Campagnolo Zonda GT review: Italian brand's new off-road wheels deliver familiar performance and build quality

SQUIRREL_13139126

Campagnolo’s Zonda GT wheelset represents a departure from Zonda wheels of old. 

Formerly a mid-range road bike wheel, Campagnolo has bumped the internal rim width to 23mm, making the Zonda GT a formidable gravel and all-road option. 

The result? This wheelset impresses with its lively ride quality and build. In Campagnolo fashion, it’s not especially competitive price-wise, but it’s a very solid-performing and reliable option that shouldn’t be overlooked. 

Campagnolo Zonda GT wheelset details and specifications

Campagnolo says the new Zonda GT wheelset is intended for “maximum allroad versatility” and optimised for road or gravel bike tyres from 25 to 41mm wide. 

The brand has been slowly upping the internal rim width of many of its wheels, with the Zonda’s 23mm matching the recently revamped Bora Ultra WTO and Bora WTO range. 

The carbon and gravel-specific Campagnolo Levante wheels measure a little wider at 25mm, though. 

Still, that 23mm internal rim width is progressive from a road perspective and a good sweet spot for gravel riding. 

However, given its concurrent release and suggested pairing with the brand’s Ekar GT gravel groupset, one wonders whether Campagnolo should have gone even wider and focused solely on gravel. 

Elsewhere, the Zonda GT has a 29.5mm rim depth, with the rim milled in between the G3 spokes, where the depth goes down to 28mm. 

The Zonda GT uses Campagnolo’s distinctive G3 lacing, which sees the spokes arranged in a 2:1 ratio, with eight sets of three spokes. The brand specs aluminium nipples to save weight, but many may prefer to see brass nipples for their anti-corrosion properties. 

That said, very few brands spec brass nipples on stock wheels, with wheelsets such as the FFWD RYOT 33 a notable exception. 

The rims use Campagnolo’s 2-Way Fit design, meaning they can be used with clincher or tubeless tyres, and there’s no rim tape to worry about because the rim bed is sealed. 

The hubs spin on cup-and-cone bearings with steel balls. 

I weighed the wheels at 1,728g (excluding tubeless valves and the supplied disc brake rotor lockrings), with the front 807g and the rear 921g – 38g heavier than the claimed weight. 

You can opt between a Shimano HG, Campagnolo N3W or SRAM XDR freehub – I’ve got the Campagnolo N3W variant in for testing. 

Initial checks

As an experienced mechanic, I took some initial measurements of both wheels on a DT Swiss Wheel Truing Stand. 

Considering this is a stock wheelset, I was very impressed by the build quality. Both wheels were laterally and radially true to within 0.15mm – I’d typically expect a well-built wheel to be within 0.5mm.  

For reference, the tolerance according to British Standard BS 6102 is 4mm for a disc-brake rim. 

The wheels were also perfectly dished (how central the rim is over the hub). 

I also checked all of the spoke tensions both prior to and at the end of testing with a DT Swiss Analog Spoke Tensiometer. They were all within Campagnolo’s suggested range.   

Tyre installation

The wheels came supplied on a Basso Palta gravel bike with a Campagnolo Ekar GT groupset. 

They were originally shod with 40mm Continental Terra Speed tyres, which measured 39.37mm with my digital calipers, at 32psi / 2.2 BAR. 

I also rode the Zonda GTs on my Niner RLT 9 RDO to get a second point of reference. To keep the variables identical (so the wheelset was the only thing I changed on my Niner), I swapped the Terra Speeds out for my set of 40mm-wide Pirelli Cinturato Gravel RC-X tyres. 

Once installed, the Pirelli tyres measured 40.24mm on the Zonda GT rims at 32psi / 2.2 BAR. 

Both tyres installed without fuss. The beads were seated with only a track pump and I could install three of the four tyres by hand. I needed to use a tyre lever to prise the last section of the rear Continental tyre onto the rim. 

On balance, you can’t expect any better. 

Campagnolo Zonda GT wheelset performance

The Zonda GTs were subject to a mixture of short and long gravel rides across a vast spectrum of surfaces, from technical singletrack and princess gravel to tarmac. 

