Built a wheel with ZIPP's QUICK-V250 rim.
↑These are the rims. Both are 24H.
These are from around 2004, and
ZIPP's 700C tubular rims back then were
QUICK-V250 (rim height 24.8mm),
MID-V280 (38mm),
DEEP-V360 (58mm)
and these were also the rims on their 202, 303, and 404 complete wheels respectively at the time.
The number after the V is the catalog weight.
I know the history of these—
one came off a 202, and the other is a bare rim.
They're the same except for the sticker around the valve hole.
With the MID-V280 from back then,
the maximum specified spoke tension was incredibly low—around 80 kgf.
On the rear wheel, even if you tension the freewheel side to the limit,
the non-freewheel side only reaches about 60 kgf.
Obviously you can't build a decent wheel that loose,
so you'd try to tension it higher, but doing that
could cause the nipples to bite through the rim.
You'd never see that with current ZIPP or other carbon rims,
but back then the quality was genuinely poor and temperamental.
A lot of veteran cyclists still have the impression
that ZIPP rims are weak or that the wheels are loose.
The reason for this maximum spoke tension spec is unclear, but
the values differed depending on spoke shape (round or flat section),
so as a workaround we'd sometimes build with round spokes on just one side.
Back then we used Revolution and CX-RAY, so
we built them with the same diameter on both sides (or rather, same weight distribution),
but when I switched the combination to Competition and CX-RAY,
the discomfort I felt then became one of the seeds
for what I'm doing now with semi-comp and other left-right mixed-diameter builds.
The successor to the MID-V280 was the MID-V285, which had
a rounded rim side (inner side of the brake zone)
that made it stronger against buckling,
but it didn't solve the problem of not being able to tension spokes higher.
From the next model onward, dimple processing was applied,
which improved rim strength and allowed decent tensioning.
When I write "dimple processing was applied → rim strength increased,"
it reads like there's a strong connection between the two,
but there really isn't.
Starting with the dimple-processed models,
they just made the rim much heavier for its height.
The 303 up through the MID-V285 was among the market's lightest
carbon rims in the 40mm height range,
but the later models became ordinary weight.
The shift in philosophy and the adoption of dimple processing
just happened at the same time.
The dimple processing didn't make them stronger.
Getting heavier made them stronger.
If we go by catalog weight,
MID-V285 / 38mm height / 285g
is competitive with
EDGE1-45 / 45mm height / 275g
that came after it.
Recently they went back to external nipples, but
for a while after the MID-V285,
the rims had internal nipple construction
because they were spooked by nipple bite-through.
As for this QUICK-V250, somehow it allows building at higher tension
than the MID-V280 from the same period.
This is because the resin impregnating the carbon differs from ZIPP's traditional formula,
and it's red-colored, making the entire rim red.
This red rim appeared only this once—
202 rims after this became slightly taller in height
and heavier in weight specification.
↑Actual measured weight came to 268g and 267g,
but I've also confirmed examples as light as 254g,
so these are slightly heavy specimens.
They don't match the EDGE 1-25 early model's claimed 195g / actual 208g,
but they're lighter than the current ENVE 1-25.
Current ZIPP 202 rims measure around 300g, so
these are the lightest rims in ZIPP history.
Built.The customer wants to show it off at an event on Awaji Island, so I've got tires on them.
The front wheel—not an Evo Lite hub, but deliberately an Evo hub—
laced with CX-RAY outpoke radial.
↑Actual measured weight before tires.
The current 202 wheel is 18H spoke spec at a claimed 495g,
so the rim weight difference is clear.
I did some math—if this wheel were 18H instead of 24H,
it'd be about 435g with minus roughly 28g.
I wanted to do semi-comp on the rear, but
went all CX-RAY for weight savings.
Hmm... yeah, the non-freewheel side tension really is better with semi-comp.
The lacing pattern is 4x6 with reinforcement threading.
The current ZIPP 202 is also 24H at a claimed 620g.
I used an Evo Lite hub on the rear,
but since ZIPP's rear hub is about 40g lighter,
with the tradeoff in outer weight,
the overall weight is about the same.
