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Zipp 353 NSW Tubeless hookless wheels are lightest, most versatile yet with ultra wide rim!

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless wheels, ultra-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless carbon disc brake road bike wheelset
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Zipp’s Nest Speed Weaponry lab spins out a new top-tier with all-new carbon 353 NSW Tubeless Disc Brake wheels, balancing all-around road bike aerodynamics in Zipp’s lightest-ever tubeless wheelset. With an undulating 45mm deep Sawtooth profile & signature Zipp dimples, the 353 NSW promises unmatched aerodynamic gains, crosswind stability, and a complete wheelset weight of just 1255g, and a $4000 price tag!

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless disc brake road bike wheelset

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless wheels, ultra-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless carbon disc brake road bike wheelset, rim detail

Zipp opts for a super-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless rim profile that will likely widen out most road bike tires and make the 353 NSW quite all-road friendly. But at the same time, that will somewhat limit what road tires can be safely fitted to these wheels. According to Zipp, after a meeting last November, the ETRTO agreed on a range of tire sizes for compatibility based on rim size. That updated range lists the compatible tire sizes for a 25mm internal width rim as 28-65mm. That means Zipp doesn’t recommend tire sizes smaller than 28mm on the 353 NSW.

When it comes to what tires are compatible their rims, Zipp states that the wheels are capable of running any ETRTO compliant tire within that given size range. Tire makers can state that they don’t want their tires used on hookless rims, but as far as Zipp is concerned, if it’s an ETRTO compliant tubeless tire, it’s good to go.

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless wheels, ultra-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless carbon disc brake road bike wheelset, riding
all photos c. ZIPP

But hold up. Isn’t this a road wheel? It is. But only for 28mm tires and larger? Also yes. The reason comes down to Zipp’s research into everything that makes a rider faster on the road. For the longest time, companies really only focused on aerodynamics. But as it turns out, wattage lost to road vibration can range up to 40-50 watts – far more than the aero gains moving from a 28mm to a 25mm tire. Bottom line, Zipp says that “bigger tires are faster.”

Zipp also claims that the wide hookless rim is “integral to achieving our mission of Making You Faster”, as it ensures a smooth, more aero transition from rim profile to tire profile. Zipp says this is part of their Total System Efficiency (TSE) technology approach to allow wider tires with lower pressure for a combination of reduced aerodynamic drag and reduced rolling resistance.

Being a hookless rim, these wheels are only compatible with tubeless road tires – but that doesn’t mean they’re not compatible with tubes. As long as you run a tubeless tire for the necessary tire bead, you can run tubes all you want. So you can either skip tubeless all together, or run a tube in case of emergency.

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless wheels, ultra-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless carbon disc brake road bike wheelset, tire compatibility

The wide hookless design will also mean tires may run wider than the numbers on the sidewall. Zipp states that each tire size has a designated rim width for measurement purposes. For a tire to be labeled 28mm, it must measure 28mm wide on a 19mm internal width rim. But for every 1mm increase in inner rim width, tires will usuall increase in size by 0.4mm on average. We may see road tires designed with wider rim widths in mind in the future, but for now, expect tires to run large.

Aero Carbon Tech details

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless wheels, ultra-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless carbon disc brake road bike wheelset, riding

Zipp again uses their biomimicry Sawtooth profile to cut through the wind, aided by their vortex-inducing Hyperfoil depth variation & HexFin ABLC dimples. Together you get the aero benefits of the full 45mm depth, with lower weight, increased stiffness, and lower impact from crosswinds.

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless wheels, ultra-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless carbon disc brake road bike wheelset, rim tech

The hookless design also helps Zipp better distribute resin in their carbon layup making the wheels lighter. And the hookless design is also inherently more impact resistant making the wheels more durable.

 

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless wheels, ultra-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless carbon disc brake road bike wheelset, Cognition v2 hubs
updated  Cognition v2 hubs

The new 353 NSW wheels are laced with 24 aero spokes around Zipp’s latest 12mm thru-axle centerlock disc Cognition V2 hubs, with a new updated Axial Clutch V2 freehub claiming faster engagement, lower internal friction, and longer durability.

