for those with tubulars, did you need to remove the tire before sending back the wheel?

I had clinchers and didn't remove my tire sending it in.

Yes, we even called from the shop to make sure again. They just want the wheel, need it without anything to get true again after hub change.

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-shoki

just got a call from my LBS that my wheel is back from Zipp. Zipp gave the shop a credit for shipping the wheel and also for re-installing the tubular. took 2 weeks.

Phew, haven't been home to check yet, but from the Zipp PDF document they issued, it looks like my front hub is the unaffected new version with the 'aero' cinch nut.

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29 years and counting

I finally was able to get over to the bike shop to pick up my wheel and the owner opened the box with me to find a new 303 carbon clincher in there. I had sent in a 2010 404. Not sure how I should feel about this because I know the 303 is newer, however I don't know whether or not its faster than my 404. In any event, they didn't contact me or the bike shop to inform us of anything wrong with my 404 or that they would be replacing it. Any thoughts/ideas?

got it; thanks

got a heat gun last year to do some soldering, and i hear that the heat really helps with tire removal; will give it a try

come to think of it, i stopped riding that front wheel some time last summer when i heard a very slight noise from the front hub; perhaps this will take care of that for once and for all

303 firecrest definitely faster than the old 404 clincher.

rejoice!

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Thanks. That is what I was looking for. It looks way cooler - good to know its faster too!

I have the same older hub with the carbon covers on my 808 front wheel which has split badly, so even if not in recall be sure to check regularly.

Just an update. After racing with the 303, my other wheel showed up repaired with a new hub and spokes. Zipp has now informed me I have to return the 303 which was sent by mistake. I guess my upgrade was temporary. The funny thing is they are sending out the 303 to another customer as new even though I already used it.

This has been a huge pain in the neck when all is said and done. I only ever expected the repair to my original wheel, however all the back and forth along with the time wasted tracking down a new front brake to accommodate the wider front wheel has turned this rather simple procedure into a lot of wasted time/energy for me. Enough so that I will have to think really hard about buying anything from Zipp/SRAM again if this is the way they run their business. I would honestly tell them to pound sand and keep both wheels at this point, however that would put my LBS in a weird spot - he too has been jerked around through this entire process.

It will be a huger pain in the neck when the "new Zipp hub" becomes the old Zipp hub because something is wrong with this latest iteration too.

They ought to give up on hubs and just buy someone else's.

Unfortunately true. Thinking about folks who bought the super zedtech wheelset brand new for 30% more than the regular wheelset to have a unbelievably faster dimpled hub which turns out to be risky after just 5 years on the market.

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-shoki

That sucks... if I'd been sent a new 303 in place of my old dimpled 404 I'd want to keep it.
My wheel took just under 2 weeks and came back rebuilt with a new hub (is the new hub any good? no idea).

A few days after my front wheel was sent in my right SRAM Force shifter failed - the doubletap lever just sheared right off. Straight into the LBS, they went out the their wholesaler and picked up a new one so I could race two days later. SRAM are replacing the shifter on warranty (well, sending the LBS a new one) even though the shifter was 3 years old. According to the LBS "SRAM are making it worth his while" and between the hub and the shifter the shop are really happy with SRAM.

Apparently they weren't totally happy with SRAM on the hydraulic brake recall, but they say SRAM are making good on the hubs (and the shifter).


Not to take away from what's obviously been a crappy experience, but why a new front brake? I run narrow and wide rims with just a standard Force brake. The width is adjustable (cable tension, and that little cam lever on the caliper)... what brakes are you using?

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http://ironvision.blogspot.com ; @drSteve1663

I am using old Force brakes and even fully open you can't spin the wheel. I was able to get it to move by removing the spacer on the interior of the pad holder and placing it on the outside of the brakes, however it barely clears that way and you can't adjust the camber of the pad very well in that configuration. In a hard turn, I think the flex of the fork would result in a rub (we are talking minimal clearance).

I'm running 2011 Force brakes and when set up for my narrow rims (Mavic Ksyriums; old 404s) I can run my wide rims (Corima Aero+ MCC) just by opening the little cam all the way up. To be fair, the 303s are wider than the Corimas, but only by about 3mm and I can get more clearance than that by just releasing a little cable tension.

I'm pretty sure that the more recent Force (2011 onward for sure, maybe earlier) will accommodate 303 Firecrest rims easily. Maybe that wasn't true with older models(?)
Good to know for folks with older SRAM gruppos.

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http://ironvision.blogspot.com ; @drSteve1663

I am not a wrench by any means, but with the cable completely disconnected I couldn't get enough clearance to spin the wheel.

Easiest thing to do would be to look at my wheels, but I'm traveling. They are 2009 404s......most likely impacted? I can't tell if it's all 2008-2010, or just some OEM wheels.

My LBS returned my 404 to Zipp with the recalled hub. Returned to me one week later and I swear it was a new wheel. If this was my original wheel with just a new hub someone at Zipp spent a lot of time cleaning it up, removing scratches from a few crashes I had had, and gave me new decals. Looks mint.

Thank you Zipp !!

Does anyone know what they replace the hub with?

The v9 version of the 88 front hub (and new spokes). Unless they find that there is a problem with your current carbon rim (spoke holes) or worn brake track.

Cheers mate. Just sent mine off

I purchased a Zipp wheel on CL recently for peanuts. It was advertised as a "brand new" FC 303 gotten back from crash replacement. I went there, made all the checks against counterfeits, it was a genuine Zipp but something bothered me about the hub and spokes (they were silver). I still bought it, went home and googled the silver hub to find out they were recalled (and I pieced everything together - the rim of the old 303 was replaced with a FC 303 rim, but they kept the original hub and spokes). Sent the whole thing for recall.

Got everything back, now everything is new on the wheel (they replaced hub, spokes and whatnots). For peanuts... Can't complain!

I think V9 is the latest rear hub. It's about 25% heavier than the older hubs and they've gone to 2X lacing on both sides now (much better than the radial lacing on the drive side.) It's not clear to me how much the front hub has changed over the years.

Not replying to you specifically...just adding a data point:

Brought mine into LBS, had it back 2 weeks later, new hubs spokes etc