to the dudes in the service department at the shop.
Ride Quality- Yeah, I said they were comfy before, and they are, as long as you remember that the width of the rim dictates lower tire pressures. The width effectively gives your tires, regardless of what they are, more volume, thus, lower pressures are necessary. I didn't think about this on my first ride, so I jacked in my normal 120psi. The ride was rough and twitchy.
The next few rides, I backed it down to 105, and the ride was sublime. Speed was not affected. Cornering may have actually been approved, when considering that the lower pressures allowed the tires to flex a bit more.
Negatives- Price! For the $2500, you can buy an assortment of
Boyd,
Williams or
ROL wheels. The marketing wags @ Zipp will tell you that the 404s are more aero, but wind direction/speed dictates aero, so again...moot point.
The 404FCs are horrid in a crosswind. Even under my beefy 185 pounds, they tend to sail when struck with gusts. Not a pleasant feeling when traveling at speeds that would strip the flesh from your bones if you hit the deck. Last Thursday, we had a strong head/cross wind, and I felt like I almost needed to tack into the wind.
And I'm going to go against some others and say that the braking was good, not great...about the same as my Williams carbon clinchers. No carbon wheels brake well in the wet, and these are no different. Even with the Zipp's new braking surface, the braking is poor at best when wet, even with the Yellows.
Yeah, they're pretty nice wheels, but the negatives outweigh the positives for me. If someone was GIVING me the wheels, I'd take them, but for the $, I think I'll pass.
What would be great is if they were @ $1000 less, and they came in the
303 rim depth. You listening Zipp?
Sunday ride...tomorrow @ Outspokin...9 a.m.
Now, I make no claims as to the efficacy of this drug, nor it's legality under current UCI regulations. You may need to add it to your TUE card. 
