Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

BUYER'S GUIDE

Your complete guide to Fulcrum road wheels - get to know their range

What you need to know before you spend your money

Fulcrum road wheels are very popular, both as original equipment on complete new bikes and when bought after market. The range is broad and a little complicated so here’s our guide to navigating it.

  • Fulcrum road bike wheels fall into two general groups: shallow-rimmed general-purpose wheels mostly dubbed 'Racing' and deep-rim aero wheels under the Speed and Wind banners.

  • 2Way-Fit is Fulcrum's designation for tubeless-ready road bike wheels, though Fulcrum suggests only a very small range of tyres are compatible

  • Fulcrum wheels are very common as original equipment on bikes and you may come across wheels not listed here that have been custom-specced for one bike brand

  • Want gravel bike wheels? Check out the sturdier end of the Racing series and the Rapid Red wheels

Fulcrum is a sub-brand of Italian component manufacturer Campagnolo. It makes wheels that are compatible with Shimano/SRAM systems as well as with Campag’s own products.

This isn't a test, although we do reference our reviews where relevant. This is simply an overview of the range to tell you what's what and help you decide what's most suitable for you.

Prices are for Fulcrum wheels with Shimano/SRAM-compatible freehubs.

Racing 6 — £165.49

Fulcrum Racing 6 pr

Fulcrum's entry-level offering, the Racing 6 has an over-sized, drilled-out, drive-side flange on the rear wheel. The rims are 23mm wide (17mm internal) and slightly deeper on the rear wheel: 27.5mm v 24.5mm up front.

Fulcrum claims a pair of Racing 6 wheels weighs 1,760g.

Buy if: You want reliable, no-frills wheels for everyday riding and training.

Racing 6 DB 2Way-Fit — £202.71

Fulcrum Racing 6 DB wheels

Fulcrum launched three new disc-braked wheels in 2021, of which this is the entry-level model. The disc-brake version of the Racing 6 has a claimed weight of 1,780g a pair, with new rims that are 20mm wide internally and 24mm deep. If you think that sounds like a gravel bike rim, you're not far wrong, as Fulcrum says these wheels are for use "training or on road rides with a gravel bike".

Like the new Racing 5 DB and Racing 4 DB, the Racing 6 DB wheels incorporate 2Way-Fit, which is Fulcrum's way of saying that they'll work with both regular clincher tyres and tubes, and with tubeless and tubeless-ready tyres.

Fulcrum used to be super-cautious about which tyres you should use with 2Way-Fit wheels, restricting you to nine models of Schwalbe tyre, and saying "Any other type of Tubeless and Tubeless Ready tire is forbidden." However, the latest version of their guide to 2Way-Fit is rather more liberal, if still quite stern. You're no longer told which tyres you can use, but directed to a compatibility table that indicates the tyre pressure range you should use for a particular combination of rim and tyre width.

For the Racing 6 DB with its 20mm rim, for example, you can run tyres between 25mm and 64mm wide. At the skinny end your maximum tyre pressure for a tubeless set-up is 7 bar/105psi and 8.5 bar/120psi with tubes, while if your frame can take a whopping 64mm tyre you can run them tubeless at up to 2.4 bar/36psi and with a tube up to 2.9bar/43psi.

Nevertheless, Fulcrum says "It shall be the end user’s sole and full responsibility to choose - on a case by case basis – an adequate and correct rim-tire-pressure combination, as well as to conduct all verifications necessary to ascertain the correctness and safety of such combination." Gulp.

Buy if: You want very sensibly priced disc-brake wheels for the road.

Racing 5 — £229.99

Fulcrum Racing 5 wheelset

When we reviewed the Racing 5s (RRP £309.99) we said, “They're strong and not too heavy, and have shrugged off months of wet miles with nary a whimper.”

Rather than round spokes, the Racing 5s come with double-butted steel spokes that are aero profiled – in other words, they’re flattened to reduce drag. They’re also straight-pull – there’s no bend.

