New Used Zipp Wheels Price Guide

Awesome, thanks for this.  Might get flagged as promotion for a site but this is a helpful resource to someone like me who will be in the market for these soon but doesn't know really anything.

Great timing.  Actually, a day late, but still helpful.  I just picked up a used set of 404's yesterday.  They were advertised as 2009's, but now I see they are probably 2008's by looking at the hubs.  Although these supposedly were issued to a team and didnt come with stickers.  Not sure if there are other differences for team issued 404's. 






Edited by mjengstrom 2011-01-26 12:00 PM

Ya frankly I forget to check the rules before posting but hopefully it can stay.  I am really looking forward to helping out consumers in understanding what they are buying.  I am tired of seeing individuals screw over their fellow athletes.  And I am tired of people making excuses that they didn't know the true information about their wheels.

You should really be proactive about what you are getting.  I know it is a little late but I don't think it is rude to ask for a refund of $50 a wheel or something.  I have approached a few blatant sellers with a helping attitude about their errors and most just disregard my advice.   Most comment "well it is an expensive item and buyers will do the research"  the problem is there is so mis-information it is almost impossible for consumers to know the truth.

Hopefully you can point the next buyer or seller you meet to the guide so wheels can be listed more accurately and buyers can bid more accordingly.

Cheers,

Electus

I only paid $850 and they came with wheel bags, cassette and tires so I wasnt too upset when I realized they were 2008's.  I really dont think the previous owner knew they were not 2009.  I also didnt have to pay shipping (local pickup).  They are also low mileage (~1200).

$850 is a good price even if they are 2008 wheels.  Keep in mind they could also be 2005, 2006, or 2007 as well.  Look at the free hub cassette body color for ruling out 2005 wheels.  If it is silver it is 2005, if it is blue or red then it is at least 06-08.

I'm a little curious how much you account for mileage with these.  I know you say they are tough, and I know the seller will probably lie, but there should be some premium associated with that, no?

Honestly Zipp wheels are pretty bomp-proof.  I ride 404s everyday - the bearings are either smooth or gritty.  I would ask buyers how the bearing feels.  I'm not saying mileage isn't important but like you said, how honest are the sellers in the first place?  If sellers are lying about the year of the wheel, they are almost certainly lying about the mileage as well.  I'm not sure there is much loss is value from say 200 miles to 5000 miles.  When you get above 5,000 it might be something to pay more attention to. 

From my experience riding conditions really matter more than anything.  Early season use when salt is still on the ground, or if they are being used for cyclocross where conditions can be pretty dirty then you might have some gritty bearings from wear and tear a litttle faster.  But here again it is better to ask about condition.  You could have bearings go bad after 500 miles, 5,000, or maybe even 50,000 miles.

With all that being said there might be a slight premium for wheels with lets say <200 miles.  In this case they might be worth more towards the higher end of the range given or even slightly above the range but nothing extreme.  You can pretty much assume 60% depreciation once they are "taken off the lot".



Edited by electusunus 2011-01-26 10:59 PM

They have red hubs so they are at least 2006.  Any other tips to see if they are 2006-2008?  There is a small sticker with a bar code on it.  I wonder if you can look it up somewhere.

Couple of questions....

How did you determine what fair price was for the different Zipps?

I don't see a mention of the difference in hubs depending if the Zipps were part of a bike package vs. just wheels. Many bike manufacturer sell Zipps with their bikes but use different parts I know hubs can be different not sure about the spokes than the standard Zipps you'd buy.

Kathy,

Hi and thanks for the question.   I used completed auctions of normal in good condition wheels and then threw out the top and bottom 10% of auctions in terms of prices.

As for Zipp's with different hubs - it is pretty uncommon at least based on a volume to have Zipp rims laced to non-Zipp hubs.  As far as price goes it definitely hurts resale value of the wheels IMO and makes it harder to find a buyer.  With that being said I think I will add a section about non-default spokes and hubs to the site.  Zipp uses the gold-standard for spokes - Sapim spokes - anything else should certainly hurt resale value as well.

Cheers,

Electus

Well the 2008 rims - the ones with the new carbon bridging technology had rainbow decals placed on them to identify them but the decal could be purchased separately.  You could always contact Zipp with the serial number on the wheel and they should be able to tell you what year rim it is.  It is obviously the 2006-2008 hub based on freehub body color.

Cheers,

Electus

When I was buying a new tri bike last spring. I looked at Felt, Specialized, Cervelo and ended up with an Orbea. A couple of shops pointed out that the hubs on Zipp 404s were not standard Zipp hubs on Felts is one I recall but a couple of the other bigger brand bikes had 'custom' version on Zipp 404s to match the bike with stickers but they also had less expensive hubs on them.

Thanks for the info about the price and how you calculated it.

Likewise thanks for the info on manufacturers selling Zipps with other hubs.  It does make some sense though as most people look at the Zipp rims and not the hubs.  Manufacturers probably just buy the Zipp rims and then lace them to  non-zipp hubs to save money.

I'm assuming that's the case in the 2006 Felt B2?

http://www.bikepedia.com/quickbike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=2006&Brand=Felt&Model=B2&Type=bike

Even though it's an 06, according to your website it seems to be using 2005 era hubs (84/202). 

Or to install a PowerTap hub.  TW

Ya I remember that Felt back in the day and I almost thought about getting one because it came with Zipps and was very cheap for a new bike.  My guess is part of the reason why they offered those wheels was because they bought a large selection on close-out from Zipp as they were being discontinued.  That is just a guess at the situation, but back then you didn't see tri bikes with Zipps for that price.  But yes those wheels are the old 84/202 hub which is older than than the 82/182 hubs and 88/188 hubs.

You see the same sort of thing in the following current bike.  Those are 2008 carbon Zipps even though the bike is a 2009 model on close-out as a 2010 model.

Kestrel w/404

I talked to Zipp and based on the rainbow sticker above the valve and the red freehub color, it was thought to be 2008, but based on SN, they believe my rim was actually molded between January and April of 2007 – but there is no easy way to determine when the wheel was built, but guessing 2 months later at most.  This most likely means it was a 2007.  It sounds like it is not easy to really determine what year a wheel is and there are many many factors that can add to the complexity.  I am still happy with my purchase, but do feel a little more swindled.  Although, who knows, maybe the original buyer was also told it was newer than it was.

I think you still got a good deal.  Hopefully the guide will keep buyers and sellers more knowledgeable.  With all the miss information by sellers, buyers then become misinformed, and the cycle repeats.  I think you made a good point.  If you are ever in doubt about what you are buying ask the seller what the serial number is and contact Zipp.  The only problem is the serial number is under the sticker if I recall correctly - I always take the stickers off my wheels and it has been so long since I had pair that I can't seem to remember now.

Yes I am working on discs but still working on collecting data.  Sorry to say though that 808s will be done first.  Simply a matter of getting enough of a sample size to make things accurate.  As a general rule keep to not paying more than 60% of retail.  Unless you score a major deal on a 900 I wouldn't look at the 900 and would instead look at the Sub-9/Super 9.

Quick question.  When you say 60% of retail, where do you find retail?  Average of prices online, LBS, or MSRP?  Just wondering.
This is a wonderful guide, thanks.
Mark

Buckshot,

Thanks for the question. I took retail prices from the actual MSRP from Zipp to dealers.  In the case of the older wheels I went back and researched the old prices thru the Internet Archive.  As you can see from say 2005, Zipp wheels have experienced a considerable rise in premium.