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review

Fulcrum Speed 40T Carbon Tubular

9
£2,199.99

VERDICT:

9
10
Solidly built, lightweight all-rounders that'll enhance any bike's ride
Weight: 
1,213g

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At north of £2,000, the Fulcrum Speed 40T wheelset is one of the most expensive we've tested at road.cc, and at 1,213g, one of the lightest too. There is so much more to it than that, though, and why I think the price is – arguably – justified.

With a 40mm rim depth, the 40T is designed as an all-round race wheel to tackle anything from slapping out the pace on the flats, to sprinting for the line or climbing an Alpine pass, and it excels pretty much at each. Well, okay, I can't verify the Alpine pass bit, but they're pretty good on my local climbs.

> Find your nearest dealer here

The stiffness is pretty amazing from the full carbon fibre rim, and even full-beans, out-of-the-saddle sprinting won't see the rim flex to touch the brake front or rear. It's very impressive for a rim so light.

This stiffness comes into play again on the descents, with the Fulcrums feeling solid beneath you, along with the 3Diamant braking surface giving consistent braking performance even when it is wet. Fulcrum machines the braking surface with a diamond tipped cutter to skim off the finish layer of resin, allowing the carbon fibres themselves to make up part of the brake track. It also means that the braking surface is running true, so the pads have a uniform surface to apply pressure to.

Fulcrum Speed 40T Road Bike Wheel - rim.jpg

The stopping performance near rivals that of an alloy rim, with none of the grabiness associated with carbon braking surfaces as the heat builds. It's always consistent and, as I've said, even pretty impressive in the wet, with none of that 'am I going to slow down or not?' kind of uncertainty.

The wheels come with Fulcrum pads which work well and are just as good as the Swiss Stop Yellow pads I also tried (and, as far as I can tell, only a little better than stock Shimano pads).

As far as the rim design itself goes, Fulcrum has followed the current trend and gone wide, 24.2mm in fact, for which it recommends using tyres ranging from 25mm to 32mm wide. I used some 27mm Zipp tubulars which suited the wheel perfectly in terms of a smooth transition between tyre and rim.

Fulcrum Speed 40T Road Bike Wheel - rim bed.jpg

The hubs are both carbon fibre bodied to reduce weight, with aluminium flanges. That at the rear is oversized and laced with 21 straight-pull stainless steel aero spokes in a radial pattern on the non-drive side, two-cross on the drive side. Up front it's a radial setup for the 18 spokes. Both front and rear wheels use alloy nipples.

Fulcrum Speed 40T Road Bike Wheel - rear hub.jpg

On flat roads the 40Ts just spin and spin, thanks in part to how unbelievably smooth the ceramic bearings are. There is lots of conflicting evidence out there about whether ceramics are worth the financial outlay, but give these wheels a spin in mid-air and I challenge you to sit there watching it until it stops revolving. I bet you'd get bored first.

Fulcrum Speed 40T Road Bike Wheel - front hub.jpg

And if things are a little lumpy or rolling, the light weight of the 40Ts means you only need to give the pedals a little nudge to accelerate over the crest.

The only criticism I have is that they catch a sidewind quite regularly – more often than some wheels of a deeper persuasion, I've found – but they are easily brought back under control when it does happen.

The build quality is another high point, and makes the Fulcrums feel like a wheelset that can take some abuse. I rode them in a much more reckless way than I'd ever do if they were my own £2,200 wheels and they stood up to it with ease. I crashed through a couple of potholes, rode through heavy rain and flew through rough sections of broken, back lane tarmac without the slightest let up, and everything remained as true and tight as when I took them out of the box.

The beauty of the 40Ts is that they don't feel like a set of super-light, expensive wheels. They aren't skittish at speed and don't rattle and buzz when you hit a rough surface. They are quiet and just feel solid like a good alloy wheel.

> Read our buyer's guide to road bike wheels

There is also a clincher version, the 40C, which adds nearly 200g for the hooked rim but obviously does away with the faff of using tubulars.

Overall, it's a stunning set of wheels, but then there's that tricky value-for-money ratio, and no doubt we'll all have our own opinions.

My twopence worth is that if I laid out £2,199.99 on a set of wheels then this is exactly what I'd expect in return. A stiff, lightweight, well-built pair that make riding your bike an absolute joy no matter what event you're doing.

They're noticeable on every revolution, not just in terms of performance but by just how planted and stable they feel. And you won't have to cringe either every time you hit a pothole.

Verdict

Solidly built, lightweight all-rounders that'll enhance any bike's ride

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Fulcrum Speed 40T Carbon Tubular

Size tested: 40mm deep, 24.5mm wide

Tell us what the wheel is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Fulcrum says: "Created to give maximum results when racing: for this reason every single detail of these road bike wheels has been studied to make the difference.