More my own whim than the customer's request,
but I went with red aluminum nipples.
↑These are the rims. Both are 24H.
These are from around 2004, and
ZIPP's 700C tubular rims back then were
QUICK-V250 (rim height 24.8mm),
MID-V280 (38mm),
DEEP-V360 (58mm)
and these were also the rims on their 202, 303, and 404 complete wheels respectively at the time.
The number after the V is the catalog weight.
I know the history of these—
one came off a 202, and the other is a bare rim.
They're the same except for the sticker around the valve hole.
With the MID-V280 from back then,
the maximum specified spoke tension was incredibly low—around 80 kgf.
On the rear wheel, even if you tension the freewheel side to the limit,
the non-freewheel side only reaches about 60 kgf.
Obviously you can't build a decent wheel that loose,
so you'd try to tension it higher, but doing that
could cause the nipples to bite through the rim.
You'd never see that with current ZIPP or other carbon rims,
but back then the quality was genuinely poor and temperamental.
A lot of veteran cyclists still have the impression
that ZIPP rims are weak or that the wheels are loose.
The reason for this maximum spoke tension spec is unclear, but
the values differed depending on spoke shape (round or flat section),
so as a workaround we'd sometimes build with round spokes on just one side.
Back then we used Revolution and CX-RAY, so
we built them with the same diameter on both sides (or rather, same weight distribution),
but when I switched the combination to Competition and CX-RAY,
the discomfort I felt then became one of the seeds
for what I'm doing now with semi-comp and other left-right mixed-diameter builds.
The successor to the MID-V280 was the MID-V285, which had
a rounded rim side (inner side of the brake zone)
that made it stronger against buckling,
but it didn't solve the problem of not being able to tension spokes higher.
From the next model onward, dimple processing was applied,
which improved rim strength and allowed decent tensioning.
When I write "dimple processing was applied → rim strength increased,"
it reads like there's a strong connection between the two,
but there really isn't.
Starting with the dimple-processed models,
they just made the rim much heavier for its height.
The 303 up through the MID-V285 was among the market's lightest
carbon rims in the 40mm height range,
but the later models became ordinary weight.
The shift in philosophy and the adoption of dimple processing
just happened at the same time.
The dimple processing didn't make them stronger.
Getting heavier made them stronger.
If we go by catalog weight,
MID-V285 / 38mm height / 285g
is competitive with
EDGE1-45 / 45mm height / 275g
that came after it.
Recently they went back to external nipples, but
for a while after the MID-V285,
the rims had internal nipple construction
because they were spooked by nipple bite-through.
As for this QUICK-V250, somehow it allows building at higher tension
than the MID-V280 from the same period.
This is because the resin impregnating the carbon differs from ZIPP's traditional formula,
and it's red-colored, making the entire rim red.
This red rim appeared only this once—
202 rims after this became slightly taller in height
and heavier in weight specification.
↑Actual measured weight came to 268g and 267g,
but I've also confirmed examples as light as 254g,
so these are slightly heavy specimens.
They don't match the EDGE 1-25 early model's claimed 195g / actual 208g,
but they're lighter than the current ENVE 1-25.
Current ZIPP 202 rims measure around 300g, so
these are the lightest rims in ZIPP history.
Built.
The front wheel—not an Evo Lite hub, but deliberately an Evo hub—
laced with CX-RAY outpoke radial.
↑Actual measured weight before tires.
The current 202 wheel is 18H spoke spec at a claimed 495g,
so the rim weight difference is clear.
I did some math—if this wheel were 18H instead of 24H,
it'd be about 435g with minus roughly 28g.
I wanted to do semi-comp on the rear, but
went all CX-RAY for weight savings.
Hmm... yeah, the non-freewheel side tension really is better with semi-comp.
The lacing pattern is 4x6 with reinforcement threading.
The current ZIPP 202 is also 24H at a claimed 620g.
I used an Evo Lite hub on the rear,
but since ZIPP's rear hub is about 40g lighter,
with the tradeoff in outer weight,
the overall weight is about the same.
More my own whim than the customer's request,
but I went with red aluminum nipples.