The Nest. That is what Zipp use to describe their top engineers. Tasked with improving all facets of Zipp's carbon clincher wheels, the team developed the NSW concept, which has reduced weight, improved aerodynamics, and introduced the Cognition hubset. Advancing Zipp's incredible Firecrest Carbon Clincher design was no small task, but NSW exceeded all hopes. With the release of the lighter, stronger, faster 202 NSW Carbon Clincher Wheels, the line-up is complete, and for climbers and attacking-style cyclists, the incredible acceleration, stability, and 1375 gram wheelset weight, the race is ON! Here we have the 202 NSW Carbon Clincher Front Wheel, a stunning 615 gram wonder that can even support riders up to 250 pound. Stunning.

By combining dozens of iterations using Computational Fluid Dynamics and hours upon hours in the wind tunnel, the Nest engineers incorporated improved aerodynamics, enhanced stability, industry leading braking performance, and reduced rolling friction. The 32mm deep 202 NSW Carbon Clincher Front Wheel was developed to be raced, but it is strong and resilient, with a smooth ride that makes this a great every day wheel. Training and racing on the same wheels equals incredible confidence and familiarity when the time comes to push the boundaries of performance. Clinchers make tire management simpler and more cost effective than tubulars. With it's lower profile incredible stability and ultra light weight, the 202 NSW can adeptly handle corners at high speed, and spins up immediately as you power out and upward. The internal width is 16.25mm, with a brake track width of 25.4mm, so carrying a tire from 23-28mm wide means you can maximize the tire/wheel aerodynamic relationship carried through the ABLC Sawtooth™ rim dimple patterning. This advanced NSW dimple design consists of 12 nodes that are precisely clocked to start aerodynamic shearing at a rate of 50hz at a rider speed of 20mph. Sawtooth accomplishes this by inducing small sheet vortices that shed at a low magnitude, but at a higher natural frequency, thus decreasing the laminar bubble effect on the aerodynamically shielded side of the rim’s profile to further reduce high yaw drag and improve crosswind stability while providing aerodynamic speed.

The hub design of the 202 NSW is also new. The set name is Cognition and while the real magic happens in the rear hub, the front hub was developed with a unique scalloped edge hubshell design that optimizes the stiffness of the lightweight alloy hub design to preserve the effective bearing bore diameter under load. It is hard to envision a hub shell flexing and reacting under high spoke tension, but it actually happens. In order to keep the Swiss steel bearings precisely in line with each other and the oversized alloy axle - for the lowest friction and resistance possible, the scalloped edges and even, high radial spoke tension, ensure the hub shape won't distort. This is type of detail that wins races and establishes record times. Every watt of energy conserved or gained through design saves valuable seconds. The Cognition front hub rolls faster for longer periods of time due to it's torsion defeating design and you can feel the difference when you are cornering under load or railing a switchback descent.

Zipp laces 18 Sapim® CX-Ray lightly bladed, straight pull steel spokes in the radial pattern via Sapim's SecureLock external nipples. With the spokes disappearing into the hub, the overall effect is visually and aerodynamically very clean. The carbon clincher rim can easily handle the high tension required, and the wheel can easily be trued in the traditional fashion. Zipp's clincher technology is well proven and has made clincher use for events not only feasible, but common with today's top clincher tires like the Zipp Tangente series.

Braking with carbon wheels is a huge consideration for racing cyclists in particular, and Zipp's outstanding Showstopper™ brake track offers unparalleled braking and heat management through pairing of a directional, molded-in, texture with silicon carbide particles suspended in the surface resin in a molded groove pattern. That pattern has been matched with the surface and cooling channels of the included Tangente Platinum Pro Evo brake pads for incredible stopping power in dry or soaking wet conditions, in any terrain. The leading edge of the pad and first two channels efficiently wipe water and debris outward, cleaning and drying the braking surface, while the second two channels have maximum interference as the grooves create greater braking force without heat build-up.

With the 202 NSW Carbon Clincher, Zipp provides their Tangente Black Titanium Skewer, the Tangente Platinum Pro Evo brake pads, a Zipp valve extender by Silca, 20mm rim tape, a Tangente tube, and an individual Zipp wheel bag. All of which is expected, of course. Just raise the bar a little higher, Zipp uses ImPress™ technology to apply graphics directly to the rim surface, giving the wheels an even stealthier appearance without mitigating the aerodynamics of the dimple structures. The NSW design has already been featured on race winning road and triathlon bikes. While every cyclist loves the idea of a 1375 gram wheelset, the 202 NSW is best ridden by lighter weight, attacking cyclists who can really take advantage in the mountains and rolling hills. All-rounders may be better suited to the 303 or 404 NSW wheels. Still, that Zipp can make such a lightweight all purpose road wheelset this light, with that 250lb weight limit says something truly important about top level engineering and quality. The 202 NSW is as impressive as it comes. Pick up this front wheel- careful it's light!, then grab the rear and start climbing and descending like you always dreamed.