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

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'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 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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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