Are expensive carbon wheels worth it?

We pitted Zipp's 303s 'budget' carbon wheels against the 353 NSW – coming in at three times the price. Just how big is the difference?

Carbon wheel head to head
(Image credit: Future)

With some upgrades, the gains are obvious and immediate. Swap out a heavy, hard-wearing urban tyre with some supple race-ready rubber and you'll instantly notice the difference. On the other hand, aero gains of various TT helmets are somewhat more subtle, requiring highly controlled testing to identify the top performers.

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Header Cell - Column 0 Zipp 303sZipp 353 NSW
Price£1,050.00£3,200
Weight (with tape, no valves)1,544g1,308g
Depth45mm45mm (at the deepest point)
Internal rim width23mm25mm
External rim width27mm30mm
Hubset76 / 176 DBCognition V2
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Header Cell - Column 0 Zipp 303sZipp 353 NSW
Average power279w282w
Average speed36.8 kph36.0 kph
Time17:5718:20
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Header Cell - Column 0 Zipp 303sZipp 353 NSW
Average power 369w369w
Time6:346:37

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Stefan Abram
Tech features editor

After winning the 2019 National Single-Speed Cross-Country Mountain Biking Championships and claiming the plushie unicorn (true story), Stefan swapped the flat-bars for drop-bars and has never looked back. 

Since then, he’s earnt his 2ⁿᵈ cat racing licence in his first season racing as a third, completed the South Downs Double in under 20 hours and Everested in under 12.

But his favourite rides are multiday bikepacking trips, with all the huge amount of cycling tech and long days spent exploring new roads and trails - as well as histories and cultures. Most recently, he’s spent two weeks riding from Budapest into the mountains of Slovakia

Height: 177cm

Weight: 67–69kg