RaceDay Wheels is a bicycle wheel rental program that uses Zipp wheels exclusively.  Let’s say you’ve got a big race coming up and you want to put some speedy hoops on your bike to make the most of all your training…just rent any Zipp wheelset you want, from 404s to 808s to 1080s and disc wheels and more.
What if you don’t need to rent wheels, you just want a really good deal on some Zipps?  RaceDay replaces their rental wheels every year, which means there’s a lot of inventory (about 120 wheelsets!) to get rid of at the end of the year.  Guess what…it’s the end of the year.
I spoke with Marc Lees, founder of RaceDay Wheels and former pro triathlete about what kind of deals he’s got, how he came up with the idea and other details on the business.  Read “more” to see how you can score a sweet set of Zipps…
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A selection of the Zipp wheels available from RaceDay Wheels:
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BIKERUMOR: How did you come up with the idea for RaceDay Wheels?
MARC: About four years ago, I was racing as a professional triathlete and I had some friends ask if they could borrow some wheels at an event.  Afterward, we were talking about it and thought it would be a cool concept.  We rented our first wheels in 2005.
BIKERUMOR: How many wheelsets do you have available?
MARC: We started with just 25 sets of wheels.  We now have about 120 wheelsets.  We rent front and rear only, too, and they come with tires installed and ready to go, you just need to put on your own cassette.
BIKERUMOR: How do racers get their wheels?
MARC: They can pick them up at select events, which we list on our website, or we can ship them.  Shipping to the customer is included, but they need to return them at their own expense.  Ground shipping usually runs about $20.
BIKERUMOR: What are the choices?
MARC: Zipp wheels only, from the 404 all the way to the Sub-9 PowerTap disc wheels.
BIKERUMOR: How many rentals do you do per year?
MARC: We do around a thousand rental shipments per year.
BIKERUMOR: What’s the most popular rental?
MARC: Zipp’s 808 clincher.
BIKERUMOR: What’s the lifespan for a set of wheels in your program?
MARC: We buy all new wheels every year.  We’ll sell the rental wheels at anytime through the year, but at the end of the year all of them are sold.  We don’t list what’s for sell on the website because they go really quickly and we just can’t update it fast enough.  People should just contact us to see what’s available or if we have what they want.
BIKERUMOR: What kind of deals can someone get?
MARC: With the 808, we sell them around $1,600…new, they’d retail around $2,250.
You can reach Marc at marc@racedaywheels.com