Check out our Fulcrum Racing 5 review

Racing 5 DB 2Way-Fit — £359.99

Fulcrum Racing 5 DB wheels

Here's the second of Fulcrum's new disc-brake wheels, with 20mm internal-width rims and laser-etched graphics that should look good for ages. Fulcrum claims a weight per pair of 1,660g and the RRP is £400. See the Racing 6 DB, above, for details of Fulcrum's 2Way-Fit tubeless compatibility.

Buy if: You want solid commuting or training wheels that roll well and don't cost the earth.

Racing 4 — £283.49

Fulcrum Racing 4

Racing 4 wheels are semi-aero, with 35mm-deep rims and a claimed weight per pair of 1,725g. The idea is to improve aerodynamics and “increase torsional and lateral stiffness compared with a conventional profile, for improved high speed stability.”

The 21 rear spokes are arranged according to what Fulcrum calls its 2:1 Two-to-One system, with 14 on the driveside and 7 on the non-driveside. Fulcrum says that this limits the loss of rim tension when you pedal.

“Slackening and torsion are limited and the transfer of the athlete’s power is much more effective,” it says.

When we reviewed the Racing Quattros, as the Racing 4s were previously called, we said, “A lot of wheel for not a lot of money. Fast and durable, a great all-rounder.”

Check out our Fulcrum Racing Quattro review.

Buy if: You’re looking for something that’s strong and durable with a little extra rim depth.

Racing 4 DB 2Way-Fit — £404.99

Fulcrum Racing 4 DB wheels

The 2022 disc-brake version of the Racing 4 has 34mm deep disc-specific rims and a claimed weight of 1,710g — slightly up from the pervious version thanks to the increase of internal rim width to 19mm from 17mm. Like most of Fulcrum's disc-brake wheels it uses what Fulcrum calls Monoblock Hub For Disc tech, in which stiffening ribs inside the hub convey braking forces to the tangential drive-side spokes to reduce twist on the rotor side.

Buy if: You want semi-aero wheels for your disc-braked bike.

Racing 3 — £433.49

Racing 3s (RRP: £550) are quite a lot lighter than Racing 4s (the claimed wheelset weight is 1,560g) partly because of shallower rims – the front is 26mm, the rear is 30mm. The latest version gets an upgrade to rims with 17mm internal width to accommodate wider tyres.

Fulcrum Racing 3 wheelset

Disc brakes? Yep, there's a disc brake, 2-Way Fit version of the Racing 3 (£399.00).

Buy if: You’d like stiff and responsive wheels for training, sportives, and even racing duties.

Read our review of the Fulcrum Racing 3 wheels

Racing Zero 2Way-Fit — £716.99

It’s a large step up in price to the Racing Zero (RRP £929.99), but this is a high-level aluminium wheelset with a 25mm-deep front rim, 30mm-deep rear rim, carbon front hub body, and USB ceramic bearings. Fulcrum claims these are 30% lighter, 40% more resistant, and 50% smoother than standard steel bearings. These are also the cheapest wheels in the Fulcrum line-up to offer the combination of rim braking and tubeless compatibility.

The Zero wheelset is light at a claimed 1,490g.

Fulcrum Racing Zero Nite 21

Buy if: You’d like a lightweight aluminium wheelset and are prepared to pay for high performance.

Racing Zero DB 2-Way Fit — £759.00

Fulcrum Racing Zero DB pr

With 19mm internal-width rims and a claimed weight of just £1,590g these are Fulcrum's entry in the high-end do-everything wheels category. The rims are made from high-strength 6082 T6 aluminium, joined to the hubs with aluminium spokes, and like the rim-brake version they roll on USB ceramic bearings.

Buy if: You want light, modern tubeless-compatible disc-braked wheels

Read our review of the Fulcrum Racing Zero DB

Racing Zero CMPTZN DB 2-Way Fit — £861.48

Fulcrum Racing Zero CMPTZN DB 2-Way Fit wheels

This membber of the Racing Zero line combines the feature set of the (now-discontinued) Racing Zero Competizione with disc brake compatibility for a set of wheels that promises low weight (a claimed 1,570g) and modern braking.