The wheels were also put to the test on the Cambrian Gravel Epic, a 125km sportive with 2,550m of climbing in mid-Wales. 

The Zonda GTs were quick to accelerate and felt sprightly up light gradients, while balancing a noticeable stiffness. 

They felt notably efficient on many of the steeper gradients they were subject to, with little concession compared to a carbon wheel. 

Considering the race-oriented nature of the Basso Palta, the Zonda GTs didn’t feel like a noticeable downgrade compared to a premium carbon wheelset.  

The Zonda GTs are fairly comfortable but not the most compliant. There was a noticeable difference compared to the original Fulcrum Rapid Red 500 wheels on my Niner. 

These sport an identical 23mm internal rim width but are slightly heavier at 1,805g for the pair. The differences in the rim and hub are slight between the two. 

I think the boosted compliance of the Fulcrums came from their more conventional spoking pattern, but the plus side of the G3 lacing was the aforementioned responsiveness. 

The wheels were unflustered by crosswinds on my test rides, despite being a little deeper than a typical box-section rim. 

I really enjoyed the Zonda GTs' lively ride quality down technical descents. 

My usual Chiltern gravel test loop features such a descent on singletrack and you have to pick your line carefully in the first half because there’s a gulley running down the middle. 

Because I know the descent like the back of my hand, I was very impressed by how flickable the Zonda GTs were when having to cross over the gulley twice to stay on the best line. 

They’re quick on the road too. The Cambrian Gravel Epic sportive features a 10km section on-road, with some hairpin descents to negotiate and the wheels were impressively quick to respond when tipping into the corner. 

Although some will bemoan the Zonda GTs' lack of sealed cartridge bearings, in my view, that’s a positive. You don’t need any specific bearing press tools to service them, although cup-and-cone bearings rely on being adjusted correctly.

The Zonda GT hubs look elegant, with the signature winged wheel logo, and felt smooth from the get-go. They use a virtually identical design to most of Campagnolo’s other hubs, such as on the Campagnolo Shamal. 

Although I didn’t need to change the freehub, it works in the same way as other Campagnolo freehubs, with a 17mm spanner undoing the locknut with a reverse-thread on the driveside. 

As with the majority of Campagnolo’s high-end wheels, the G3 lacing pattern means wheel truing is a potential concern – it’s a significantly more laborious process than ordinary lacing.

The G3 spoke pattern means you effectively need to treat the pairs in the 2:1 pattern as one spoke until the very final stages and you’re working with very high spoke tensions. As such, the margin for error is extremely tight. 

I’d recommend sending a wheel that needs truing to the Campagnolo Service Centre or to a Campagnolo Pro Shop. Get it wrong and things get expensive very quickly. 

That said, from experience, the outstanding build quality and my past experience of Campagnolo wheels with the G3 lacing means you likely won’t need to true them for a very long time. 

The Zonda GTs represent good value. On paper, they may not be competitive against the Hunt Gravel Race wheels at £549, for example, which are claimed to weigh 1,403g with a 24mm internal rim width. However, you’re paying for the enduring longevity and top-notch build quality with the Zonda GTs. 

In my experience, through testing and a previous life as a workshop mechanic, I have seen Campagnolo wheels with similar components last longer than many competitors. 

A similar quality-comparison wheelset would be the DT Swiss GR1600 Spline at £539 / $757. These are lighter than the Zonda GTs at a claimed 1,659g for the set, with a wider 24mm internal rim width. They come shod with DT Swiss 350 hubs, which are proven performers – and spares are easy to procure if you need them. 

---

Campagnolo Zonda GT wheelset bottom line 

The Zonda GTs are a solid and reliable option and although they're not the lightest or most cost-effective on paper, the outstanding build quality and lively ride are strong points in their favour.  

The build quality means servicing shouldn’t be needed for quite a while, but it’s important to note there’s likely to be more difficulty and expense when the time for wheel truing comes. 

Nevertheless, this is a great mid-range upgrade for both road and gravel riding that's worth your consideration.

SQUIRREL_13139126