Advice needed: Zipp hub missing parts - used '00 or '01

Triathlon Forum
1

First off I haven’t paid any money for them yet. I had noticed them in a neighbors garage and when I inquired with him he said they were 650c Zipp 404’s clinchers (perfect for my wife’s bike)and hadn’t been ridden in a really long time. He was the original owner. He asked if I wanted them and I said I’d like to check them out first and he said he’d practically give them away. Well, as soon as I grabbed the rear wheel, the cassette and tubing that the skewer goes thru separated from the hub and fell to the ground. I picked up the pieces and told him that I’d check with the mechanic and see if it was viable. Everything else seems in perfect condition.

So I take to my LBS and they determine it is missing a few small pieces (nut, dust cap and something else (maybe an o-ring) and then tells me that Zipp doesn’t have replacement parts and that rebuilding would be expensive $200- $300 and that he was concerned that due to the age of the rim, he would be concerned that I spend the money and the rim would fail. I am going to ask a few more detailed questions to my friend who has the wheels. The carbon rims look immaculate.

My question:
Is there anybody out there with these parts from a damaged wheel?
If the rim hasn’t failed yet, is there any risk the carbon layup would fail due to age?
Any cheaper alternatives than rebuilding a to a Zipp hub?

Thanks

2

I’ve taken my 404 hub apart to re-set the dust cap when it came loose (i think it’s a 2004, pre-dimpled rim) and it’s really a pretty simple design. If that’s really all that was wrong w/ it, I have a hard time believing you couldn’t get a replacement end cap and dust cover, which would be a DiY job to install.

As for the carbon, I haven’t heard of long-term issues with Zipp rims in general. Carbon fiber itself doesn’t inherently have a shelf life; I have 20-year-old graphite fishing rods and I yank the shit out of them fighting fish and snags. Of course that’s no guarantee, but I also still see a few folks out there rolling w/ the Zipp 440s (precursor to the 404s).