Buy if: You want light wheels for a disc-braked bike

Racing Zero Carbon — £1,519.00

Fulcrum Racing Zero Carbon Road Wheels.jpg

The Racing Zero Carbon Clincher combines 30mm-deep/24.5mm wide carbon rims with aluminium aero spokes and carbon bodied hubs. The bearings are USB ceramic. The wheelset has a claimed weight of just 1,340g but the pair's supposed to cost a hefty £1,825.

There's a £1,538.99 disc-brake, 1,450g 2-Way Fit version too.

Buy if: You want high-quality carbon wheels in a shallow depth.

Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN DB 2-Way Fit —  £1,680.73

Fulcrum Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN DB 2-Way Fit

This is the ultimate Racing Zero, with a new-design carbon-fibre rim, disc brake compatibility and CULT ceramic bearings. A pair weighs just 1,440g, which makes them among the lightest disc-brake wheels, but they're not exactly cheap.

Buy if: You want very light wheels for a disc-braked bike

Speed series

Fulcrum's top-end hoops, the Speed wheelsets have all-carbon aero rims for racing and against-the-clock efforts. There are eight models of spoked wheel.

Speed 40C — £1,764.49

Fulcrum Speed 40C pair

The Fulcrum Speed 40C wheels offer buttery smooth ceramic bearings, stable rims and brilliant braking thanks to a what Fulcrum calls AC3 — All Conditions Carbon Control. They spin up effortlessly, handle well on windy days and weigh just 1,400g a pair. The only thing not to like is the price.

In the last few years Fulcrum has spun up three other versions of the Speed 40. Inevitably, there's a tubeless-compatible, disc brake version. With a claimed weight of 1,470g they'll set you back £1,479.99.

There's also version configured for disc brakes and tubular tyres for £1,737.49. At 1,320g/pr it's among the lightest disc-brake wheelsets you can buy, but you'll have to glue the tyres on, a chore only pro team mechanics and the very dedicated can be bothered with these days.

Finally there's the tubeless-compatible Speed 40 CMPTZN DB which, like other CMPTZN models, has CULT ceramic bearings that shave a bit of weight and allegedly spin better. A pair weighs 1,460g and will set you back £2,470.00.

Read our review of the Speed 40C wheels

Buy if: you're racing or going fast really matters to you, and it's hilly or windy

Speed 55C — £1,708.49

Fulcrum Speed 55C pr

As above, but with 55mm deep rims for better aerodynamics. At a claimed 1,580g they don't surrender much to the Speed 40C wheels though we'd expect them to be a bit more susceptible to getting knocked off course in side-winds.

You can also get the 55C rear wheel in a pair with a 40C front for £1,797.49. Claimed weight is 1,450g.

The most recent addition to the Speed 55 family is the Speed 55 DB 2-Way Fit (£1,599), which as the name suggests is compatible with tubeless tyres and disc brakes. Read all about them in our news story.

Disc brakes and tubulars? No problem. You want the Speed 55T DB you do. New stopping tech meets traditional tyres will set you back £1,988.99 and the pair is claimed to weigh 1,395g.

Finally there's the £2,339 Speed 55 CMPTZN DB which as you might expect is the deep version of the Speed 40 CMPTZN DB above, with CULT ceramic bearings and a claimed weight of 1,570g/pr.

Buy if: You're racing

Wind series

Fulcrum calls its cheaper deep-rim aero wheels 'Wind' rather than 'Speed'. They have 2Way-Fit carbon fibre rims for tubeless compatibility, except for the rim-brake Wind 40C.

Wind 40C — £873.49

Fulcrum Wind 40C

The sole rim-brake offering in the Wind series has a 40mm-deep carbon fibre rim with 17mm internal width and a claimed weight of 1,555g. It's not tubeless-compatible.

