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Looking to upgrade my Fulcrum Racing 7 Wheelset

HI, looking to upgrade the wheels on my Infinito. I am looking to make the bike snappier, handle sharper and if possible increase my average pace, if ever so slightly.

Open to all suggestions thanks in advance,

Tom.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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18 comments

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tomlowe36 | 10 years ago
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Sorry i haven't been too vocal recently, I'm wary of shimano due to the bearings they use.

What do you think of these? I've pushed the budget as anyone does when shopping.

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueProductKey.ice?ProductID=CREY00050...

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chrisc9876 | 10 years ago
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3 y/o Cayo rather than infinito but otherwise I had identical question this time last year. I have handbuilts on my commuter but after much discussion/reading and considering everything along lines already suggested, i went for dura ace c24s as felt anxiety free about the quality. No regrets: awesome wheels, definite grin every time on them. I noticed the difference on occasional swaps back over the summer, and now stepped back to the F7s only for winter (ultremo dd on both). 11sp but compatible with 105 (spacer came with wheels). DA c24s favoured wheels amongst a range owned by friends too.

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oozaveared | 10 years ago
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I am reading upgrade as a noticeable and substantial improvement rather than replacing the F7s with something in the same/similar bracket with a marginal difference.

If you can run to £450 (big jump I know) then you could get a massive improvement. http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/race23

Handbuilt by Derek McLey in Scotland. You'll never need another set of everyday wheels. He runs a free spoke for life service (you'll never have to claim and you can get rims replaced at cost of the rim and postage. They are light nippy and bomb proof.

Derek claims these are equivalent to Ksyrium SLS so that's a handbuilt wheelset equivalent to £700 factory set for £450 and guaranteed for life.

In the paraphrased words of Ferris Buehler: "If you have the means, I highly recommend you picking some* up."

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tbelcher72 | 10 years ago
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I have both hand built and factory built wheels and love them both for different reasons. The factory built wheels are Campagnolo Shamal which are effectively the Eurus with Ceramic bearings, and I have to say paired with Veloflex Corsa 23 tyres, they are an awesome wheel set, they roll very smoothly, with an almost silent freewheel (especially when compared to my Chris King R45 hubs), and they have been subjected to a large number of pot holes at speed and remain perfectly true (I am 85kg). The great thing with the Campag wheels (I am sure fulcrum are the same) is that they are extremely simple to maintain the hubs as they are cup and cone design, which allows for very easy cleaning of the bearings (and replacement if it ever becomes necessary) and easy adjustment of the bearing pre load. The only down side to all this is that if you break a spoke or need the wheel truing, not every bike shop will be able to do it.

The hand built wheels are a set of DTswiss RR465 rims laced up to some Ambrosio Zenith hubs which cost around £300, I bought them as winter wheels but use them all year round, especially on longer club runs (100km +) as they are very strong and a little more forgiving that the Shamals over crappy road surfaces. They weigh around 150grams more than the Shamals. The beauty of these wheels is that they are 'bog' standard and any bike shop can replace a spoke/true the wheel if necessary. I even pulled out the cartridge bearing and 'upgraded' them to Phil Wood simply to have the most water tight bearings I could (as they were supposed to be winter wheels).

If I had to choose between the two, on looks alone the Campag Shamals would be my choice (they make any bike look fast), but that said I would probably buy the Eurus next time and save the money as the Ceramic bearings do not make that much (if any) difference to how the wheel performs (I am sure some die hard ceramic fan will produce a pie chart that says otherwise).

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Simon E | 10 years ago
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A student with £600 to spend on wheels? I guess the old stereotype needs updating.

Lighter wheels will certainl feel nicer to ride but they won't really make you much quicker, even uphill. The way to improve your speed is simple: put some time into training.

If you're keen on some really nice wheels how about something from http://www.stradawheels.co.uk/ or maybe a pair of Wheelsmith Race 24s (1460g and £480)?

There will be plenty of early threads on this subject but as there's no effective search function try this:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?site:road.cc+wheel+upgrade

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tomlowe36 | 10 years ago
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What are peoples views on the campagnolo neutron ultras?

