Just wondering if anyone else has experienced getting a set of defective 404’s from 2001/2002. I got a set and put perhaps 200 miles on them before Lake Placid in 2003. At Placid, I found the rear was “grabbing” badly, and it turned out that the rim was “bowed” due to a production defect. The Zipp rep at Placid took my defective wheel, and nearly a year later, finally sent me a replacement!
Now, two years and only about 150 race miles later the front 404 has finally succumbed to the same production defect and is grabbing dangerously. I think it took longer for the defect to surface on the front wheel 'cause it was about 112 miles “behind” the rear in usage (I opted to go with a Ksyrium on the front in Kona 2002 in fear of the wind).
Did a lot of other people get stuck with these bum wheels, and did you have any trouble getting Zipp to replace them? Will they still replace a wheel that’s 3.5 years old? The trouble with race wheels is you don’t put enough miles on them early on to uncover such problems, so I wouldn’t think it was fair if Zipp refused to help me with the second one of the pair at this point.
I am in the process of getting Princess Carla’s rear 404 replaced for exactly the same problem. Sounds like she got a few more miles in than you, but not much. She started having problems with the rear wheel at IMCDA this year. We took it to our LBS and they trued it as best they could but did not diagnose the problem. Carla used the wheels again at Barb’s Race and nearly crashed when she tried to brake at the first turn. The rim grabbed with so much force she missed the turn. Lots of tech support, open brakes, and careful riding got her through but she was pretty shaken up. Unfortunately the set we bought were demos, so no warranty. The good news is that Richard at wheelbuilder.com is taking care of us. He said that some 404s clinchers will bulge if they are overinflated, but we never went over 120psi with these. It was also interesting that our wheel bulged right at the weld, indicating a weak point.
I urge anyone who has this problem to stop riding the wheel immediately and contact Zipp. It is a real safety issue.
Yep… Same thing happened to me in 2001 on tubular 404 wheels, first on one wheel then soon on the other. LBS was instrumental in getting both replaced at no cost to me less than two years after purchase.
And I have never get seen anything but awesome A++ service from the folks at Zipp.
I don’t think Tribaby’s experience would rate as A++. Waiting a year for a warranty replacement is substandard at best. I would like to think that her story is more the exception than the rule but it is still a valid complaint.
I also disagree that clinchers are a bad race wheel choice. I have a set of tubulars 440s and my wife chose the clinchers. Each has their pluses and minuses. The fact that Zipp made some defective clinchers does not strengthen the argument for tubulars.
At the other end of the spectrum - here’s a story about ZIPP Wheels durability. My girlfriend just used my 10 year old Zipp Tubular 440’s to finish second at IMC.