Buy if: you want to dd some aero-wheel speed to a rim-braked bike

Wind 40 DB 2-Way Fit — £891.49

Fulcrum Wind 40 DB pair

Like its deeper sibling the Wind 40 has a rim with a 19mm channel to provide support for fatter tyres. That's the most obvious difference between the Wind and Speed wheels; the latter have 17mm rims, so the Wind wheels reflect the trend to fatter tyres. In fact Fulcrum says these wheels will take tyres up to 50mm wide, which opens up the possibility of using them on some gnarly-looking monstercross bikes as well as various go-faster applications. Claimed weight is 1,620g.

Buy if: You want to run tubeless tyres on a disc-braked race bike

Wind 55 DB  2-Way Fit — £1,149.00

Fulcrum Wind 55 DB pair

As you can no doubt guess from the name the Wind 55 DB has a 55mm-deep rim, which is about as deep as you can go and still get decent handling in moderate crosswinds. The extra rim depth costs just 60g over the Wind 40DB for a claimed weight of 1,680g.

Buy if: You want to run tubeless tyres on a disc-braked race bike and you want an aero advantage at a decent price

Wind 75 DB  2-Way Fit — £1,249.99

2020 Fulcrum Wind 75 DB pair

Fulcrum says this deepest of the Wind series has a completely new rim shape to cut the wind without being too unstable in crosswinds despite its depth. It's tubeless-compatible and if you want to pair a Wind 75 rear wheel with a shallower front, you can buy the Wind 75 rear wheel on its own. Claimed weight is a decent 1,820g.

Buy if: You want to run tubeless tyres on a disc-braked race bike and you want every last aero advantage

Rapid Red series

Fulcrum has three pairs of wheels for you if you're exploring dirt roads and trails, all disc-brake compatible of course, and all with 2-Way Fit rims for tubeless tyres. The top model with carbon fibre rim is 700C only, while the two aluminium wheels are available in 650B version as well as 700C.

Buy if: You're heading for the dirt

Rapid Red Carbon —  £1,399.99

Fulcrum rapid Red Carbon

The flagship wheels in the Rapid Red line tip the scales at 1,490g with a 25mm internal rim that should provide solid support for fatter tyres.

Rapid Red 3 650B — £584.24 | Rapid Red 3 700C — £469.99

Fulcrum Rapid Red 3

The midrange Rapid Red wheelset boasts a 24mm-wide rim made from 6082 aluminium. The combination makes for a wheelset that's only slightly lighter than the Rapid Red 5 at 1,740g, but should afford a better ride thanks to the rim providing a little more tyre volume.

Rapid Red 5 650B — £304.99 | Rapid Red 5 700C — £370.49

Fulcrum Rapid Red DB pair

Fulcrum says the Rapid Red 5's 23mm-wide 2Way-Fit rim is suitable for 33-46 mm wide tyres. The 1,760g claimed weight for a 700C pair is decent for wheels with wide aluminium rims, and you can have them with standard Shimano 11-speed freehub body or SRAM XDr body.

Read our review of the Fulcrum Rapid Red 5 wheels

Explore the complete archive of reviews of wheels on road.cc

About road.cc Buyer's Guides

The aim of road.cc buyer's guides is to give you the most, authoritative, objective and up-to-date buying advice. We continuously update and republish our guides, checking prices, availability and looking for the best deals.

Our guides include links to websites where you can buy the featured products. Like most sites we make a small amount of money if you buy something after clicking on one of those links. We want you to be happy with what you buy, so we only include a product if we think it's one of the best of its kind.

As far as possible that means recommending equipment that we have actually reviewed, but we also include products that are popular, highly-regarded benchmarks in their categories.

Here's some more information on how road.cc makes money.

