Zipp 202 NSWs are back: Can Pidcock's new shallower wheels make you faster?

The original Zipp 202 wheels were legendary. Before disc brakes arrived, and for some while after, they were the undisputed kings of the lightweight out-of-a-box category. Now, years after the brand dropped the 202 in favour of the slightly deeper 303, the low-profile weight weenie has re-emerged, with a 1090g weight, and some key updates to bring the hoops up to date.

Back in March, I went to Chambéry in France, where SRAM (Zipp’s owner since 2007) invited the world’s press for a confidential look at its new take on its shallowest wheel in years, a brand new and redesigned 202 NSW.

Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) tested the 35mm rims around the same time, during the mountain stages of the Volta. No one seemed to notice, perhaps in part due to the British rider's unrelated exit from the race down a ravine. But even after that, the wheels failed to garner attention, perhaps, due to huge changes in the category over the past few years.

Data has repeatedly shown that aerodynamics trumps low weight when it comes to free speed, and so, the climbing wheels of 2026 no longer stand out for their skinny profile; the new 202 NSW is only 5mm shallower than the 303, a wheel plenty of riders would see as a perfectly normal middling-aero choice.

If you're after low weight, there are numerous Chinese brands now offering incredibly light setups with deep rims. So, you could be forgiven for questioning the relevance of this new wheelset in our aero-obsessed world, but after a short testing period, they certainly feel as relevant as ever to me.

Zipp 202: A wheel legend

To recap on the history of the Zipp 202, for a long time, nothing in the low-profile carbon wheel category was lighter or looked better. Crucially, nothing reasonably priced could even get close to that weight. Choosing the tubular version, as many riders did, meant you could have an aero-profiled (though very shallow) carbon wheelset with that coveted Zipp logo, adding only 1335g to your bike's weight.

The full-carbon rim had a brilliant, almost greenish, Kevlar-like sheen, and technical-looking golf-ball dimples. It wasn't perfect, though - while the finish looked brilliant when new, it was notoriously easy to damage, especially if you washed the wheels in direct sunlight. Once the finish was compromised, the damage was visible and permanent.

Despite some minor gripes, the wheels gained a huge following. Arguably, there's been a hole in Zipp’s disc-brake line-up since they dropped the wheels in favour of the slightly deeper 303. Trends changed, deeper rims became the fashion, and the 202 seemed resigned to history – until now.

Sidewinds matter in the real world

The use case behind these wheels was driven home in the changeable conditions and elevations of an Alpine ride in late March. While summer can certainly make an appearance, the weather is just as likely to revert to the deepest winter well before you get home. And that is exactly what happened after lunch on the first day of testing.

In driving, sideways sleet and rain, with a Force 9 gale blowing off the lake, 35mm aero wheels made complete and total sense.

A deeper rim might, in perfect conditions, always be faster. But, in the real world, greater rim depth comes with greater instability when crosswinds hit. Even at my modest forward speeds, where I would perhaps have been grateful for any perceived advantage such as that of a deeper rim, the one that mattered in this moment was as crystal clear as the waters of the previously calm lake next to me: my wheels were not remotely bothered by the now battering-ram sidewinds.

And for all the marketing claims we receive at wheel launches about the wattage savings offered by a deeper rim, an actual side wind is where aero wheels can often turn an unpleasant ride into an unmanageably scary one. But, the 202 just didn’t flinch. And that’s where I think Zipp might have another cult-hero in the making here. But there’s more to like than just their practicality in side winds.

High maintenance offering

As mentioned, at 35mm deep - 5mm less than the 303 - it’s the shallowest offering in Zipp’s lineup. The inner rim width measures 23mm, which is pretty wide, but not excessively so for a road wheel. It’s a TSS rim, which means it’s resolutely and absolutely hookless (more on that later).

The spokes are steel, specifically the lightweight Alpina Hyperlite J-bend and there’s a sensible number of them: 20 at both ends, laced in a conventional 2-cross pattern. The hubset is the German-engineered ZR1 SL. The hub uses a pawl system rather than a ratchet-style engagement, but it has 66 points of engagement and uses ceramic bearings.

I pressed the engineers about the bearing seals, and they are sticking with non-contact bearing seals for lower rolling resistance. Zipp insists that if you look after them well, they should give you no trouble, going on to tell me that their new hardened steel and ceramic bearing setup had been put through some incredibly gruelling tests, using salt water.

The engineers also agreed that neglecting servicing is a death sentence for this kind of setup, and it should not be considered "fit and forget."

Maintenance of this wheelset doesn't require any tools or particular mechanical skills, but it will need regular servicing. You can't ride these through a British winter, hose them down after every salty ride, and leave them to dry in the garage. Your bearing seal is essentially the grease that you put there, and it can’t keep the weather out when it’s been washed away.

Looking after bearings protected by non-contact seals (common in many wheels these days) is a doddle, especially here, in that the end caps just pop off. Add a smear of grease, pop them back on again, and off you go. But you really must get comfortable with doing that, or make sure you're making regular trips to your local bike mechanic, if you want to keep them running reliably and fuss-free.