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ajmarshal1 | 10 years ago
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For £600 if it were me I'd go for the Campagnolo Eurus / Fulcrum Racing 1. You can get the Shimano Dura Ace C24 for that if you shop around but I've been told they aren't particularly stiff. If you could put another £100 toward it you could get some Handbuilt White Industries T11 / Pacenti SL23 / Sapim Xray handbuilts from Just Riding Along which would be a thing of pure joy and probably last for years.

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tomlowe36 replied to ajmarshal1 | 10 years ago
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What would your precise build be from Just Riding Along?

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ajmarshal1 replied to tomlowe36 | 10 years ago
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tomlowe36 wrote:

What would your precise build be from Just Riding Along?

Competitively priced, excellent builds and great customer service.

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Metjas | 10 years ago
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You're doing high mileage, so with all that time on the bike certainly worth investing in a solid, durable wheelset. Have you thought, as mentioned earlier, about hand built wheels? There's a lot of knowledge available on the internet, but safe to say that rims such as H Plus Archetype, velocity A23 and in particular Pacenti SL23 have a great reputation. With your stated budget you should be able to get wheels built with top quality hubs, which of course if looked after will last you many, many years, to be reused in your subsequent wheel build.

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chris75018 | 10 years ago
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Campag Neutron Ultras are great. Light,and stiff (a noticeable difference over my old Khamsins, which I think are about the same weight as your Racing 7s), have hit more potholes than they should have without complaint, and they're a smidge over £500 at Ribble. Only slight downside is getting tyres on and off is a lot hader than it is on my wife's Ksyrium Elites in my experience.

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tomlowe36 replied to chris75018 | 10 years ago
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Cheers for the suggestion Chris, so if i were to get these with a Shimano free hub would a need any spacers for my Shimano 105 10sp setup?

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tomlowe36 | 10 years ago
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Well i'm a student, so looking around the £600 mark, could possible stretch if the benefit would be clear to see. Mostly ride to stay fit doing the odd sportive here and there and on average about 150 miles a week. A mixture of hills and flats around Lancaster with the Lakes not being too far away.

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Tjuice | 10 years ago
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What's your budget? There have been a few pretty expensive suggestions above (which are a big jump from your F R7s). Obviously, if you're willing to spend a large number of hundreds of pounds, you'll definitely feel the performance jump.

If you can provide an approx budget (and perhaps type of riding you do), I am sure people will be able to give you some more tailored suggestions!

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ajmarshal1 | 10 years ago
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All are available for with Shimano 10 speed freehubs. Some people get funny about mixing Campag and Shimano components (Fulcrum was created because of that, they are Campagnolo) but the Eurus is pretty much the Fulcrum racing 1 just cheaper in most places.

There are a million wheel upgrade arguments out there on t'internet, all containing some polar opposite thoughts, but my opinion is if you're going to do it, don't do it half arsed. I happily use my R7s 8 or 9 months of the year and save the Racing zeros for the summer or big hilly rides. I kept the R7s but the mid range R3s and Ksyrium Elites got sold as they were just 'meh'.

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bendertherobot | 10 years ago
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Disagree. There are, IMO, marginal gains from the F7 to F3 but enough to notice. Roll better, stiffer, nicer.

From the F3 upwards there are very marginal ones indeed. Of course the ceramic bearings are nice.

But, left field, the equivalent campag wheels are often slightly cheaper and just as good.

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tomlowe36 | 10 years ago
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Thanks for the great insight and quick response. So all those mentioned are good for Shimano 105 10sp apart from the Eurua?

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ajmarshal1 | 10 years ago
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I've got Fulcrum Racing 7's as my everyday wheel and you'll be surprised how good they are when you compare them to apparently higher spec wheels. I've owned Mavic Ksyrium elites and Fulcrum Racing 3's and IMO they don't justify a big enough leap forward from the R7's. Likewise Ultegra C24 jobs. Another budget favourite; Planet X's offerings have looked and felt cack in my experience with horrid hubs. IMO, if you want snap, sharpness and lovely rolling I'd be looking at Fuclrum R1 / 0 2-way fit or Campag Eurus (If you've got a campag drivetrain.) Would compliment your lovely frame.

Don't discount handbuilts (Pacenti SL23 is a great tubeless compatible rim) but Hub selection is a topic for a punch up and you might not want the hassle.

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