You can also find further guides on our sister sites off.road.cc and ebiketips.

road.cc buyer's guides are maintained by the road.cc tech team. Email us with comments, corrections or queries.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

Add new comment

30 comments

Avatar
Yogesh Kumkar | 1 year ago
0 likes

I have Vipera 777 road bike with fulcrum racing 7 wheels. Its ETRTO 622x15C written on it. I need to buy the front wheel. Can racing 3 wheel fit?

What does it mean 622x15C?

Is there any alternative type of wheels I can buy?

Avatar
OnYerBike replied to Yogesh Kumkar | 1 year ago
0 likes

ETRTO 622x15C tells you that your current wheels are 700C and have an internal width of 15mm. 700C is standard for road bikes. 15mm is on the narrow side for "modern" wheels but that doesn't matter - there's no reason why your new wheel needs to have exactly the same internal width. This table shows tyre/internal width compatibility - as you can see a standard road tyre of 25mm width will be fine on a rim with internal width anywhere between 15mm - 22mm. Modern road wheels normally hover around the 19mm internal width.

What you do need to be careful of is the axle standard of your frame. I imagine your bike has 100mm QR on the front - although no longer the standard on new bikes, that was the standard on road bikes until recently, so should be easy enough to find a suitable wheel. Many hubs are convertible or you can specify the axle at checkout. I expect you also need a rim-brake compatible wheel (again, most new bikes have disc brakes but rim brake wheels are still easily available). 

Avatar
PRSboy | 3 years ago
0 likes

I have Racing 5, Quattro and Campag Shamal (Racing Zero) which are fantastic but I feel my life will be improved by a set of deeper section carbon wheels.  
 

The carbon hub casings on the Shamals are a thing of beauty. 

Avatar
Tjuice | 6 years ago
2 likes

I've had some Racing 5s since 2010.  They came on my summer/race bike and when I upgraded to some deep rim Planet X carbons, I put them on my winter bike.  They see lots of miles often in poor weather, on the pothole-filled roads around Oxfordshire and are still fantastic.  Admittedly, I don't have to brake all that much (I choose routes that avoid traffic) and rinse them down with the hose after mucky rides, but they still run smoothly and totally true.  Pretty hard to fault them really.  I expect they will last me many more years.

I was on the verge of buying some racing zeros when I upgraded the wheels on the race bike, but then discovered the sub-1400g planet X 50mm deep tubulars for significantly less money and bought those instead.

I would happily buy Fulcrums again.

Avatar
DrG82 replied to Tjuice | 6 years ago
1 like
Tjuice wrote:

I've had some Racing 5s since 2010.  They came on my summer/race bike and when I upgraded to some deep rim Planet X carbons, I put them on my winter bike.  They see lots of miles often in poor weather, on the pothole-filled roads around Oxfordshire and are still fantastic.  Admittedly, I don't have to brake all that much (I choose routes that avoid traffic) and rinse them down with the hose after mucky rides, but they still run smoothly and totally true.  Pretty hard to fault them really.  I expect they will last me many more years.

I was on the verge of buying some racing zeros when I upgraded the wheels on the race bike, but then discovered the sub-1400g planet X 50mm deep tubulars for significantly less money and bought those instead.

I would happily buy Fulcrums again.

Are your hubs cartridge or cup+cone bearings? I noticed that they have changed at some point as the roadCC review above states they are cup and cone yet mine are certainly cartridge and I was wondering if the older cup and cones were better sealed and more reliable.

My fulcrum wheels with cartridge bearings get a fairly gentle life but have caused trouble, yet the cheap shimano 501s  with cup and cone bearings on my commuter bike get a pasting in all sorts of crap weather and very rarely get any love have been going well for years.

Avatar
drosco | 6 years ago
0 likes

I had poor reliability with the two Fulcrum wheelsets I've owned, some Quattros and Racing 7s. They were used for a commute and both freehubs failed the same way within a year. Granted they had a reasonably tough life, but would have expected better. I won't be buying another set. 

Avatar
AndrewD | 6 years ago
1 like

Great wheels let down by poor build!

