I can answer some questions about the 302 wheelset. I've been training on them for about 6mos now (and can finally tell people what they are). I've got 62h / 1900km (we have to track our rides on prototype equipment using an internal SRAM database) on the wheels.
One obvious question - it's possible that they can be converted to tubeless with rim tape (e.g. Silca); I do not know the answer to that off-hand but I can find out. I do know that it's dramatically more expensive to make a tubeless-compatible carbon wheelset, which is why they (unlike the aluminum Corse 30s) are not tubeless. I've had the wheels paired with 23mm Continental GP4000S tires with butyl tubes with OrangeSeal Endurance inside them, which has been great.
The biggest change is really the new 76/176 hubset. It's a tall-flange hubset that uses J-bend spokes. The package with a 45mm carbon rim is extremely stiff. I'd actually say in terms of both torsional and lateral stiffness, from a ride-quality perspective, it's one of the - if not the single most - stiffest wheelsets Zipp's ever made. Internal testing confirmed this.
Typically, when I test new stuff, they tell me virtually nothing about it so as not to bias me. So riding, I felt - especially torsional - these things were super stiff. After riding them a bunch, they finally confirmed it wasn't in my head, and that their own lab testing confirmed what I was feeling.
In terms of aeroness, I've ridden them mostly on my road bike, so I can't really speak a lot to that other than to say that they are not obviously slow as compared to a pair of 404s.
I realize that $1500 for a wheelset is not "cheap," but for a USA-made carbon rim, it was indeed designed around price point. But the end result of designing towards a price point, which included not only removing dimples (an expensive aspect of mold making and a more likely source of blemishes) but also the new hubset, was a wheel that really performs far above what I think Zipp initially expected. In my experience, this is a bulletproof wheelset that's also fast enough to race on.
The one downside is that it uses a cheaper braking surface treatment. It brakes well, but it's much more sensitive to brake pad choice. If you use a firmer compound pad, they tend to squeal a lot. With a softer pad, that's almost entirely eliminated. Braking quality seems to be the same in both cases, but it's definitely a more pleasant experience to ride the wheels with softer pads, especially if you ride with other people.
"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp
