# Campagnolo Bullet Ultra 80mm Review



## hppy4u (Sep 15, 2002)

Just wanted to share my recent experience (roughly 500 miles worth) of riding on these wheels. Just a little background on the reviewer: I am 5' 10" and ~200 lbs (90kgs) with a background in track sprinting. Most of my weekday rides are <1hr and my weekends usually involve 40-50 mile rides. I love to sprint (even at 42 years of age) so most of my rides will involve standing starts, kilo efforts, and lost of jumps/sprints hence the shorter rides…I get pooped very easily and don't have a lot of endurance. Additionally, most of my jumps/sprints will peak around 1600-1750 watts depending on how I am feeling (this will give any Clydes a point of reference with my wheel review). 

Finally, I am writing this review because before I purchased these reviews I tried to read as many reviews on these wheels since I was in the market for a stiff wheel set with aerodynamic properties. 

Now the review:
These wheels came in close to advertised weight weight (820g front & 963g rear) advertised weight was 815g front and 955g rear. They feel lighter than the numbers state when you hold them in your hand but the scales don't lie. 

Fit and finish was astounding in my set. Not a single blemish on the aluminum brake track, carbon section, spokes or hubs. So far so good considering I got them from Ribble Cycles and thought that they would incur some damage on such a long trip to Texas. The only adjustment I needed to make was on the rear hub since the bearing cap was a little snug. From my research online, it appears Campy likes to ship the rear hubs slightly snug so all your need to do is loosen the rear bearing cap (2.5mm hex wrench) and gently tap the other end of the axle with a mallet. After tightening the cap, there should be a minuscule amount of play which allows the wheel to spin smoothly when clamped into the dropouts. 

Since these wheels do not require any rim strip, installing the new tire (in my case a Vittoria Open Corsa EVO-CX 700x20C) and tube (Vittoria Ultralite 700x19/23 with removable core) was a breeze. No need for tire levers for installation (although I use talcum powder for the tubes/tires). 

Note: Campagnolo sends the wheels, quick releases, magnetic tool for spoke replacement, valve extenders, and wheel bags. Pretty nice considering the big brand wheel companies require you to scavenge these items before being able to ride. 

Now onto the ride: From the initial push off they are smooth and responsive! Campagnolo really deserves all the fanfare regarding their bearings/hubs because they feel almost effortless every time I start my ride! It really gives you a sense of satisfaction when you spend your hard earned money on something that works the way it's advertised. My other wheels are EDGE 65s on White Industry/Powertap Pro hubs and Kinlin XR300 with Chris King R45 front/White Industry rear hubs and they are no comparison to these Campagnolo Bullets. The only complaint I find regarding the wheels is that you have to be cautious where you prop your bike because the bearings are so smooth that it wants to roll away from you when you lean it against walls, tables, chairs etc. My other wheels were a little more "civilized" from this perspective. 

Rolling speeds really seem to have improved! I originally thought that it was purely psychological ( placebo effect) but after riding the same roads I have been riding on for the past year I have found that I can really maintain slightly higher speeds…anywhere from 1-2.5mph based on my Garmin uploads. All while encountering the usual head,cross, tail winds. Admittedly, initial acceleration is slightly compromised when pulling away from stoplights but once rolling acceleration issues become nonexistent. Where these wheels really shine are during sprint or kilo efforts! Any type of high speed riding results in an immature grin from ear to ear. I have this one stretch of road where I like to do sprint efforts (short and slight downhill approximately 2-3% grade for about 200 meters followed by a nice flat section for about 500 meters) and what I have experienced are consistently higher max speeds followed by a longer duration of higher speeds. My personal best top speed has jumped approximately 2.5mph with similar power needed compared to my climbing wheels (Kinlin XR300s). Additionally, in my wheel set the freewheel is nearly silent when coasting but when climbing and sprinting the wheels give the ubiquitous "whirr whirr" sound that all carbon wheels make. 

Hopefully, anybody who is interested in these wheels will now have another review to consider when they are doing their homework. All I could find in my searches were reviews on Wiggle Cycles and a couple of cursory reviews but nothing regarding their use by heavier riders. Additionally, it seems like most of the comments on these wheels were from those who have never even seen these wheels in person let alone actual ride time. One final point is that my original apprehension in purchasing these wheels were in regards to the lateral stiffness characteristics…so far I have not encountered any issues but as an extra measure of insurance i am using slightly narrower tires to gain more clearance within the chain stays/seat stays. The Ridley Noah is notorious for tight tolerances (30mm opening so any of the wider rims with wider tires would only allow 1-2 mm of clearance on either side of the tire). I now have nearly 5 mm on each side of the tire.


----------



## MercRidnMike (Dec 19, 2006)

Sounds like they built the Bullets like a carbon faired set of Zonda or Eurus wheels. That's good news to me...the Zondas have been getting my Clyde butt around just fine and I've been contemplating some aero wheels that don't break the bank.


----------



## aa.mclaren (Jun 25, 2008)

I'm riding Campy Bullets from time to time, though the 2-way Zondas are my everyday wheels. My Bullet 50s are the standard version with Campy's grade 10 steel bearings and brass nipples, also the axles are steel. None of which detrimentally affect the wheels' performance. I was racing deep aero wheels nearly 20 years ago (Mavic Cosmic) that weighed more, and had a shallower profile. Consistent with their higher profile, these hold their speed, exactly how much faster will vary according to conditions, but in the whole, yes these are faster wheels than the Zondas in most situations. Sidewinds, another thing to be mindful of, but easily compensated for; gusts could be a problem if you're really squeezed for road space. That's the price of high rim profiles full stop, even the fancy toroidal or 'firecrest' rims will be buffeted around to some degree.

Now I've had these since January 2013 and I've tried both Vredestein Tri Comps and Hutchinson Atom Comps so far, the former are a reliable tire if somewhat dead feeling, the Atom Comp feels a bit livelier but flat very easily. I'd have to say tubeless has spoiled me, and my expectations of comfort, lightweight and puncture resistance are probably outside the specs of most conventional clinchers. Pity that the Bullets in 2-way fit were only a very limited initial production run (the rumour was that C. were not happy with the performance of the longer tubeless valves required for those wheels).

For rides where it is possible to get stuck into a steady rhythm most of the time, these Bullets are great. For rides with lots of twisty roads, up and down, sections of moonscape pavement (which I deliberately ride sometimes) the shallower profile, 250g lighter weight, and the advantage of tubeless tires with the Zondas, are still my first choice. But my quest for the best clincher tire for my Bullets will see a fair bit of mileage yet.

One point of note concerning advertised wheel weights, Campy always base that on the lightest available spec. So the Bullet Ultras are weighed with CULT bearings, but the USB are marginally heavier and the Bullet Ultra with standard bearings, somewhat more again. For the standard non-Ultra Bullet, the stated weight is with USB bearings. Mine in the basic version were about 40g over but steel balls will weigh that bit extra. (50mm Bullet Standard: Front, 800g, Rear, 995g = 1795g total).

But compared to aluminum Mavic Cosmics from 1995 that weighed about 2,000+g with a 12mm shallower profile? No complaints from me.


----------



## AndrewBC (Mar 30, 2021)

I bought an 80mm Bullet front wheel with the standard bearings which I think are not advertised as 2-way fit. However, I wonder if anyone knows if it can be run with 25mm Schwalbe Pro One tubeless tires. I have a 100mm stem and got the tire to seat, and hold up to 100psi, but I didn't put sealant in it, and I didn't install it on my bike. It held the air overnight. So my question is this, can the 80mm Bullets with standard bearings be run with Schwalbe Pro One tubeless tires?


----------



## CrankyCarbon (Dec 17, 2014)

AndrewBC said:


> I bought an 80mm Bullet front wheel with the standard bearings which I think are not advertised as 2-way fit. However, I wonder if anyone knows if it can be run with 25mm Schwalbe Pro One tubeless tires. I have a 100mm stem and got the tire to seat, and hold up to 100psi, but I didn't put sealant in it, and I didn't install it on my bike. It held the air overnight. So my question is this, can the 80mm Bullets with standard bearings be run with Schwalbe Pro One tubeless tires?


I ran 25mm Vittoria Rubino Pro tubeless ready (with no sealant) on my 50mm Bullets Ultras front and rear wheel for about a month as a test last year (yes the carcass would lose air slowly - but good enough for an hour local ride). I used the valves from my Fulcrum Competizione wheels.

Just test it with tubeless tires and valves without sealant and see if it holds wells. The bullets did come as a tubeless variety. I ran mine without sealant just as a test but ended up using the tires on another set of wheels. I don't know what the rim difference would be as my rim has only one hole for the valve and the tubeless valve fit fine. The rim looked the same (other than width) as my 2way fit tubeless Fulcrum Competiziones .. thus I did that test.

It's odd because Campagnolo had the 2-way fit for "Ultra" and Ultra without Cult or USB bearing but also with the regular bearings according to their Technical Manual.
look for the download file 2012 035_277_Technical manual 2012_wheels_Campagnolo.pdf for the details. It's kinda confusing so you'll want to figure it out.


----------

