I have seen a few folks say that the patent is up, but i have not seen any knockoffs yet. Any news?
well the patent expiring prety much hit at the same time as the wide wheel revolution. Reynolds and Mavic have wider stuff in develoipment/out.
For littler/lesser known companies, Soul bikes and Flo cycling both should have wider rims out in early 2012.
Gigantex(makes rims for everyone who doesn’t make their own) is releasing some new rims as well I believe, so you should see those everywhere if history is a good demonstration.
well the patent expiring prety much hit at the same time as the wide wheel revolution. Reynolds and Mavic have wider stuff in develoipment/out.
For littler/lesser known companies, Soul bikes and Flo cycling both should have wider rims out in early 2012.
Gigantex(makes rims for everyone who doesn’t make their own) is releasing some new rims as well I believe, so you should see those everywhere if history is a good demonstration.
Thanks for thinking of us. To address the OP, we are certainly not copying the 404 as we’ve spent the last couple of years developing our own shapes using CFD software and verifying them in the A2 windtunnel. I will say that the expiration of the patent has certainly afforded companies like ours the opportunity to enter the game. It’s been a fun two years!
yeah, my reply was not to meant to imply anyone was cutting open a 404 and “copying” it. Only that lots of companies are making toroidal rims but that it seems that going wide has gone hand in hand with going toroidal.
Another thing to the OP, Zipp has sold their old 404 rims to different companies for years now to be rebadged. It’s now about a 10 year old design though…