I  recently purchased a Fulcrum Quattro LG wheelset as I have been really impressed with my Campag Sirrocco's and wanted a spare setup ready to go with a larger cluster for my hillier rides. The road.cc  Fulcrum review also helped the decision. 

The Fulcrum's have a 17mm internal rim width while my Campags run a narrower 15mm otherwise I would have another set of Campags. The wider rims appear to better seat 25mm tyres. Unfortunately, the Quattro's don't have the cool looking G3 rear spoke pattern, but in all other respects appear built from identical parts.

Right from the outset the wheels didn't feel right. Spinning them on the stand they'd stop after a half dozen or so turns. Spinning the rear seemed to shake the bike far more they I would expect. On the road the bike just didnt run as freely as my Campags and this proved to be the case when, after 3 rides on my regular training routes, the Garmin showed my average speeds were down by 1 to 1.5 kmph. 

Back to the retailer who claimed with great authority that they just needed to be run in and that it was because manufacturers always overload bearings with grease. He reluctantltly agreed to have someone "look" at them but with so little interest I decided to leave it (I didnt feel pursuing consumer rights would achieve any great outcome but posting my story on our cycling club Facebook page did make me fell better and several of their employees are club members so word will get back). Instead I took them to a specialist wheel builder. He spun the wheels up agreeing they didnt run at all smoothly. He quickly removed the bearings, which he said were far too tight, then observed that it appeared there was no sign of "any" lube. 

I picked them up yesterday and "wow" they now spin forever (well nearly) and no wobble after a retentioning of the spokes. On the road thismorning they felt fast and my average speed was actually a little quicker than my Campags which I put down to a better tyre fit which also seemed to add a little to comfort. In all other respects they offer the same stiff feel as the Campags which translates into quick acceleration and no appaerent flexing evident on the factory wheels which originally came with the bike.

The take away is that Fulcrum/Campag are volume manufacturers so builds are likely to be compromised. That said these wheels are now fantastic and even after adding in the cost of the bespoke rebuild they compare favourably with much higher end and significantly more expensive wheel sets.

Avatar
DrG82 | 6 years ago
0 likes

Following up from my coment about my Racing 5s above where I was concerned about the quality of the bearings. It turnes out I was correct in my guess that they wouldn't last long as after relatively little use I've recently had to replace the freehub bearings and the front hub bearings.

It turns out that they use poor quality single side sealed cartridge bearings and really rubbish grease that's no more durable than vaseline so water gets in and the grease is washed out easily and then the bearings corrode.

I've replaced the bearings with ABEC3s and packed them with quality grease so lets see if they last any longer.

Avatar
guildwheeler | 6 years ago
1 like

Am I missing something here but just ordered Campag Vento wheelset with weight claimed to be 1660g for the princely sum of £165. Beginning to think I've secured a bargain when compared to these?

Avatar
Dr_Lex replied to guildwheeler | 6 years ago
1 like
guildwheeler wrote:

Am I missing something here but just ordered Campag Vento wheelset with weight claimed to be 1660g for the princely sum of £165. Beginning to think I've secured a bargain when compared to these?

 

Sounds like  http://road.cc/content/review/110806-campagnolo-vento-asymmetric-wheels

"Stiff, smooth rolling quality training wheel, soft rims mean that they aren't ideal for winter miles though."

 

 

Oh, and another wheel omitted, but probably not one sold separately- Racing 4: apparently the hub from 5 and the rim from 3. 

Avatar
srchar | 6 years ago
1 like

Why pay all that for Racing 3s when Zondas are identical and over £100 cheaper?

My Zondas have done 10,000km in all weathers, have never needed truing and still have loads of rim life left.  I've regreased the hubs twice.  Best wheels ever.

Avatar
alotronic | 6 years ago
0 likes

As above on the 5.5s....

