Zipp's new 1Zero Hitop mountain bike wheels are designed for the ever-increasing demands of cross-country racing, offering racers a lightweight wheelset that’s designed to be more comfortable and tyre-friendly than conventional carbon wheels.
Zipp claims that, while the mountain bike wheels are primarily designed for cross-country racing, they’re durable enough to handle the rigours of trail riding on anything up to a bike with 130mm of travel.
Five things you need to know about the Zipp 1Zero Hitop SW wheels
- Carbon wheels designed for cross-country (XC) riding and racing
- Instead of a single wall rim, as seen on the existing Zipp 3ZERO Moto wheelset, the new rim uses a box-section design
- The 1Zero Hitop SW weigh a claimed 1,325g for the pair
- The top-spec 1Zero Hitop SW (£2,000) wheels come with updated TyreWiz 2.0 tyre pressure sensors
- The lower-spec 1Zero Hitop S wheelset costs £1,400 and uses the same rim, cheaper hubs and doesn’t come with TyreWiz sensors as standard
Zipp 1Zero Hitop SW wheels construction details
All new carbon rims
The new 1Zero Hitop carbon rim uses an asymmetric, box-section profile, unlike the single wall design seen previously on its trail/enduro 3ZERO Moto rims.
The wheels feature a hookless rim bead, with smooth ‘wings’ that are around 4mm thick.
Zipp says this rounded, smooth hookless design helps to dissipate the impact force compared to a conventional bead, reducing the chance of a catastrophic tyre failure.
Zipp claims the new rims are more compliant than a conventional rim as the outer diameter of the rim is able to deform upon impact.
In theory, this should result in less unpleasant feedback passing reaching the rider, improving comfort. It should also enable the wheels to track the terrain more effectively, boosting traction and helping to absorb impacts better.
Zipp says it has accomplished this thanks to the proprietary carbon layup used to create the new rims.
The wheels are wider than most contemporary XC wheelsets at 30mm wide. The range-topping DT Swiss XRC wheelset is 25mm wide, for example.
Zipp recommends the new rims are paired with tyres 2.3 to 2.5in wide.
Lightweight hubs
The top-spec 1Zero Hitop SW wheelset is built around Zipp's new ZM2 SL hubs.
The six-pawl hub offers 66 points of engagement – the same as Zipp’s ZR1 road hubs.
The hubs use a Center Lock rotor mount to reduce weight.
This wheel is available with either regular end caps or broader Torque Caps, which are said to improve the connection between the fork and wheel.
The 1Zero Hitop S wheels use Zipp's ZM900 hubs.
They share the same rims and also use 24 spokes in each wheel – Sapim CX Sprint J-bend spokes in this case.
The four-pawl ZM900 rear hub has 52 points of engagement.
The AM900 hubs use six-bolt rotor mounts.
Both hubs come with either XD-Driver or Microspline freehub options.
Zipp offers a lifetime warranty on its rims and wheelsets, though it’s worth noting that there is a total system weight limit of 130kg for both wheelsets.
TyreWiz 2.0
The top-spec 1Zero Hitop SW wheelset includes a pair of updated TyreWiz 2.0 air pressure gauges as standard.
These neat little units use an integrated valve and sit flush on the inside of your rim, measuring your tyre pressure on the fly.
Small blinking lights on each TyreWiz unit indicate whether your tyres are set to your preferred pressures (green means they’re fine, slow blinking red means the pressure is too low, while fast blinking red lights mean they’re too firm).
Pressure readouts are now available in bar or PSI (in 0.1psi increments) and accuracy is now said to be even better at /- 2 per cent.
This latest iteration is also said to offer increased adaptability to more rim shapes thanks to the different length valve stems and different shaped rubber grommets.
The pressure sensors are available to buy as a pair for £130.
Range overview
There are two different versions of the 1Zero Hitop wheels available. At the top of the tree are the 1Zero Hitop SW’s, while the 1Zero Hitop S wheels (which use the same rims) cost a bit less.
Zipp 1Zero Hitop SW
- Rims: 1Zero Hitop carbon
- Inner rim width: 30mm
- Sizes: 29in only
- Hubs: ZW2 SL
- Spoke count: 24 front and rear (Sapim CX Ray spokes)
- Disc rotor mounting: Centre lock
- Claimed weight: 1,325g (pair)
- Extras: TyreWiz 2.0, XD or Microspline drivers available
- Price: £2,000/$1,950/€2,200
Zipp 1Zero Hitop S
- Rims: 1Zero Hitop carbon
- Inner rim width: 30mm
- Sizes: 29in only
- Hubs: ZM900
- Spoke count: 24 front and rear (Sapim CX Sprint spokes)
- Disc rotor mounting: six-bolt
- Claimed weight: 1,495g (pair)
- Extras: XD or Microspline drivers available
- Price: £1,400/$1.350/€1,600
