I’m racing on some very old ZIPP 440’s. They are definitely lighter than any of the wheels I train on, and I do notice a difference when racing. My questions are… Could I refurbish them by using ceramic hubs? Is it penny wise and pound foolish to monkey with them at all? Would I see a big difference if I spent 1000 dollars on other wheels?
I don’t know if I could even splurge for that much, am I smarter waiting until the Spring when I could afford a faster set? FWIW I average between 21.5 and 23.5 mph on my sprint and oly tris. I’m not sure if that matters or not but I will be getting faster by the Spring I expect.
“Upgrading” hubs is a waste of money, ceramic bearings are unlikely to be any faster. Depending on your hubs, you may be able to replace the bearings (steel bearings are fine), which might make a very slight difference of the old bearings are worn. The best money you can spend for now would be to put a disc cover on the back for ~$100 (wheelbuilder.com). From there I would replace the front wheel (second hand if money is an issue), the toroidal/firecrest rim shapes do handle better crosswinds and are faster than the 440’s. I remember when I had a set of 440’s the front wheel was a bit hard to handle in strong winds, I’m now using a toroidal (pre firecrest) 808 on the front which actually handles better than the 440. I would definitely save money by not replacing the hubs and put the money towards the newer technology, it’s really not worth spending money on a set of 440’s apart from replacing the bearings (I recently replaced the bearings in my 808 for about $15).
Zipp lists hub maintenance here: http://www.zipp.com/support/maintenance/wheel_care_88_188.php - you will need to find your hub.
Thank you. That was the sort of advice I was looking for. I’m still relatively new to cycling and there are many decisions to make. I also notice the 440 front wheel being hard to handle in the wind. It scares the crap out of me on descents.
Just bear in mind if you buy a disc cover for the rear wheel it may not fit a newer wheel when you replace it. If you are thinking of newer wheels it might be worth putting the cost of a cover towards a newer wheelset. Having said all that, the 440’s will still be faster than a lot of cheaper training wheelsets, so I would keep using them until you have the money for a new wheelset.
“Upgrading” hubs is a waste of money, ceramic bearings are unlikely to be any faster. Depending on your hubs, you may be able to replace the bearings (steel bearings are fine), which might make a very slight difference of the old bearings are worn. The best money you can spend for now would be to put a disc cover on the back for ~$100 (wheelbuilder.com). From there I would replace the front wheel (second hand if money is an issue), the toroidal/firecrest rim shapes do handle better crosswinds and are faster than the 440’s. I remember when I had a set of 440’s the front wheel was a bit hard to handle in strong winds, I’m now using a toroidal (pre firecrest) 808 on the front which actually handles better than the 440. I would definitely save money by not replacing the hubs and put the money towards the newer technology, it’s really not worth spending money on a set of 440’s apart from replacing the bearings (I recently replaced the bearings in my 808 for about $15).
Zipp lists hub maintenance here: http://www.zipp.com/...heel_care_88_188.php - you will need to find your hub.
Agreed. The grade (roundness) of the bearings is far more important than the material. If the wheels are still fast and running well, why worry if they are doing the job?
Having said that, check the truing (roundness & left/right deviation), quality of the braking track, spoke tension (often an issue with Zipp) and the quality of the spoke nipples - because truing and servicing the wheels will be difficult if the nipples are frozen when trying to adjust the tension.