Zipp 454

Zipp 454 Review

Zipp 454 is the wheelset with the highly sought-after Sawtooth profile. This profile simultaneously lowers drag and side force. Along with Sawtooth, Zipp 454 wheels incorporate a whole host of difficult to pronounce techniques intended to make you go faster. There are plenty of aero wheel brands that help you speed in a straight line with minimal drag. What’s unique about the Zipp 454 wheels is that they can also help you have more control in the crosswind, which most cyclists know is tricky. Zipp 454’s latest editions, like NSW, is quite adept at this.

Zipp 454 design is inspired by natural shapes that gather speed in the wild. The overall design is made to be highly efficient, meaning these wheels have less aero drag or buffeting than most brands. Thanks to the Sawtooth shape and ideal weight distribution, you won’t find yourself correcting course on crosswind, as you would with a standard set of wheels. The jagged Sawtooth design is inspired by whales to tackle windy conditions. The NSW even has fin-shaped nodes inside the rim mimicking whale technique swimming against the tide. The latest Zipp 454 also have sets of hexagonal dimples on the rim side. They increase the vortex shedding frequency, which prevents buffeting in the crosswind.

Zipp says it works on each one of these wheelsets for over 200 hours at the factory. It may actually be true considering the effectiveness of the final result. This amount of work does not come cheap, so you will have to be willing to spend a bit of money to get your hands on a superb Zipp aero bike. For example, the latest Zipp 454 NSW costs $4,000.

The Verdict

Zipp 454 is a highly sought-after set of wheels by speeders. These wheels sport the claimed Sawtooth profile design.

If you are willing to spend some money on a wheelset, this should be one of your top choices.