Zipp 404 Demo and Review

Zipp 404's on my Cervelo R5

Yesterday, May 16, 2012 I had the chance to demo a set of Zipp 404's at Cycling Concepts in Rocky Hill, CT...Thanks Dave!  I usually ride on a set of Shimano Dura Ace 7900 C24's, so this was in stark contrast.  I decided to skip the usual group ride and ride out on a ride that would include some hills, turns and long flats, about 20 miles.  I wanted to see what the Zipps could do at my pace, as I ride a very unothodox style, meaning slow on hills and fast on flats. 

My first few miles were relatively flat going down Coles Rd.  The initial ride was smooth, but a bit louder than I am used to.  The wheels hum as they spin, and growl when coasting.  My DA's are quiet, and the free hub is silent, although they were quieter than a comparable pair of Cosmic Carbones that my brother has.  Spinning them up was a bit of a chore, but once rolling were easy to maintain a cadence.  Once on my first hill, I found it harder than normal to get rolling after a stop light in the middle of the hill, and had to go slower than normal up a familiar grade.  Spinning up the rollers on Ridgewood was nice, as they did not want to slow down, but making the corner at the bottom of the decent was difficult.  The larger flange on the 404's did not want to go immediately the way I pointed them, and almost took me off the road, (my first corner on them).  Coming down Country Club Rd was fun, and cresting a short hill was effortless. 

The 404's really shined coming back down route 3 into Cromwell, and I was able to keep a speed over 20 mph all the way down, ( most of this section was at around 25 mph).  This is when I think the extra wide rims really strut their stuff, over 20 mph.  I had to use alot less effort to maintain a cadence on the flats. 
Final impressions: If I was riding a lot of time trials, or riding in Rhode Island/Florida all the time, I would probably be inclined to buy the Zipp 404's, but with the hills in Central CT, I will stick to the Nimble DA's.  My DA's spin up quickly, corner like a dream, roll smoothly over any surface, (being tubeless helps), and are extremely strong as they are able to hold up my 250+ body without any trouble.(I could not say this last bit about my DA 7850 scandiums, as they came out of true all the time). 

Thanks again to the Men at Cycling Concepts for allowing me to Demo these great Zipp 404 Wheels!