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless – Pricing & availability

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless wheels, ultra-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless carbon disc brake road bike wheelset, pair

The new Zipp 353 NSW tubeless disc brake wheels are available now individually and apparently in very limited quantities (remember: bike industry supply crunch, act fast on everything new), all with low-key gray/black direct-print graphics. Front wheels sell for $1800 / 1600€ with a claimed weight of 580g. Rear wheels sell for $2200 / 2000€ in either Shimano HG or SRAM XDR freehub bodies and a claimed weight of 675g. Campagnolo freehub bodies are available separately. All wheels include a Zipp Lifetime warranty.

Zipp 353 NSW tubeless wheels, ultra-wide 25mm internal hookless tubeless carbon disc brake road bike wheelset, blur

Zipp.com

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12 Comments
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tubeofcaulk
3 years ago

Heads up: ENVE uses a hookless profile on the 3.4 AR (which your linked article verifies).

Just a nerd trying to keep it all straight. Great stuff, tho!

Cheers!

Sevo
Sevo
3 years ago

Excited to hear campy freehubs will be available. Safe to assume the Ekar freehub body is going to be supported? Or ???

Bastien
Bastien
3 years ago
Reply to  Sevo

Hey Jon, Bastien here. Sorry, no – only the traditional Campy driver will be available at this time.

Involuntary Soul
Involuntary Soul
3 years ago

only $4000? way too cheap

O. Tan
3 years ago

I guess we’ll eventually see Hunt wheels going back to hookless and getting similar weights as these at half the price.

drlequack
3 years ago
Reply to  O. Tan

You can already spec out a similarly light wheelset using LightBicycle WR45 flyweight rims, Carbon-Ti hubs and CX-Super spokes at about a third of the price (1300USD). I believe the total comes out to around 1260-1270 grams.

blahnblahblah
blahnblahblah
3 years ago

fins of a humpback whale, biomimicry… how about an SR 71 just a bit faster than a whale

WorkOnSunday
WorkOnSunday
3 years ago

nice! interesting 5 bearings arrangement in the rear hub. four of which look quite big too. i.e. the hub must be heavy-ish, which makes the overall weight even more impressive. the 303FC article mentioned how much the rim weight, i wonder how much the rims weigh here. The 303FC is already super stable in cross wind (i had mine for 6 months and found it hard to imagine it can be even more stable), which leads to me to think, may be i should re-lace mine with carbon-ti hubs and keep 1500usd, or sell them and go for nsw… hmmm…

gregoryvanthomas
3 years ago
Reply to  WorkOnSunday

I count four bearings in the rear.
SRAM updating and “upgrading” their Zipp hubs even more often than they update their disc brakes. Not a good sign.

Bastien @ Sram
Bastien @ Sram
3 years ago
Reply to  WorkOnSunday

Hey guys – there was a mistake with those renders, our apologies. Our Cognition hub uses 4 bearings in the rear, and only one on the non-drive side. The render has been updated on the post above, sorry again for the confusion.
For background, Cognition hubs with Axial Clutch technology have been used on all NSW wheels for over 5 years now. The new Axial Clutch is very similar to previous, using 2 ratchet rings. Only the spring system is evolving, from magnets to a simpler, more robust wave spring using Sylomer.

Maxim
Maxim
3 years ago

I wonder at what speed, watts produced and surface conditions the Zipp estimates were ‘calculated’.
If my weak legs produce 300W @ftp and I waste 40-50 W to road vibrations… I’m going to cry.

But as my wattage corresponds nicely with speed I guess Zipp is ‘lying’, i.e. extrapolating from a 90 kg+ rider on an italian pothole disaster going 45 kph+ 🙂

Bastien @ Sram
Bastien @ Sram
3 years ago
Reply to  Maxim

Hello Maxim – those numbers were measured in the lab, using our Rolling Road test. You can head to zipp.com and check our Total System Efficiency page to see the test in action. At the bottom of the page, you can also download a white paper that explains the technology in details, the conditions of this test, and how we arrived at those conclusions.

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