I’ve had good experiences with Zipp in the past (808 front wheel fairing issues), and have owned those 80s, 2 Super 9s, 303 NSW…so fairly knowledgeable of the brand. Also have Enve 7.8 wheelset, so I’ve been around carbon wheels.
Just got a 858 front wheel (sprotsfactory.com…great site) to pair with the Super 9, goods good, well packaged. I proceed to insert the valve extension and meet immediate resistance. Back the extension out, which then gets trapped inside the hole. The rubber sleeve starts to slip off so I have to use a pliers to grip it so it won’t get pulled loose and get trapped inside the wheel. Finally got it out intact, but sleeve ripped off
Once I pull it out I see the remnants on the carbon layup blocking the exit hole. I use a hex wrench to poke around thinking it would break loose but no chance. I called the Zipp support line this morning and told its part of the inflation balloon used in the carbon layup process and I can use a pick to break it loose. Ok, so a $2000 retail wheel and I’m supposed to be the quality control work for Zipp? Like I said, I’ve had many Zipp wheels, Enve and even Chinese carbons and never seen such subpar craftsmanship. If this was a $400 wheel from China I’d understand. All Zipp could say was use a pick, or take it to my local bike shop and have them do it. They wouldn’t even sent out a new extension to replace the one with the ripped up sleeve.
Does this sound ‘normal’ or am I being too sensitive? I’m think about returning the wheel and calling it a day on Zipp products. I can see a bad finishing process slipping through, but I’d assume a company like Zipp would be embarrassed enough to say at the very least take it to a Zipp affiliated shop and have them inspect and if needed sent it back to the company to make right.
As a post script…started poking around with a pick…there a a piece of the bladder left inside the wheel…a gray rubber-esque material on either side of the valve hole. I can’t imagine this is normal.
When I built wheels for a living I saw all sorts of QC issues on Zipp, Enve, Reynolds rims and had to fix them… or get them replaced. It’s worse when the issue wouldn’t show up until after I’d put it together and I had to send it back (like uneven brake tracks), or worse yet when the rim would break while the customer was JRA… So no, I’m not surprised that there isn’t a lot of QC going on. I’m sure someone spends a few seconds looking for obvious problems, but that’s probably it.
The issue you had wouldn’t have been obvious until you tried to put the valve in. It’s not a big deal IMO since it’s easy to fix.
I’ve also looked at built wheels and they tend to come with uneven tension fresh from the factory, and insufficient stress relieving (not just Zipp). Pluck the spokes on each side. They should have the same tone.
People do the work, so they forgot to check something like this. I have 808 tubular front wheel and I can hear something making a noise inside of the wheel. Maybe a loose carbon piece? I checked everything and it looks great. It’s annoying sometime though.
thanks for the responses. I might have good luck with all the other carbon wheels I’ve had, but to me leaving parts of the bladder inside the wheel plus not cleaning the opening from carbon layup seems like issues I’d rather not have with a $2k wheel.
do you think its possible to remove it from around the valve hole before it goes out to consumers? To me its like ordering a Tesla and when you get it some of the seat stitching is incomplete and Tesla tells you to sew it yourself or take it somewhere and have it done. I understand nothing is perfect but when you’re paying for a premium product it should be at least useable out of the box.
Just got a 858 front wheel (sprotsfactory.com…great site) to pair with the Super 9, goods good, well packaged. I proceed to insert the valve extension and meet immediate resistance. Back the extension out, which then gets trapped inside the hole. The rubber sleeve starts to slip off so I have to use a pliers to grip it so it won’t get pulled loose and get trapped inside the wheel. Finally got it out intact, but sleeve ripped off
I called the Zipp support line this morning and told its part of the inflation balloon used in the carbon layup process and I can use a pick to break it loose. Ok, so a $2000 retail wheel and I’m supposed to be the quality control work for Zipp?
Old thread but similar response from Sram / Zipp from my experience ( https://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Zipp_Super_9_-_Quality_check_P7803419/?page=unread#unread ) .
Makes me wonder over the hidden number for those who have lesser (?) expectations or just don’t want to (?) go thru the hustle when discovering their zipp wheel is a Sunday product. .
Seeing/imagining the tactic from zipp is that “say no or we will get a shit storm with returns from people asking to get their moneys worth”.
Raise your expectations people!
