# Fulcrum Wheels: why so highly revered.



## rollin nolan (Jun 22, 2007)

I'm looking to build up a new bike. My LBS is suggesting Fulcrum Zeros or 1's. I respect the shop's opinion and I know there are many Fulcrum fans here on RBR. Here's my question. I've ready many a reply regarding Mavic Ksyriums saying they're not all that light for the money, not very aero due to bladed spokes and machining between the nipples and if you break a spoke you're out of luck for a week as replacements are hard to come by. (I always thought these replys were malarkey. Half the bikes on the road have Ksryiums, mine included, so Mavic must be doing something right) Anyway, I've never read a similar reply about Fulcrum even though they are very similar in design with even more widely bladed spokes and are a bit heavier and even more expensive. Is there something else about them that can't be read off a spec sheet or online forum that makes them superior. Is it the road feel, hubs, stiffness, sexy looks or something else entirely? 

I'm also considering the HED Ardennes FR. Not nearly as sexy looking, but lighter and well it's hard to beat the cyclingnews review of "best aluminum clinchers ever". 

Thanks for your insight on the Fulcrums.


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## lucer0 (Apr 13, 2007)

Half the bikes on the road have Ksyriums cause they're OEM - they come stock on a ton of mid-to-higher-end bikes. I'd consider Easton wheels as well - lightweight for the price, and I just prefer cylindrical spokes. I've seen too many bladed spokes ripped in half by a stray pedal.


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

Fulcrums as well as Mavics have certain design aspects that are not just unneeded but actually detrimental to the performance of the wheel. Case and point... Aluminum spokes. These spokes are made to look good not be strong. The great thing about this is when you need replacements for them it they will make even more $$ when you buy their very over priced spokes. Go hand built!


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## kyler2001 (Sep 8, 2005)

Zen Cyclery said:


> when you need replacements for them it they will make even more $$ when you buy their very over priced spokes. Go hand built!


Exactly...
This is the reason I'm selling my Fulcrum1's. The replacement spoke and rim prices are insane. I'm moving to Kinlin XR-270/DT Swiss 240/Aerolite because they are easily rebuildable at less than half the cost of Fulcrum 1's. Don't get me wrong...I've had zero problems with the wheels and like them alot but come on, $14 for one spoke and $160 for an aluminum rim...


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

Zen Cyclery said:


> Fulcrums as well as Mavics have certain design aspects that are not just unneeded but actually detrimental to the performance of the wheel. Case and point... Aluminum spokes. These spokes are made to look good not be strong.


Really? I will tell this too my old Mavic Crossmax MTB wheels that had those aluminum bladed spokes and too FAR more abuse than any road wheel will take. 3ft drops, more roots and ruts than most will encounter in a lifetime, etc. 

These NEVER came out of true! Only issues when I ran no tubes and sealant (32psi) and hit a rut at 25mph and put a hop in the rim. The wheel was still true and no broken spokes.

When a stick too out 1 spoke (this will never happen on hand builts) the replacement form Mavic was $3.95 (2002) and the LBS had more than I would ever need on hand.

Look, Factory wheels have their place and alot are VERY nice wheels. BUT I always find it funny when builders do nothing but put them down to sell more hand-builts. Just like when Mavic made supply of their rims to builders a lot harder to get in certain models or unavailable, many builders started to trash Mavic and only praise DT at the time.

I am sure those Crossmax SX wheels for enduro and Freeriding break spokes all the time  .


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

DIRT BOY said:


> Really? I will tell this too my old Mavic Crossmax MTB wheels that had those aluminum bladed spokes and too FAR more abuse than any road wheel will take. 3ft drops, more roots and ruts than most will encounter in a lifetime, etc.
> 
> These NEVER came out of true! Only issues when I ran no tubes and sealant (32psi) and hit a rut at 25mph and put a hop in the rim. The wheel was still true and no broken spokes.
> 
> ...


Back before I was a 29er guy I had a pair of the first x-maxs with aluminum spokes and I destroyed the rear wheel about 3 times. The problem with those wheels not the spokes but the rims. After the third rebuild i found myself picking my way down the trail like a newb and I decided to ditch the wheels and build up some cheep tanks. Don't get me wrong some people love their Mavics/Fulcrums but they are not built to be solid first. Ill bet that you weigh less than 160 lbs... Because obviously those wheels are holding up ok for you. I weighed 190 and they were unable to take it.


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

Zen Cyclery said:


> Back before I was a 29er guy I had a pair of the first x-maxs with aluminum spokes and I destroyed the rear wheel about 3 times. The problem with those wheels not the spokes but the rims. After the third rebuild i found myself picking my way down the trail like a newb and I decided to ditch the wheels and build up some cheep tanks. Don't get me wrong some people love their Mavics/Fulcrums but they are not built to be solid first. Ill bet that you weigh less than 160 lbs... Because obviously those wheels are holding up ok for you. I weighed 190 and they were unable to take it.


