Zipp’s New Wheels Are Fast—But the Real Innovation Is Inside the Rim

Zipp just released a new pair of wheels, and not only are these wheels fast, but they also include a level of integration with electronics that we haven't seen before. This tech is yet another example of SRAM not only innovating, but more importantly, innovating in a direction where they are uniquely optimized for. In doing so, they further the gap between them and their nearest competition.

Ten years ago, there were few options for high-performance wheelsets. Only companies such as Zipp, Enve, and Hed were producing wheels that were good enough for consideration. This gave these companies the ability to maintain high prices and good margins. However, in recent years, there has been a lot more competition from lots of companies who are able to provide alternatives with similar performance. This has driven down the price of all carbon wheelsets. This increase in competition is a positive thing for cyclists; today we have more choices and lower prices than we did back when there were only a few brands to choose from.

Unlike the consumers, the legacy companies like Zipp are less excited about the increase in competition. Each year, when new products are announced, the gap between what Zipp is offering for $3,000+ for and what competitors are selling for $1,000–1,500 is getting smaller and smaller.

After years of watching their position in the market deteriorate, Zipp finally released an innovation which is something that is new, unique, and challenging to copy. In doing so, they now have something that is unique and they can use that to protect their premium price and margin.

So what is this innovation? This new piece of tech is a tire pressure sensor that is built into the rim and can provide a live reading of tire pressures. The sensor has an LED light that can alert you if your tire pressures fall outside of a preset range, or it can also pair with a bike computer so that you can see exactly what PSI your tires are at in real time. This will put the worries of cyclists to bed—no more worrying, wondering if your tires have gone a little soft mid-ride.

This sensor notably integrates into the larger SRAM AXS ecosystem, allowing for it to be controlled by the same app that the user uses to make changes to their drivetrain or other SRAM AXS products. This level of integration is something that Zipp can uniquely offer and gives them an advantage over any other competitor who is making a competing option.

In my opinion, this product is not necessarily super game-changing from the rider’s perspective. However, it is still a great step for Zipp because it adds another aspect to what their product offers. For me, what excites me more is the prospect for the future; we have already seen some systems that can inflate/deflate tires while riding. I would not be surprised if we see Zipp come out with a system like this; and imagine how cool it could be if you could control your tire pressure right from your AXS shifters via a long press on the lever for example. This level of integration would certainly allow SRAM to charge a premium for Zipp wheels in the future. We will just have to wait and see how SRAM is going to continue to build on their integration capacity within their ecosystem.