Campagnolo has just announced that its ever-popular Zonda wheels have gone under the knife. For the new Zonda C17, the Italian brand’s aim was to retain the low weight and snappy characteristics riders love about the Zonda wheels, while bringing them up to date with industry trends.
Most notably, the rim will now be wider to better accommodate 25mm and 28mm tyres. Zondas have historically been on the skinny side, with an internal rim width of 15mm, but the C17 rim will measure 17mm between the bead.
A Campagnolo spokesperson said: "The new wider C17 rim ensures a more efficient shape of the tyre, improving cornering grip and safety while reducing aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance."
The new Zonda will also feature Campagnolo's Rim Dynamic balance, which sees a small weight placed opposite the valve hole to offset the weight of the valve stem. It also sees a differentiated rim height of 26mm at the front and 30mm at the rear.
The Italian manufacturer claims to have employed precise milling to shed excess weight while increasing stiffness. This has also allowed for what Campag calls its MoMag system, which sees spoke nipples inserted into the rim at the valve hole, and “guided” to the point of connection with the spoke with a magnet. This means the rim bed can remain free of spoke holes and eliminates the need for rim tape, while still allowing for spokes to be tensioned with traditional nipples.
At the hub, the updated Zonda retains the alloy hub shell, oversized flange, cup and cone bearings, and 16 radial aero spoke front wheel and 21 aero spoke rear wheel in the Mega G3 pattern. Campagnolo says that by fitting twice as many spokes at the driveside of the hub, it’s G3 pattern improves energy transfer, reduces the stress on the spokes and increases transverse rigidity for a more responsive wheel.
Interestingly, the new Zonda wheels are claimed to weigh slightly more than the current version, at 1596g for the pair – that’s a 46g gain.
Global pricing and availability is yet to be announced, we’ll add more information as it becomes available.