The Zipp 303S have long held a distinct place in the gravel and all-road world. Not the lightest, not the most exclusive, but accessible, well-known, easy to find on stock builds, and often a sensible way to experience carbon wheels without blowing the budget.
With the Zipp 303 XPLR S, the American brand did more than a simple refresh. The most visible – and, above all, most consequential – change is the internal width: 32 mm. That’s huge for a gravel wheelset.
And of course, that changes things.
Strengths:
- Significant comfort with 45 mm tyres and above
- More lively handling than expected despite the weight
- Attractive pricing
Could be better
- Tyre compatibility requires close attention
With a rim this wide, forget about fitting narrow tyres to keep a “road” feel. These wheels are designed to work with high-volume rubber. Zipp states they are optimised for gravel tyres around 45 mm, with compatibility limited to tyres approved by the brand.
That matters. This is not a do-it-all carbon wheelset where everyone mounts whatever they want. The 303 XPLR S set a clear usage framework: tubeless, hookless, wide tyres, and low pressures.
A very wide, hookless rim, and a height that raises questions
Technically, the 303 XPLR S carry over several strong Zipp markers: a hookless design, a 54 mm-deep carbon rim, a 40 mm external width, and a profile designed to maximise integration with modern gravel tyres.
The claimed weight is 1610 g, which remains reasonable in absolute terms, but not particularly light if you are targeting a pure race wheel. The focus is more on robustness, comfort, and overall efficiency.
The rim height can be surprising. On paper, 54 mm for gravel is no small thing. Visually, it’s very Zipp: substantial, clean, fairly stately. But on a gravel bike, especially if your riding goes beyond smooth tracks, you might wonder whether this choice leaves the wheel too exposed or makes the front end overly sensitive to crosswinds.
On that point, my impression is more nuanced than the spec sheet suggests. Yes, the rim is deep. Yes, you notice it. Yes, in strong crosswinds, especially up front, you can feel it a bit. But in most situations, the 54 mm depth is easy to live with and does not make the bike tricky to handle.
The wrong setup can quickly skew the test
I first received these wheels with 40 mm Goodyears on the Merida Mission. And clearly, the alchemy was not perfect.
It’s not that the setup was bad, but it didn’t put the wheels in their ideal zone. A 40 mm tyre on a 32 mm internal rim doesn’t make much sense. You can feel the wheel asking for more volume to really work as intended.
Above all, the 303 XPLR S did not elevate the Merida Mission, a very responsive, playful, and snappy frame. With their weight and inertia, they tended to calm the bike down rather than amplify its strengths.
The rest of the test therefore took place on my reference bike for wheels: the Propain Terrel CF. It’s a versatile, well-balanced frame that I use precisely because it quickly reveals how a wheelset changes a bike’s behaviour.
And there, with Vittoria Terreno Pro T60 in 45 mm, measuring about 47 mm, the 303 XPLR S started to reveal their true personality.
Comfort as the first real gain
The first obvious gain is comfort.
With this internal width and a well-splayed 45 mm tyre, the bike filters vibrations noticeably better. You can run low pressures, keep traction, and still maintain a decent sense of support in corners.
This is exactly where Zipp’s talk about “Total System Efficiency” becomes tangible. We can always debate the marketing promises around aero or efficiency, but out on the trail, the benefit of air volume is obvious.
Small irregularities are better absorbed. Rough tracks become less tiring. And above all, the bike does not turn mushy.
This is the most interesting point about these wheels: they add comfort without completely anesthetising the handling.
More lively than the spec sheet suggests
With 1610 g and a 54 mm rim, I did not expect these wheels to feel very lively on technical sections. And yet, they surprised me.
On singletrack, for example, the 303 XPLR S remain responsive. You feel the volume, you feel the stability, but you are not stuck with a sluggish wheel that constantly needs to be kicked back up to speed. The bike keeps some snap, especially when the terrain turns more playful.
They obviously do not feel like a very light, super-snappy wheelset. That is not their thing. But they make up for it with a real ability to hold speed, take hits, and inspire confidence.
This is probably what makes them interesting for modern gravel riding: they are not trying to turn your bike into a road machine. They embrace a broader, more comfortable, more stable approach without feeling like a truck.
Not a pure gravel race wheel, but an excellent all-round option
If your main goal is gravel racing on very fast, smooth courses with little technicality, I am not sure the 303 XPLR S are the most logical choice.
In that case, you could look for something lighter, more reactive, perhaps less extreme in internal width, with a more pure-efficiency, quick-acceleration focus.
On the other hand, for versatile gravel riding with big tyres, varied terrain, sometimes rough, sometimes technical, these wheels make much more sense.
They make you want to ride hard without always picking the cleanest line. They let you drop pressures, gain comfort, better absorb long days out, while keeping the bike fun.
And that is where this new generation really clicks.
My take on the Zipp 303 XPLR S
The Zipp 303 XPLR S are a true update to the 303S, but they do not speak to exactly the same mindset.
Here, Zipp embraces a very modern vision of gravel: wide tyres, low pressures, comfort, stability, and overall efficiency rather than an obsessive hunt for grams. If you plan to run 40 mm to keep an all-road logic, these wheels are of little interest. They need volume to express themselves.
With 45 mm tyres and up, they really come into their own. Comfort improves, the bike stays playful, and performance on technical terrain is more convincing than their weight and rim depth might suggest.
These are not the wheels I would first recommend to a gravel racer chasing maximum snap on smooth courses. But for a versatile rider who likes to go fast, far, with big tyres and a healthy dose of comfort, the Zipp 303 XPLR S tick a lot of boxes.
They are not trying to make your gravel bike more road-like. They steer it decisively toward modern gravel – wide, comfortable, and fun. And in that realm, they are very well executed.