There is a disc set that is called Racing Sport DB that comes standard OEM on some bikes (like my old Datum). These wheels are strong - and heavy - but they have a very annoying lag in take up which makes them Not Very Pleasant to ride. Avoid if you can, or budget to replace. Mine will go on the commuter now. Replaced with some DT Swiss R24 (cheapest dt disc wheels) and these are a vast improvement.

Had R5 CX and they have been utterly reliable and bombproof. If Fulcrum did a R3 disc then that would be good.

Avatar
LeighNichol | 7 years ago
0 likes

Also missing are Fulcrum Racing Sport, £120 in some places. I had some as the stock wheels on my Supersix. Fair enough that they're not on the list, they're absolute dogshit.

Avatar
matthewn5 | 7 years ago
2 likes

My Fulcrum Racing 5s from 2014 weighed an actual 1720g, but frankly I never notice as they're so stiff that they feel incredibly lively and fast. From 2014 the 5 has the 17mm alloy axle and Record design hubs, though with cartridge bearings. There's more to a wheel than light weight.

 

All Fulcrum Racing 5s and 7s are now LG - they've dropped the narrow rim from the lineup.

 

In my experience Fulcrum/Campag hubs are the best engineered out there. Incredibly easy to service with just a couple of simple tools.

Avatar
DrG82 | 7 years ago
0 likes

Although it's stated in the separate review for the racing 5s people should be reminded about the ridiculous ~100 g difference between the claimed weight and actual weight on the shimano hub.

I thought I was getting a super bargain 1,650 g wheelset when I bought some racing 5s (without having read the road.cc review first  2 ) but only really got average and to add to this the bearings in both wheels were pretty gritty straight out of the box which doesn't bode well for the future.

Fulcrum's responce to my question about the weight claim disparity was piss poor.

 

Avatar
graybags | 7 years ago
0 likes

My racing quattros were junk after a winter and a half, despite always cleaning the braking surface, plus the bearings on the front one were about as much use as the proverbial chocolate teapot. And of course they are not economic to repair, so off to the tip they went. Had the same wear issues with a Zonda wheelset on another bike. Just had a nice cheap wheelset built for me by my local cycle mechanic that can be re-built as and when necessary

Avatar
Chasseur Patate replied to graybags | 7 years ago
5 likes
graybags wrote:

My racing quattros were junk after a winter and a half, despite always cleaning the braking surface, plus the bearings on the front one were about as much use as the proverbial chocolate teapot. And of course they are not economic to repair, so off to the tip they went. Had the same wear issues with a Zonda wheelset on another bike. Just had a nice cheap wheelset built for me by my local cycle mechanic that can be re-built as and when necessary

 

What are you doing to them?  I've had a pair of Scirroccos since 2012 that have been raced to death and abused heavily over four winters that are still going strong. Never had a problem of any kind with Fulcrum or Campag wheelsets and I'm not friendly to my kit.

Avatar
DrJDog | 7 years ago
1 like

I've been commuting for over 4 years on a set of Racing 5s and (touch wood) they are bombproof.

 

I'm not sure if that means they are ridiculously overengineered for a set of racing wheels..

Avatar
srchar | 7 years ago
0 likes

What about the LG versions of the alloy wheelsets? Wider for your comfort.

Avatar
CyberTonTo72 | 7 years ago
1 like

But what if I'm 120kg+ and I want to get a good set of wheels?

 

Avatar
Vejnemojnen replied to CyberTonTo72 | 7 years ago
1 like
CyberTonTo72 wrote:

But what if I'm 120kg+ and I want to get a good set of wheels?

 

get racing 3 or 4.  1 a friend of mine uses Racing1 with 130kgs, since 20k km-s, the only annoyance is to re-set the pre-tensioning of the bearings every 3k km.

Avatar
Bigfoz replied to CyberTonTo72 | 5 years ago
0 likes
CyberTonTo72 wrote:

But what if I'm 120kg+ and I want to get a good set of wheels?

