Fulcrum Soniq ALX Alloy SRAM XDR T/L Disc Brake Road Wheelset

The Fulcrum Soniq ALX Alloy SRAM XDR T/L Disc Brake Road Wheelset is positioned as the firm’s top aluminium offering for all-road and gravel riding, combining modern rim dimensions with several of the brand’s signature technologies. They’re really high quality wheels with the emphasis on durability.

The Soniq ALX wheels come with a neat pair of tubeless valves and a little certificate – which Fulcrum badges its FIC (Fulcrum ID card) – verifying the QC process at the factory for that specific pair of wheels.

The valves are good quality and installed into the rim. Being un-drilled, there’s no need for rim tape, which I like a lot. Setting up a set of tubeless tyres on these rims was therefore a total breeze – honestly easier than some inner tube set ups I’ve had in the past.

At 23mm internal, the rims plump up wider road tyres nicely, and would also be well suited to gravel. Fulcrum itself rates the wheels for tyres from 25mm up to 69mm (about 2.7 inches) so they’re nothing if not versatile.

The rim has a relatively low profile of 33mm, which steps up around each spoke nipple to give an aesthetic similar to Fulcrum’s 2-Wave Rim profile wheels. They do certainly look premium, and fit the look of any modern road or gravel bike.

My test wheels came fitted with a Sram XD-R freehub, so I used them on my Specialized Crux gravel bike, fitted with some slick Challenge Strade Bianca tyres for a bit of light gravel/allroad riding.

Once they were set up, a little shakedown ride came with one or two pings and pops from spokes settling into place and everything bedding in – but the wheels still ran true, and all of the straight pull, bladed spokes were under tension.

At 1,745g, these are a pretty hefty set of wheels. There’s no two ways about it, alloy is always going to be a few hundred grams heavier than a carbon wheelset of similar depth. I usually run a pair of Roval Rapide C38 wheels on my Crux, which are closer to 1,600g (albeit more expensive than these Fulcrums) and the additional weight being mainly concentrated at the alloy rim certainly felt noticeable at first. However, after a few rides, the feeling of lugging around the extra weight receded and the wheels felt stiff and responsive with very little flex when kicking out of the saddle.

I would describe the wheels as solid feeling. With wider tyres, I did run some pretty low pressures and, on lighter gravel sections, could feel my rim getting dinged on a few occasions by the odd rock or rut. Had I been riding a carbon rim, I likely would have damaged it in some of these situations (or, at least, had to stop to check) but, with the hefty alloy rims, I could quite confidently take a bit of a hit and keep rolling without fear of the wheel exploding underneath me.

Up until the popularisation of disc brakes on drop bar bikes, I – and many others – would have two sets of wheels; race wheels and training wheels. More often than not, the training rims would be aluminium – primarily for their durability, as well as their low cost. This requirement for durability was mainly down to the braking surface; not wanting to wear out a carbon brake track in the winter or through day-to-day use. Now disc brakes are commonplace on road bikes (and virtually always found on any off road bike) aluminium is a lot less popular. I actually really enjoyed using these wheels though and seeing how far aluminium has come. They felt stiff and, although there’s a bit of a weight penalty, the durability people sought from aluminium wheels all those years ago remains.

Value wise, this is where the Fulcrums become slightly unstuck. At a penny shy of £600, they’re certainly up there amongst the most expensive alloy wheel options. There are plenty of aluminium alternatives for a bit less money. Hunt’s 4 Season All-Road Disc Wheelset comes in at £479, for example, while DT Swiss’s GR 1600 Spline will set you back £539 for wheels of a similar weight.

However, for just a little more you could step up to carbon and look for something with a deeper rim and lighter weight. The Van Rysel VR 50s will cost you about £150 more, but will save you 150g with the bonus of a 50mm deep aero optimised rim. Scribe’s Inception 50+ Disc wheelset is cheaper still at just £649 for an even lighter 1,580g pair of 50mm wheels.

However, carbon isn’t everything. If you want a second wheelset for training, commuting, or riding somewhere where durability is of paramount importance and you simply can’t afford a carbon rim failure – say an ultra race or long distance bikepacking trip – then I think these Fulcrums have a place.

On paper, these wheels sit close to the upper limit of what you can expect from alloy wheel design, and in practice they deliver a solid, dependable ride with a clear emphasis on durability over light weight and value. You could spend a little bit more and get some deeper carbon rims, but if you’re after a really high quality set of wheels and carbon isn’t top of your wish list, then these are worth a look.