You guys are the experts. What companies use Zipp wheels but put their own label on it? Where is the compromise on the consumer end? Different (sub par) hubs? Spokes not as strong? Why would I save money?
Easton
American classic
Cane Creek
Blackwell research
Elite
Zero
and many more…
some of these wheels are as good as zipp, you dont necessarly give away, the company put there own hub and different spoke, many will go for the top of the line sapin-x ray so you end up having a awsome wheel for cheaper… all these company use or the older 404 rim without dimple or the disc with no dimple… all of them awsome wheels…
I believe Ritchey, Easton, American Classic, Cane Creek and Elite have done so, though I believe that Easton may now be making their own, to name a few. Elite advertises them as rebadged Zipps. One compromise is no dimples:) Those are for Zipp only at this point. You can save money because these wheels are cheaper to begin with, and many dealers can discount them (i.e. online coupons etc), which is typically not the case with Zipp whom I’m recall prefers that dealers sell at MSRP. Another compromise is the Bling factor. They don’t say Zipp, though you can buy the decals and rebadge them back to Zipp if you like. Weight varies too as vendors use combinations of different hubs and spokes. If I wanted a set of 404’s, I’d personally buy the rebadged versions. I prefer a deeper wheel, and only the 404 (58mm) has been shopped around as far as I know.
American Classic, Ritchey, & Cane Creek all use Zipp 404 hoops (undimpled). There are some others, made by some smaller European companies. If you do a search for the TOUR magazine wind tunnel tests it’s easy to spot the others. Why would you opt for these wheels? I don’t know. The hoop is not the only part that makes the wheel good. There is also spoke quality, hub quality, build quality, etc. I’d certainly trust Ritchey wheels, since their parts are excellent, but I don’t know why you wouldn’t just get Zipps.
MANY more companies rebadge Zipp discs than use their hoops.
Easton is one. Only drawback is that they are pre-dimple. Quality of the Easton wheels are pretty good and in the aero comparison I saw, ranked higher than the HED3C. You would save about 400-500 dollars and the graphics look good.
If you’re thinking of the Tour Magazine tests, the Eastons were over 1 watt slower than Hed 3s, but Ritcheys were about 1/3 a watt faster. yes, they both used the same rim.
I wouldn’t take the Tour test as gospel when it comes to wheels though. Different wheels need different tires and so forth to perform ideally. What may work for say 404/808 rims, may not work for a hed 3.
I still think the Cane Creek / Ritcheys / Flashpoints are the true value race wheel. All the technology you need, none of it you don’t.
Easton
American classic
Cane Creek
Blackwell research
Elite
Zero
and many more…
some of these wheels are as good as zipp, you dont necessarly give away, the company put there own hub and different spoke, many will go for the top of the line sapin-x ray so you end up having a awsome wheel for cheaper… all these company use or the older 404 rim without dimple or the disc with no dimple… all of them awsome wheels…
Blackwell is different, using Taiwan-made standard rim, also used by Beyondfab and others. (Same 50 and 100mm rim, while Beyondfab has a 85mm rim with a special “bulge”.) I have also seen this 50mm rim with other stickers.
like i said…some use 404 rim…some use there disc
blackwell…use zipp disc…