Zipp 202 Wheelset Zedtech Tubular Shimano 8/9/10spd '05

The Z Series: When Fanatic Cycling Engineers Dreams

What makes a Z series Zipp wheel different?

We’ll start with the rims…Zipp already makes the best rims in the world, how could you improve on the best. All of their rims are made by hand, one of a time, and they found that some they made were a bit lighter than others (about 30 grams on average), a little more perfect and so they pulled those rims to be used in the production of the Z series wheelsets. Additionally, one person, their best master wheel craftsman, builds every single Z series wheel. A Z series rim is one of the best 200 or so rims made by anyone, anywhere in the world, in a given year.

Then the overkill continues in the hubs…Zipp already uses Alcoa 7XXX ordinance grade alloy for all of their hub shells, axles, and end caps, which is 33% stronger, and 40% harder than industry benchmark 7075 aluminum. They couldn’t improve on an already perfect material, so they machined the hubs to remove a few extra grams in the Z series hubs. Another improvement is in the manner they created the spoke holes. Rather than drilling the spoke holes, they developed a technology that displaces the material around the hole, which triples the fatigue strength. So unlike other hub on the market, rider confidence in a radial laced wheel excels with the Z series.

The lacing…Zipp Z series Wheels are laced with a proprietary “crow’s foot” design, which provides more equal tension in our world-leading CX-Ray Sapim Spokes, shorter – and on some models, fewer spokes for less weight, and a notable improvement in aerodynamics. It’s on small difference, but when you put these racing specialists to the test, you’ll feel it.

Bearings…The bearings in Zipp’s standard wheels are near second to none with total set size and spherical variance of less than 10 millionths of an inch. However, for the Z series wheels they closed the “second to none” gap even further by adding Swiss made ceramic bearings. Zipp’s Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) ceramic bearings are 30% lighter than steel and 40% stronger, and their variance in size and sphericity is LESS than 1 millionth of an inch among the entire bearing set. Each ball is 1000 times more round than the best steel bearing of any type, grade, or benchmark. At 25mph, the upgrade to Zipp’s ceramic bearings alone offers energy savings of 0.8 to 1.0 watts. On an 8 percent grade, the reduction in friction is the equivalent of a reduction in static weight of 340 grams! A Teflon retainer separates and locates each individual ball within the race for optimum performance and reliability.

If you want the absolute best Zipp has to offer, if you want to ride the absolute best wheelset in the world, if you get flat-out hyped up about chasing perfection and embracing the ultimate in excellence like Zipp does, you have to consider the Z series upgrade as you choose your Zipp wheelset.

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