"Lightness, smoothness, ease of handling: Speed 40T sets new limits. Ready to perform just as you to sprint towards your goal: the finish line!"

With their impressive lack of weight, the 40Ts are unbelievably responsive and very stiff to boot.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the wheel?

TYRE TYPE Tubular

TYRE SIZE 28"

RIM MATERIAL Carbon

RIM MATERIAL DETAILS Full carbon, 3K - carbon fiber finishing

RIM HEIGHT CATEGORY Medium

RIM HEIGHT Front and rear 40 mm

RIM WIDTH 24,2 mm

TYRE WIDTH (SUGGESTED) From 25 mm to 32 mm

BRAKING SYSTEM Caliper

BRAKING SURFACE/BRAKING OPTIONS 3K carbon fiber braking surface. 3Diamant treatment on braking surface

FRONT AXLE COMPATIBILITY QR

REAR AXLE COMPATIBILITY QR

FRONT WHEEL SPOKES 18 (9 left + 9 right)

REAR WHEEL SPOKES 21, Two to one (9 left + 9 right)

SPOKES MATERIAL Stainless steel, double butted

SPOKES PROFILE TECHNOLOGY Aero, straight pull

NIPPLES Aluminum

FRONT HUB Carbon, Aluminum flanges

REAR HUB Carbon, Aluminum oversize flange

BEARINGS CULT ceramic bearings. Adjustable Cup & Cones bearing system

OTHERS Plasma treated HG freewheel. Aluminum Axle

Rate the wheel for quality of construction:
 
9/10
Rate the wheel for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the wheel for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the wheel for weight
 
9/10
Rate the wheel for value:
 
6/10

Did the wheels stay true? Any issues with spoke tension?

Absolutely no issues with anything.

How easy did you find it to fit tyres?

No issues with gluing the tubs on.

How did the wheel extras (eg skewers and rim tape) perform?

The skewers held firm and the brake pads offered stopping power parallel to that of Swiss Stop Yellow.

Tell us how the wheel performed overall when used for its designed purpose

It's a fast set of wheels, solid enough to be used daily.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the wheel

The high level of build quality.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the wheel

They could catch a side wind at times.

Did you enjoy using the wheel? Yes

Would you consider buying the wheel? It depends if my legs could justify the price...

Would you recommend the wheel to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your score

The Fulcrum Speed 40T wheels are brilliant, but then they'd need to be to justify that price tag – and to be honest they pretty much do. Carbon wheelsets this light tend to feel a little fragile and often skittish but these are as solid and easy to ride as any alloy wheel I've ever ridden.

With an impressive braking surface and excellent build quality, they are really what I'd expect a high end wheelset to resemble.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 38  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: Kinesis Aithien

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

Add new comment

5 comments

Avatar
gsavill90 (not verified) | 7 years ago
0 likes

Rather pricey, aren't they?

Avatar
bobbinogs | 7 years ago
4 likes

Articles on wheels costing £2k are always going to be a bit divisive but I really must take issue with this BS, which looks like it has come straight from the sales team:
"...if things are a little lumpy or rolling, the light weight of the 40Ts means you only need to give the pedals a little nudge to accelerate over the crest."

The wheels are ~1200g for a set so I would need to give them a little more than "a little nudge" to get up any of the little lumps that I do and I suspect it will be the same for any rider on any road that points upwards. How about we go with something real life, like "...the wheels felt like they accelerated nicely going uphill but, given the weight saving over my usual wheelset was less than a bottle of water and I weigh a few kg over my race weight of 65kg, I was not surprised to find that when I checked Strava they had actually made no difference whatsoever to my usual times. Still, they look and sound great which is the main thing."

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to bobbinogs | 7 years ago
3 likes
Bobbinogs wrote:

Articles on wheels costing £2k are always going to be a bit divisive but I really must take issue with this BS, which looks like it has come straight from the sales team: "...if things are a little lumpy or rolling, the light weight of the 40Ts means you only need to give the pedals a little nudge to accelerate over the crest." The wheels are ~1200g for a set so I would need to give them a little more than "a little nudge" to get up any of the little lumps that I do and I suspect it will be the same for any rider on any road that points upwards. How about we go with something real life, like "...the wheels felt like they accelerated nicely going uphill but, given the weight saving over my usual wheelset was less than a bottle of water and I weigh a few kg over my race weight of 65kg, I was not surprised to find that when I checked Strava they had actually made no difference whatsoever to my usual times. Still, they look and sound great which is the main thing."

You forgot to add that "they hold speed well".

Avatar
Yorky-M | 7 years ago
1 like

Are these just Bora 35mm?

Avatar
reippuert replied to Yorky-M | 7 years ago
1 like
mylesrants wrote:

Are these just Bora 35mm?

yes (as always Campagnolo = Fullcrum)

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