I'd get the alloy version in a heart beat. Save a bunch of money so you can spend more on nicer tires.
Also, if you accidentally damage the alloy rim, you have a much better chance to bend the rim back.

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Alex Arman

Strava

Are these being used for cross, road, tri, gravel??

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-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels

cross alway go tubular, nice thing is can usually find them cheaper

they will also be gravel and road wheels which is why i don't want tubular

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Yellowfin Endurance Coaching and Bike Fits
USAT Level 1, USAC Level 3

tricky but if want to "race" cross tubulars are important there is a reason you dont see any pros in top 20 on TL or clinchers, but if so dont worry about TL go tubed with latex and pick th rim with better rotational weight meaning lighter rim. I have seen some really well priced Roval CLX40 disc clinchers and others around.

http://shop.venn-cycling.com/...t/venn-rev-35-tcd-2/

1500g. Full carbon filament wound. Tubeless ready. Disc. 35mm deep, 27mm wide.

$856 USD (VAT already excluded) + shipping.

I'd skip out on zipps (hubs being the weak point) and get your LBS or wheelbuilder to whip up something like dt350 hubs and Hed Belguims for ~ the same as the alloy zipps you mention. A bomber wheelset that's tubeless compatible - in full disclosure I'm running this setup both geared and w/ I9 ss hubs. ymmv

I would either go with the Zipp 30, no point in spending the extra money. With the price difference you could grab a cheap tubular wheelset for cross season (prowheelbuilder.com: major toms rims, bitex hubs, 500 bucks total). Tubeless is great for gravel riding/racing, but it is a disaster for cross. I would rather run clinchers for cross.

I'm having a hard time finding tubular tyres - they all seem to be UCI restricted which puts them in around 32-34. None at Wiggle. I did find a pr. on Ebay bid on those.

Are there any that go to 35-38? Does it matter?
Will a 33 or 34 tubular perform like a 38 clincher?

I have a set of DuraAce C-TU50's that I didn't use this year,l so I was going to put the CX balloons on that set.

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Tubeless is no longer a "disaster" for cross. that was certainly true even two years ago but no longer. There are still some tires that don't play well but most of the "major" cx players work just dandy although anything can happen on any given day. I really wanted the wtb crossboss (40mm) to work but that didn't happen.

fwiw, I've been running tubeless MXPs on my Heds the past two seasons with nary an issue (yeah anecdotal) and know several others having success with the same setup. Mostly in training but an occasional race here and there course dependent. I'll go so far as to state that I'll get rid of all my tubies after this season and probably have two sets of wheels per bike. Just too much of a pain to maintain.

Kinda duh but you might imagine it's dependent on rim choice (Hed & Stans) along with tire choice (so far so good with Challenge and Speshulized) but as always, ymmv.

apologies for the slight tangent

This year has amazed me with the number of tubeless flats in cross. It might just be poor setup, but this is in cat 1/2 races, who knows? I do know the tubies are simpler in cross applications but tubeless can work. Disaster was clearly too strong, but attention to detail is critical. Most of the tubeless blowouts have been riders hitting roots, curbs, etc and burping the tires. Possibly poor rim choice?

Cross has been bad for me and flats this year.

Race one: flatter rear tubular MXP and then rolled it off the rim

Race two: flatted a tubeless setup PDX

End result: I flatted either way.

I'll still be back on my tubeless wheels. They just handle low pressure better

I have not seen a single problem with the current Zipp hubs, why bash a product because of a problem years ago?
The 188 hub is no longer used and the company has made good on any broken ones.
Why bash a company that has stood by their customers?

There have been no rear hub problems since 2013 model and no front since the year after.

I agree that tubeless for cross got MUCH better the last year or two. It took some patience and choice words to mount, but I ran the WTB Cross Boss on a Stans Crest set last year. Measured 38mm and to date is my favorite cross tire. 190 lbs and I usually settle around 24 front and 26.5 rear. I absolutely could not burp them no matter how hard I tried. Any lower and I was just going to destroy rims. My tubular Clements couldn't go that low without smacking the rim a dozen times a lap and only come out for the truly sloppy days now. I'm an admittedly midpack cat 3 and smalltime cross race organizer, but that's probably far ahead of many ST'ers parroting what they have read about cross in other threads.

To all, ST is not a great place for cyclocross advice. Pay attention to doublea though. His wife is an actual UCI elite racer competing internationally and (I believe) he does most of her mechanical work (along with some pretty great setups on his own gear).

Dude I'm selling a pair of Zipp 303 tubular disc for sale!!! $1800!! with tires and cassette!

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Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com

Option 3. One set for the road and a proper tubular wheelset for cross.

I would skip both of your ideas and do one of two things:

1. Buy a set of stans grails and match them with a set of Clement MXP's and be done. I have that exact setup and have had zero issues. The clements on grails are run really wide and have great all around abilities. I just raced Jingle Cross using this combo and traction wasn't an issue.

2. Go to eBay or one of the countless Facebook cycling for sale pages and look for a used set of tubies paired with a grifo or pdx/baby limus tread and roll with that. I just picked up a set of HED Belgium Blacks laced to shimano cx75's with Chalenge Baby Limus Pro's glued up for $240.

Either option will lend you a long time of cx fun. Then when you break your set, move up into cat1/2 races invest in some 303 tubies pairs to FMB Slaloms or Dugast Typhoons and roll what the pros roll!

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____________________________________________________

Industry Nine UL235 disc:
1350 grams
~$1200.

https://industrynine.com/road/ul235cx-road-disc


FWIW. Stans Grails are Both Heavy and the only tubeless rim I've dented... twice. I will concede that they continue to hold air tubeless after being dented.


Don't listen to tubeless naysayers. They work. Tubulars are better, but not necessary. Anything with a tube is plain stupid.


Clement tubeless tires have been very reliable for me (tubulars too).

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The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
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I've got 2 sets of disk Zipp tubulars - a set of 303's and a set of 30's. Currently running Challenge Limus team edition on both.

Honestly I can tell no difference between them. Other than I worry about smashing the 303's on rooty singletrack courses !

I love tubs - winter cross here in Yorkshire is always slippy / muddy and you can run really low pressures.

I also have a couple of alloy tubeless wheelsets for training / spares (1 DT Swiss and 1 Hunt) running Specialized Terra Pro tubeless. I ran these all summer with zero punctures / burbs and as low as 26 rear 24 front (I'm 76Kgs).

I must say I love the robustness / simplicity / flexibility of tubeless wheels - but the tubs just feel super planted when it's slippy :-) !

Hope that helps.

LG