Nope, 165lbs plus a full CamelBak on a hardtail. These were the first generation Crossmax UST. Those rims are strong.

You said aluminum spokes were weak. Now it's the rims? which is it??


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

DIRT BOY said:


> Nope, 165lbs plus a full CamelBak on a hardtail. These were the first generation Crossmax UST. Those rims are strong.
> 
> You said aluminum spokes were weak. Now it's the rims? which is it??


I am not trying to start a fight with you... What I am saying is when Fulcrum or Mavic decide to create a new product it created by their marketing department first and then the engineers are told to build it. This makes for things that are fragile/heavy/useless that look cool. This does not mean that you cannot like the product. It just means that the product was made to be bling first and functional second. Case and point the RSYS. That was the biggest flop that any company has had in a long time because the wheels were made to look sweet first. They handed the drawings to the engineers and told them to build them but they were unable come through. That is why you had full blown wheel failures with no warning. The product was poorly designed and still rushed into production. Personally, I want my wheels to function first. If they look cool thats an added bonus but I dont want aluminum spokes, radially laced drive sides, threaded rims, or any other BS that inhibits the performance of my wheels. I have had so many sets of Mavics over the years and the only ones that have held up are my Ksyrium Elites. That is because they use standard spokes, rims, and lacing patterns.


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

Zen Cyclery said:


> I am not trying to start a fight with you... What I am saying is when Fulcrum or Mavic decide to create a new product it created by their marketing department first and then the engineers are told to build it. This makes for things that are fragile/heavy/useless that look cool. This does not mean that you cannot like the product. It just means that the product was made to be bling first and functional second. Case and point the RSYS. That was the biggest flop that any company has had in a long time because the wheels were made to look sweet first. They handed the drawings to the engineers and told them to build them but they were unable come through. That is why you had full blown wheel failures with no warning. The product was poorly designed and still rushed into production. Personally, I want my wheels to function first. If they look cool thats an added bonus but I dont want aluminum spokes, radially laced drive sides, threaded rims, or any other BS that inhibits the performance of my wheels. I have had so many sets of Mavics over the years and the only ones that have held up are my Ksyrium Elites. That is because they use standard spokes, rims, and lacing patterns.


I am not, but you said one thing then said another. You can't have it both ways.

Yes, there is some factory garbage and there is some great factory built wheels. From what I have seen, Fulcrum/Campy makes some really nice factory wheels.


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

DIRT BOY said:


> I am not, but you said one thing then said another. You can't have it both ways.
> 
> Yes, there is some factory garbage and there is some great factory built wheels. From what I have seen, Fulcrum/Campy makes some really nice factory wheels.


Im not saying that they are terrible but they could be much, much better. All three of these companies use aluminum spokes for 2 reasons. 1 they are huge and hey look cool. 2 when you break them you only can get them direct from them. They make a killing off those spokes. If all three of these companies used standard spokes then their wheels would be stronger and easier to maintain.


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

Zen Cyclery said:


> Fulcrums as well as Mavics have certain design aspects that are not just unneeded but actually detrimental to the performance of the wheel. Case and point... Aluminum spokes. These spokes are made to look good not be strong. The great thing about this is when you need replacements for them it they will make even more $$ when you buy their very over priced spokes. Go hand built!


I'd disagree that "Al spokes are inherently weak". 
A riding partner has been on Campy Eurus wheels for several years and has never broken a spoke, and wheels have held true. He is a powerful sprinter and weighs (guesstimate) close to 190 lbs.
I do agree that custom, boutique spokes are $$, that is a consideration. I ordered spare spokes for Campy Shamal wheels, they were $15 each and it took 2 weeks ...


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

tom_h said:


> I'd disagree that "Al spokes are inherently weak".
> A riding partner has been on Campy Eurus wheels for several years and has never broken a spoke, and wheels have held true. He is a powerful sprinter and weighs (guesstimate) close to 190 lbs.
> I do agree that custom, boutique spokes are $$, that is a consideration. I ordered spare spokes for Campy Shamal wheels, they were $15 each and it took 2 weeks ...


Aluminum spoke do not have nearly the break weight of steel. They also fatigue over time. The real weakness is though that because they have a lower break weight they are unable to handle the same amount of static tension as steel. Because the tension is low the rims are not supported enough and with a good amount of abuse they will start to go out of true. As the wheel goes out of true the net tension on the wheel stays the same but spokes on different sections of the wheel will either lose or gain tension. Often what happens is the some spokes gain so much tension that they begin to fail. This is one reason why rim failures are more frequent with these kind of spokes. Very uneven tension will cause rims to Crack and fail.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

neuvation too... never heard of 'em other than here. yet they seem to get recommended quite a bit


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

"My LBS is suggesting Fulcrum Zeros or 1's"

Why would they recomend something cheaper, when they can make more money selling the above?

