All About the New Zipp 303 XPLR SW Gravel Wheels in Zwift

Zipp has a long history of cool IRL wheelsets being brought into Zwift, but until the latest game update, there were no Zipp gravel wheels in game.

But that’s all changed: the Zipp 303 XPLR SW wheels have arrived, and with them, boosted gravel bike performance in Zwift dirt!

Here’s how these wheels are described in the Drop Shop: “Wide, aero, and unapologetically quick. The 303 XPLR SW pairs a broad rim profile with gravel-tuned efficiency to smooth chatter and hold speed where others stall. It feels planted in corners and eager when you hit the gas. Built for riders who don’t just survive gravel, they press it.”

The wheels are now available in the Drop Shop, accessible at level 35 and above, for 1,100,000 Drops. Notably, they are rated 3 stars for aero and 2 for weight, the only gravel wheelset in game with such a high rating, which should indicate that they’ll perform better than any other gravel wheels in Zwift. Since Zwift’s 4-star rating system isn’t precise enough for our taste, we ran these wheels through our standard battery of tests to determine exactly how they perform in Zwift and stack up against other gravel wheelsets.

It’s worth noting that when Zwift adjusted equipment performance approximately 1 year ago, they made all existing gravel wheelsets perform identically. Since that time, no new gravel wheels have been added to the game. But that all changes with Zwift’s latest release: these new wheels are the latest in gravel tech, and as such, they outperform gravel wheels in game that are several years old.

Let’s dive in and learn all about the performance of Zipp’s first gravel wheelset in Zwift!

Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance

Zipp’s 303 XPLR wheels are the most aero gravel wheelset in Zwift, turning in an hour time approximately 13 seconds faster than the other gravel wheels.

Climb Performance

The 303 XPLR wheels also outclimb all the other gravel wheelsets in game, but not by much: they beat the other wheelsets by just 1.5-2 seconds across an hour of climbing.

Note: all test results above are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using the Zwift Carbon frame.

Jungle (Dirt) Performance

The aero advantage and slight climbing advantage shown in our pavement tests translate into improved performance for the Zipp 303 XPLR wheels in our Jungle Circuit test. While these wheels have the same Crr in dirt as Zwift’s other gravel wheels, they’re more aero and slightly lighter, resulting in a 15-second advantage across an hour of dirt riding.

Conclusions

The Zipp 303 XPLR SW are Zwift’s new top gravel wheels, so if you’re racing in the dirt, you’ll want to pick up a set.

Note, though, that there are rumors of fresh dirt roads coming to Zwift, and probably more gravel frames and wheels coming to the game shortly. It’s possible that even faster gravel wheels will be added to the Drop Shop soon, so unless you’ve got a dirt race coming up, you might wait a few weeks to make your purchase.

These wheels have been, or will soon be, added to the following posts:

• Master Zwift Wheels List
• Zwift Shopping Guide: What To Buy from the Drop Shop at Each Level
• Zwift Speed Tests Public Data (Google Sheet) (added)

Questions or comments?

Share below!