 

 

Campag Khamsin (equivalent of Fulcrim 7s) or Campag Vento (Equivalent to the 5s?) I've ridden them  for years - one pair for almost 10 years of commuting. Completely gone now as the rims are almost paper thin after 10 years of mucky Scottish and North East London commuting . Ofrficially rated to 82kgs laod per the manual, I've been as high as 123Kg, plus panniers without issue. Never had one go out of true, utterly bomb proof. I bought my first Fulcrums yesterday, so can't comment as yet. They're replacing those old Vento 3Gs. The Khamsin 3G is the same wheel  as the original Vento 3G from 10 years ago, the Khamsin assymetric looks almost identical to the Fulcrum 7s.

 

Edit: I can't count 2005 to 2018 is actually 13years of commuting!

Avatar
Yorky-M | 7 years ago
2 likes

or just buy Campag Zondas, £280 atm on wiggle and BOMB proof AND 1550grms!

Avatar
JumboJuice | 7 years ago
1 like

You failed to mention Racing Quattro Carbon DB... complete guide? come on...

edit: my bad, you've got a photo...

Avatar
reippuert | 7 years ago
2 likes

"partly because of shallower rims" - hardly, the main reason for the reduced weight in Racing 3 (Zonda) is the Record hubs with its angular contact ball bearing design and hollow oversize aluminum axles..  Best hubdesign out there even though it dates back to 1999.

Avatar
dottigirl | 7 years ago
4 likes

You missed one:

Racing 5.5

The b*stard OEM stepson of the 7, 5, and Something Else. Supplied with many new bikes. Freehub has internal pawls unlike all other Fulcrum products, and when it inevitably packs up (excess play in the bearings - you may assume it's a loose cassette at first), will cost more to replace than the wheels are worth.

 

Avatar
daturaman replied to dottigirl | 7 years ago
0 likes
dottigirl wrote:

You missed one:

Racing 5.5

The b*stard OEM stepson of the 7, 5, and Something Else. Supplied with many new bikes. Freehub has internal pawls unlike all other Fulcrum products, and when it inevitably packs up (excess play in the bearings - you may assume it's a loose cassette at first), will cost more to replace than the wheels are worth.

 

Now known as the Racing 77.

Avatar
Sub4 replied to dottigirl | 6 years ago
1 like
dottigirl wrote:

You missed one:

Racing 5.5

The b*stard OEM stepson of the 7, 5, and Something Else. Supplied with many new bikes. Freehub has internal pawls unlike all other Fulcrum products, and when it inevitably packs up (excess play in the bearings - you may assume it's a loose cassette at first), will cost more to replace than the wheels are worth.

 

These are Racing Sport variants supplied as OEM

The freehubs are terrible & I've never managed to remove one successfully (which is a pity, since it's my job...)...

Avatar
timtak replied to Sub4 | 6 years ago
0 likes
dottigirl wrote:

The freehubs are terrible & I've never managed to remove one successfully (which is a pity, since it's my job...)...

Oh, thank you. There are some racing 7s on sale cheap without a freehub. My racing 5s are at the end of their rim life. I was hoping to move the freehub (compatible between racing 5s and 7s apparently) accross but, it is not my job.

Avatar
dottigirl replied to Sub4 | 6 years ago
0 likes
Sub4 wrote:
dottigirl wrote:

You missed one:

Racing 5.5

P

The b*stard OEM stepson of the 7, 5, and Something Else. Supplied with many new bikes. Freehub has internal pawls unlike all other Fulcrum products, and when it inevitably packs up (excess play in the bearings - you may assume it's a loose cassette at first), will cost more to replace than the wheels are worth.

 

These are Racing Sport variants supplied as OEM

The freehubs are terrible & I've never managed to remove one successfully (which is a pity, since it's my job...)...

I have.
One vice, the tyre left on and two rounded off hex keys later though. Made one hell of a noise. I YouTubed it. Got a comment since that you can service/replace the bearings without removing the freehub. Grrr.

Latest Comments