In a bit of an unusual development, we had difficulty getting rim cement to stick to the Reynolds rims. We tried Panaracer and Continental, as well as (of course) cleaning the rim with citrus solvent, then Dawn dish detergent and rinsing them well before application of the cement. Still no go. The glue wouldn;t stick. Very unusual.

Now, I would suppose, this was a one-time occurence and an anomoly. I very much doubt other people have expereinced this- but we did.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I have a pair of the Reynolds wheels (sitting next to me right now). I have not tried to glue them yet though. I only know of one other person that has had them, and they did not have any problems. He used glue, I plan on using the tape.

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Reverend Dr. Jay
Lake of the Pines Triathlon fastest bike course record holder - Golden State Super Sprint fastest tri course record holder - Wildflower Long Course slowest run course record holder (4:46:32)

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"If you have a body, you are an athlete." -Bill Bowerman

I think our experience was an isolated one.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

was that with both wheels though? Tough to call that an isolated incident if it was both...

I bought a pair of Stratus with cross tires on them. I can't fully describe how hard it was to get the glued tires off. I finally did and replaced the cross tires with road tires and used tape. Also, not coming off without a fight. The wheels are great, McLean does carbon right. My vote is Reynolds.

They probably have some sort of a teflon film on them to help get them out of the mold. Did you try mildly abrading the rim bed with steel wool or sandpaper? That's something I do on all my new tubular rims.

Either that or some kind of silicone-based mold release...

It's official...Becca is a man posting as a woman. Am I the last to recognize this? Women do NOT post about silicone-based mold release shit.

lol...those who used to work summers doing injection molding of miscellaneous medical parts do!

I don't buy it. You're a man, man. I find it impossible to believe that you know so much about this stuff but have never posted? Not a chance. You are one of the mainstays on this forum, no doubt. I'll no longer be a sucker.

Believe what you want...I started posting in February after a lurking for quite awhile. And I leave all the real tech talk to people who really know what's going on! Like Mr. Tibbs... lol

That's a very interesting question and I hate it to turn in yet another tubular discussion.

Anybody ridden both? Is there a significant difference in feel? Aerodynamically they are probably the same. I prefer the raynolds logo over the flashy zipp...but that's a detail. You can get 404's under 1000$ if you look around a little, so is there a reason to pay 300 more?

Where can you get actual 404's for less than $1000? Best I have found was closer to $1250.

you have to look around for sales and be patient because they always get on sale again and again.

The easiest is ebay, right now a guy sells them for 945$ but even if you don't like that you can find them under 1000 just be patient.

yep - you've got to be patient and look for internet sales. got '03 404's brand spankin w/ warranty for 990.

Is Zipp doing its own rim? I know Reynolds is done by there own company (and sold to others too). Or is the Zipp, a Reynolds rim, with a Zipp hub?

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Reverend Dr. Jay
Lake of the Pines Triathlon fastest bike course record holder - Golden State Super Sprint fastest tri course record holder - Wildflower Long Course slowest run course record holder (4:46:32)

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"If you have a body, you are an athlete." -Bill Bowerman

zipp makes their own rims as well as bontragers, american classic's carbon rims and probably others as well

The Reynolds Stratus are lighter and much stronger than the Zipp 404s. The Zipps have a deeper dish, 58mm vs. 44mm w/ Stratus, so they might be more aero, but then again Renolds has the hidden spoke technology so i don't know the answer to the aero question. I have the Reynolds Stratus DV and I love them. I was told by the Zipp rep that the shape of the 404 dish creates less drag but I'm an aerospace engineer and I thought he was full of crap in his explanation.

I broke my last set of 404 rims (non catastrophically)in less than a season, while at the same time have put 4+ seasons into my Lews (the Reynolds pre-cursor.) FYI, I weigh 137-145 #'s, depending on form.

I rode cross on a mixed 404/Reynolds rim setup this season (my sponsor was shifting rim wholesaler, and I got to try both,) and I prefer the Reynolds rim. It appears to be stiffer, is lighter, and it's construction methods seem more robust to me. A nice feature is that I find the braking surface on the Reynolds to be much nicer than the Zipp - in fact, it's the only carbon brake surface that Chris Boardman has ever liked, or so he says in a recent issue of Procycling.

Both are very nice wheels, and I would race either.

MH

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

I have a solid season of road racing on my Reynolds. I have found them to be very strong. I recently used them in a race with about 6 miles of rough and rutted dirt road, they handled the pounding fine (I didn't try to spare them at all). On a recent race I hit a pothole hard at speed, my handlebars rotated down, but my wheel was fine. A friend hit the same hole at the same speed on the next lap and put a dent in his Zipp 404 rim-ouch! He was running the same tires at a higher pressure than me. I have also had to ride over the bike of a rider who went down in front of me, his pedals took out a couple of spokes but the wheels were fine except for a slight wobble. For race wheels I would go with the tubulars, they run about 200g less than the clinchers and with no pressure limit.

Having said that I am considering getting a 404 front wheel for TT use only, John Cobb recently posted on Bicycle Sports that overall he considered it to be the fastest wheel due to the depth, rim shape and the fact it doesnt cause as much steering reaction as the HED 3.

If you want race wheels for Tri's where speed is important above all else and you have a chance to (usually) dodge pothole, I would still seriously consider the Zipps. If you plan on road racing where you don't always have the option of dodging stuff I would say the Reynolds are a better bet.

Anyone knows a place to get the raynolds for cheaper than standard retail price?
They almost never show up on ebay.

"Anyone knows a place to get the raynolds for cheaper than standard retail price?
They almost never show up on ebay. "

You could go with a set of 2004 Cane CreeK Aros. The wheel is made by Mclean Quality Composites which are the same folks that make the Reynolds Stratus DV. The Cane Creeks are about $200 cheaper than the Reynolds. Reynolds use the White Industries Hubs which are very good and Cane Creek uses their own hubs which I'm sure are not as good. 2003 and prior Cane Creek Aros are basically Zipp 404s.