Fulcrum Wind 42 Carbon SRAM XDR T/L Disc Brake Road Wheelset

The Fulcrum Wind 42 Carbon SRAM XDR T/L Disc Brake Road Wheelset is a versatile, mid-depth carbon pair that balances aerodynamics stiffness and comfort at a relatively competitive price. The Fulcrums are stable in crosswinds, lively when you’re accelerating and their handling is impressive, making them a solid upgrade option if you’re looking for a do-it-all wheelset – especially as they’re also designed to tackle light off-road duties too.

Fulcrum Wind 42 Carbon: Build and specs

The Fulcrum Wind 42s are part of the Italian company’s ‘Wind’ range, which it positions as a practical performance option beneath its higher-end Speed and Racing lines. The 42mm rim depth sits right in the middle of the aero spectrum, offering a balance between outright speed on the flat and comfort, with their light gravel ability an added bonus.

Fulcrum has gone wide with these, in line with most modern wheels, the carbon rims having a 23mm internal width and a 29mm external width. This means they can run tyres from 25mm wide to a whopping 69mm – if you’ve got a frame for this sort of clearance, of course. It means that while they’re designed for lighter gravel rides, you could easily fit fatter gravel tyres.

The finish on the rims is clean and understated, with a subtle matt carbon look and small non-shouty decals.

The hubs are Fulcrum’s own aluminium design, built with sealed cartridge bearings.

Spokes are straight-pull and bladed, with 24 front and 24 rear, laced in Fulcrum’s two-to-one pattern. This design doubles the number of spokes on the drive side of the rear wheel, which the brand says balances tension better and increases lateral stiffness under load. In practice, it gives the rear wheel a solid, planted feel when putting down power. It also makes putting speed sensors on the hubs so much easier than traditional patterns.

Fulcrum Wind 42 Carbon: Ride

The keyword for these wheels is stability.

In windy condition rims over 40mm deep can often feel twitchy, especially when a crosswind hits – but the Fulcrum Wind 42s stayed composed throughout testing. When cornering they are also stiff and dependable, so while not quite the kind of on-rails experience you would expect from a super-premium wheelset, they are not too far off and were more than good enough for me to feel confident when I hit corners fast.

Acceleration is snappy enough to satisfy most riders. Out-of-the-saddle sprints and short, sharp climbs felt sharp and they spun up quickly when I put the power down. The freehub doesn’t have as engagement quite as quick as you’ll find on more premium options, but again, 99% of us aren’t going to notice this.

They carry speed well once up to pace too, and while 42mm rims are never going to produce the same whooshing sound as something deeper, it is still there and still sounds good.

When it comes to sound, the most noticeable element of these wheels compared to a lot of others I have used is that the freehub is very quiet. On most rides I could actually hear the road buzz louder than the freehub, which isn’t something that happens too often. When I was riding on clear and dry days it was only when I was riding past walls that I could hear it.

Although they’re not the lightest wheels out there, they still feel lively on climbs, and while you are aware you’re hauling a mid-depth aero rim rather than something more mountain goaty, they don’t feel sluggish at all. With sensible tyres they strike a very good balance between aero advantage and manageable weight.

Ride quality is also impressive. I paired these with 28mm S-Works Turbo tubeless tyres run at around 65psi, and they offered a smooth and composed feel, I even took them on some hard pack and they felt comfortable. There’s enough compliance to take the sting out of potholes and chipseal, but they still feel taut when you’re pushing hard through corners. It’s a good blend that makes them well suited to mixed terrain and all-day riding.

Fulcrum Wind 42 Carbon: Set up

Out of the box they’re tubeless-ready, with rim tape and valves supplied. Setting them up tubeless was straightforward. The supplied tape was well applied and airtight straight away, and the included valves seated firmly without leaking. I mounted the tyres easily and they popped into place with a standard track pump – no compressor required.

Inflation was consistent, and they held pressure well during testing. As always, different tyres and sealants combine differently with different rims, but in this case they all seem to merge together very well.

Fulcrum Wind 42 Carbon: Value

The Fulcrums weigh 1,534g – not including rim tape and valves – and with an RRP of £1449.99, the Wind 42s sit about where I’d expect. They’re no featherweights, but this is an upper-mid-market pair of wheels from a well-respected brand and feature a lot of trickle-down tech.

They’re in the same ballpark as Hunt’s Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc Wheelset that costs £1479. The Hunts are also lighter at 1,430g despite having rims that are 8mm deeper, though some of that difference will be down to the Hunts having a hookless rim, whereas the Fulcrums have a hooked rim, and realistically there’s not much in it.

The £1,199 Giant SLR 1 50 Disc WheelSystem also have 8mm deeper hookless rims and at 1,525g they’re almost exactly the same weight, but they didn’t have quite the same punch when putting the power down.

Our best road bike wheels buyer’s guide features our favourites from £300 to over £3,000.

Overall

The Fulcrum Wind 42 Carbon SRAM XDR T/L Disc Brake Road Wheelset is a very capable all-rounder – stiff enough to feel responsive, deep enough for aero benefits and stable enough to ride with in mixed conditions and at speed. They’re not the lightest – though that’s a price to pay for their off-road toughness – and the freehub could be a tad sharper, but those are small trade-offs for what is otherwise a well-rounded and highly practical set of wheels.

Verdict

Impressive and fast wheels that are punchy, hold their speed well and you can take them off the tarmac too…

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