The second thorny issue we discussed briefly during the product presentation, handled with a healthy and reassuring dose of honesty, is Zipp’s full and seemingly unending commitment to hookless rims, whereby there is no 'hook' to hold the tyre on. The system relies upon compatibility between tyre and rim, and correct tyre pressure being used.

Zipp has been on the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) board since it started, and it is clear it spends a lot of time ensuring set-ups are safe, pushing the need to improve tyres and education. Its commitment to safety was reassuring and crystal clear. However, the brand was emphatic that customers should pay attention to the detailed instructions about tyre compatibility, and not step outside of the advice. In this case, that does limit you to a 28 - 32mm tyre on this rim.

Speaking of tyres, the Goodyear Eagle F1 I’ve been riding on these wheels since I got back from France has been a solid performer. I’ve noticed no air loss, no cuts, and grip and response seems on par with the best tubeless road tyres and is equivalent to Pirelli P-Zero’s, very similar to a Continental GP5000’s – just very good really.

Even on flint strewn rural roads here in Norfolk. I last used these tyres on a Factor Monza earlier in the year, and had the same experience.

Lightweight but without the downsides

The real headline here, however, is, of course, the all-up weight. At just 1090g with tubeless tape and valves fitted – it’s impressive. But when you consider that this wheelset, with a practical wide rim and an aero section—albeit only 35mm—is properly laced with 20 steel spokes in both wheels with external nipples, it's a very different achievement in that context.

See, wheels have been getting much lighter since carbon spokes showed up. Carbon spokes, above all other technological developments in wheelbuilding, mean an 1100g wheelset isn’t even really a headline these days.

But you can’t get anything for free in engineering terms, and with composite spokes has come lots of complexity and anxiety about failure modes, reliability, and where you get hold of spares when you need them.

Worse, the biggest casualty in the carbon spoke revolution is the ride quality. Steel has properties that make it an excellent spoke material. Spokes need to be comfortable being stressed, under tension, and bouncing back from it, to absorb the loads that come at them when they’re managing the stresses that enter and exit the system.

Carbon spoke converts, Hunt and others I’ve spoken to, freely admit that to manage ride quality, and not lose that all-important connection with the ground that good steel-spoked wheels really do deliver—to give us grip, communication, and comfort—compromises have been made.

Carbon spokes are also wider than equivalent steel spokes, and as a result often less aero, so spoke counts have come down to meet those combined new challenges. And the place we’re at—so far—just can’t hold a candle to the ride quality of a well-built steel-spoked wheel.

Zipp, for now, is sticking with steel. But it won’t be long before they, too, succumb. The engineers told me that developing a good carbon spoke they have confidence in, “could take 14 months” a number so specific that it must be in development already. A shift must surely be on the horizon. For now, this wheelset could be the last bastion of sensible wheelbuilding.

Performance where it matters

While it’s probably an overstatement to argue that this wheelset is, in fact, the last bastion of anything, it’s right up there on paper for its sheer common-sense specs. And it’s out on the road where it all really comes together.

Out of the saddle, these wheels are solid performers, even with me on board at a very wintery 93kg. They lack the noise and 'zawooomph' that a deeper section wheelset makes, but you quickly get over that when you realise what you’ve been missing out on in terms of stability and responsiveness.

These wheels spin up like a flyweight wheel does, but they also sit stably in the dropouts, front and rear, no matter what you do to them. Just like proper wheels should. You don’t get any sensations of the lateral instability that overly rigid wheels can deliver. This isn't a typo. Highly tensioned wheels with fewer spokes are—generally speaking—less stable laterally, which is a more common problem now with lesser-spoked wheels that use spokes that don't yield.

There is none of that insecurity here, just a sense of connection with the road. After a season or two of riding so many carbon-spoked wheels, it really is refreshing and tangible just how nicely a well-built steel-spoked wheel rides, especially when, in this case, there's no argument against the weight.

Aero performance isn't something my nose, elbow, or years of designing bike stuff can detect, but I can tell you these new 202s don’t feel slow anywhere. I didn’t once feel like I was missing something deeper.

On Zipp’s 454 profile, you're going up to 54mm front and 58mm at the back, and there's presumably a measurable saving there as the depth gets much higher. But here, I don’t think you’re paying for your watts with your hard-earned grams to anywhere near the extent the marketing folk might have you think at a deep-section wheels launch. The pay-back is in that ride quality, which, like it or not, hardly anyone can deliver now because of those pesky carbon spokes. Not yet at least.

So is shallower better?

Whether or not that matters in this aero-obsessed world—where common sense is written off like bank losses for those who still chase the irrelevant marginal gains over the ones that will actually make their riding experience better—is another question. For now, this is a bloody brilliant wheelset.

I will spend some more miles on these wheels, ahead of a long term review. I particularly want to test their longer-term viability in our showery and salty rubbishness, away from the perfect French roads where I first dated this wheelset, just to check this isn't a holiday romance I later live to regret.

But for now, back home, the honeymoon period is still in full swing.

For me, Zipp has done something remarkable for the weight. It’s made wheels that are thoroughly sensible, brilliant in side winds, and feel wickedly responsive and fast everywhere. There are zero downsides for the common-or-garden rider, like you and me, all for only 1090g a set.

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