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Fulcrum Racing Quattro for rider 90kg

Hi
I have question to those who ever have contact/experience with fulcrum quattro omitting question ' is it worth ? ' for a moment... If I am 90kg rider, will these ones perform well, without any problems? Manufactured says max 109kg [just rider ] but there is only 16/21 spokes and Im just wondering if that can affect somehow on my ride / safety on the road?
I've spent xx hours reading by now and still not 100% sure, some people say ' bombproof ' other ' to flexy ' etc .

At the moment I ride stock wheels on my Triban 5, 32/32 spoke

thanks

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11 comments

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Vejnemojnen | 9 years ago
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I'd also advise you to take a look at Fulcrum R3 or Campy Zonda. They are also very durable and tolerate bashing quite well.

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Vejnemojnen | 9 years ago
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Sold a pair of those to a guy weighing 126 kgs. He has had 4k miles on them, still running through.

and hungarian roads are truly awful in condition..

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Vejnemojnen replied to Vejnemojnen | 9 years ago
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Vejnecske wrote:

Sold a pair of those to a guy weighing 126 kgs. He has had 4k miles on them, still running through.

and hungarian roads are truly awful in condition..

running through?  4  24 english is not my native tongue, after all.

Well: he ran through lot of potholes, got his wheels battered on the roads and they're holding up well. Did not run out of trueness.  1

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le Bidon | 9 years ago
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I'm 90 kg (ish) and use Fulcrum Quattros. Must have done ~2000 miles on them since I got them and they still run true. No issues whatsoever. Seem pretty quick too, the hubs are great at the price.

They catch crosswinds, which is occasionally an issue, but not too bad.

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Yorkshie Whippet | 9 years ago
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I got a set of Fulcrums early in the year and they've become my general go to wheels.

Yes they are not the lightest, but the extra weight on the rim makes easy to keep speed after the initial effort accelerating. Once spinning they roll very nicely. Yes they can be affected by highish side winds but this 10.5 stone person has no real problems keeping them on the floor. There again so were my Planet X 60mm deep which scared the **** out of me.

They've survived an attack on Flanders and Roubaix, done nearly 2K miles and don't show any real signs of wear on the brake track and are still straight. At the time they were fitted as standard to some £1.5K bikes. As others have said the spoke tension is probably greater than those wheels with more spokes and a broken spoke will mean a walk back, but so does a one puncture too many.

I'm glad I bought them.

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Derny | 9 years ago
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Fulcrum wheels are also hand built. Wheels built by an artisan or local shopkeeper have some romantic appeal, but well-run factories are better at quality assurance. If you like the design and price of those wheels and understand the trade-offs vs other designs, there's nothing wrong with your choice. They will probably be a nice upgrade, and if they make you want to ride that is the most important thing.

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sorga | 9 years ago
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I met already opinions that hand built wheels is the best way to go...but I am afraid that I will not get even close to price of £200 if I want get good hand built wheels.

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Confucius | 9 years ago
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Yes, they'll be fine. I was 92kg when I bought mine from Wiggle back in May, they've been problem free after 100 miles/week since then (still run true, and the roads round my way are anything but smooth). Instant PBs on Strava as well. The only downside I've found is they're slightly more affected by sidewinds than "normal" rims.

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therevokid | 9 years ago
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+1 the hand built option. i have royce on ambrosio excellight 32 spoke 2 and 3 cross
as well as some record on tb14 also 32 spoke 2 and 3 cross. ride beautifully, tough
and best of all fixable  1

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hampstead_bandit | 9 years ago
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Probably worth looking at quality set of handbuilts?

Decent hubs with mavic open pro rims (or similar), double butted spokes and brass nipples laced 3 cross x 32 spokes should be bombproof, light enough for performance riding and very affordable to own as standard spokes and open pro rims are cheap and availability is never an issue.

I have handbuilts (hope on open pro) and factory wheels (fulcrum and giant carbon) and the handbuilts are confidence inspiring when riding bad roads, and peace of mind when it comes to repair or wear and tear

Factory wheel repair often means tracking down special order parts, sending off to a service centre or writing off the wheel as cost of rim, new spokes and labour can be as much as buying a new wheel at discount. I've seen factory wheels ruined by inexperienced mechanics attempting to repair them without knowing the specific techniques or having access to right tooling and training.

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Derny | 9 years ago
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At 1725g the Quattro is not a light wheelset. They build it with a very heavy rim and high spoke tension. Many people your size ride wheels like that. That said, if you break or loosen a spoke in a radially-laced 16 spoke wheel, the wheel will lose structural integrity pretty quickly, even under a rider much smaller than you. That doesn't mean you'll crash but you may end up on foot.

Call me old fashioned, but I just built a new wheelset with 32 spokes and 3X lacing (I'm 77kg). I sometimes ride in remote places on bad or unpaved roads and I prefer the peace of mind that comes from having more spokes. My wheels are about the same weight as the Quattro, since the additional spoke weight is offset by a lighter rim.

The main benefit of fewer spokes is in reduced air turbulence - they're faster. Ask yourself how much that matters to you. For most recreational riders it's irrelevant. At that point the decision mostly comes down to your preferred aesthetic.

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