Zipp saw in the disc wheel revolution a chance to improve their offerings, and they ran with it. Their 303 NSW Disc Tubeless Clincher is not merely a rim brake wheel laced to a disc brake hub, but a complete revision of the wheelset, improving both aerodynamics and function.

The 303 is generally seen as a mid-depth rim. It fits in the sweet spot of light weight and aero. It’s for this reason that it might be the most versatile Zipp rim depth. It is deep enough to be fast when racing down a smooth road, but it’s light enough to climb well, and balance means it is also good for cyclocross, and gravel grinding. The depth is such that even small riders won’t be concerned about crosswinds pushing them around.

Zipp’s work was first, and most importantly, done on the rim. Thanks to the braking occurring at the hub, they continued their SawTooth dimple pattern all the way to the edge of the rim. As you should know by now, SawTooth is a design of indents molded into the outside rim walls that is comprised of twelve nodes. These are designed to start working for you at speeds of 20mph and then work better when faster. They essentially change the behavior of the wind around the rim to negate side wind pressure on the rim in crosswinds, thus making the wheel more stable at high speeds.

They also tweaked the rim shape, keeping the 45mm depth, but increasing the max width of the rim to 28.9mm. The result is that the tire width that is most aerodynamic is 28mm. You can go wider for rough- and off-road adventures, but probably won’t want to go narrower than 25mm.

The interior of the rim has been changed as well. the internal width is 21mm, and the side walls have ridges that help hold the tire in place when pressure is low. This is to improve the interface with tubeless tire beads. No burps when running wide tires at low pressures. Factory-applied tubeless rim tape finishes the rim package. You can run tubed tires as well; you’ll just need to remove the valve stem from the rim.

Thanks to the need to make the rim sidewalls strong enough to handle the pressure of clincher tires, these carbon rims are super-strong. Stronger than aluminum rims, so worry not about their durability. They are race light, but training wheel tough.

Sapim CX-Ray J-Bend spokes are used both front and rear to lace the rim to the hub. These spokes are light, aero, and stiff. 24 spokes, two-cross, both front and rear.

These NSW wheels utilize Zipp’s Cognition hubs. The front features scalloped flanges for the spoke beds. J-bend spokes resist the twisting forces disc-braking can put on spokes. This results in less pressure on the spokes, increasing lateral stiffness and durability. The rear has a pawl design with an Axial Clutch, which reduces pawl drag by 50% when coasting, and with a 36-tooth engagement, you’re driving the wheel the moment you start pedaling.

The disc-mounting method is Centerlock only. Lock ring not included. The hubs come with Zipp’s Tangente quick release skewers as well as hand-removable end caps to fit 100x12mm and 100x15mm thru-axles in front and 142x12mm rear thru-axles.

The wheels weigh in at 1530g per set, 720g in front, 810g in back.

The wheels, sold separately as front and rear, also come with a wheel bag, a Zipp tubeless valve factory-installed, valve core removal tool, Zipp Cognition Oil, and a freehub body spacer to take the 11-speed hub down to 10-speed if you need. The single wheel bags can be secured together if you have a pair. You can choose between a SRAM/Shimano and Campagnolo 11-speed cassette body, and a SRAM XD-R driver can be swapped in.

With the option to customize the Zipp logo in seven different colors, these wheels can be personalized to match perfectly with your bike. The Zipp 303 NSW Disc Tubeless Clincher is the all-rounder you want on your disc brake road, gravel, and cyclocross cross bike.