If you are a Cat 2 or above, please ignore my comments.


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

Zen Cyclery said:


> Aluminum spoke do not have nearly the break weight of steel. They also fatigue over time. ... This is one reason why rim failures are more frequent with these kind of spokes. Very uneven tension will cause rims to Crack and fail.


Fundamentally, you are correct regarding the properties of aluminum vs steel. Similar debates rage on about framesets. However, with proper design choices, the weaknesses can be overcome. 

RBR user reviews of Campy wheels with aluminum spokes, are uniformly very high ... http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/wheels/wheelsets/campagnolo/PRD_139503_2490crx.aspx
http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/wheels/wheelsets/campagnolo/PRD_368989_2490crx.aspx

Fulcrum (re-badged & slightly redesigned Campy) wheels are also highly rated by users. 
http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/wheels/wheelsets/fulcrum/PRD_366586_2490crx.aspx
http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/wheels/wheelsets/fulcrum/PRD_408605_2490crx.aspx

Custom- or hand-built wheels can be of very good quality and very cost-effective. ... but that doesn't automatically make factory wheels inferior.


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## Gevorg (Sep 18, 2006)

My facts I am in 215-230lbs range.
Mavic like any other company around has a good products and bad products. RSYS obviously failed but Ksyrium ES and Ksyrium equipe were the best wheelsets I ever had. By best I mean reliable. I do not agree that aluminun ( alloy) spokes are weak. I have broken many spokes/rims on Bontrager race , race lite, race x-lite, neither one lasted more then 2,000 miles. but they had steel spokes. I also broke rims, hub, and spokes on Neuvation M28 aeros they did not last more then 1,500-2000 miles (they have steel bladed J spokes). Currently I have more then 8,000 miles on Ksyrium Es and more then 4,000 on Ksyrium equipe. I did not have any issues with them. I also put more then 4,000 on Mavic Crossride wheels on my MTB, early version of that wheel developed crack on the rim, and lasted only 2,300 miles but this latest version is still going strong.
BTW I got great service from all the MFG Trek, Neuvation and Mavic, each time wheelsets were replaced under warranty no issues. I also pre-ordered spare spokes for all my wheels by knowing that I am going to break them eventually.


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## mimason (Oct 7, 2006)

I am going to ride my Mav ES's into the ground until they fail and when they fail I will send to Performance for the guarantee. 

BTW I have 12k+ miles on them with no issues yet. I weighed 195 when I started riding them and now I'm 170.


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## AlexRandall (Nov 29, 2008)

To the original point: Fulcrum are based on campy hubs, which have more pawls and easier spinning bearings than the mavics. Plus the freehub has bearings and not a bushing which wears easily and damages the hub body at the same time.
I've had many iterations of Ksyrium and crossmax over the years and have found after 18months-2years that the Al spokes tend to go 'floppy'. I'm sure this happens on every type of wheel that has them regardless of brand - a lot of the high-end carbon rims will use steel spokes partly for that reason (and also for a bit of flex too). 
That said, unless it is a race wheel most of us are unlikely to need/notice the difference, and you could probably sell them to upgrade to the latest creation/fad in a years time if you felt the need.


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

I bought a set of Zeros to match my Time VXR Proteam and here is my take. 

The Good- 
They roll smooth, feel stout, reasonably light and durable (at 185 lbs, I'm not exactly a light rider). I put on over 2000 tough miles so far and it's perfectly true and round (as it should). The Red color finish is radical looking. 
Acceleration feels snappy and crisp as well. 
No need for rim tape.
Overall descent set of wheels. 
However, it does what a quality set of wheels suppose to do and nothing more in my opinion. 

Bad- 
It doesn't feel that aero and it's bit pricey (MSRP). It also feel more susceptible to cross wind. It weighs about 150 grams more than its advertised weight. 

Ugly- 
Red anodized finish can be easily scratched. 
I haven't had this issue but I understand that if a spoke breaks, it can set you back $40 or more for a spoke. 
I'm told that the aluminum spoke will fail sooner than the steel counter part. 

I bought this wheelset knowng all the short comings but overall I'm very satisfied. 
However, if you are looking for a set of reasonable priced aero/light wheels, I'd suggest a set of custom wheelset. 
WI or Tune hubs, Niobium 30mm Rims with Sapim CX-Ray spokes custom wheelset will be lighter and cheaper than this wheelset.


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## -dustin (Jan 11, 2009)

Ksyriums and Crossmaxes are good rims built to **** hubs. It's pretty simple.

Fulcrums are damn expensive rims and spokes built to badass hubs. 

Best of both worlds? Campy hubs w/ appropriate freehub, appropriate spokes, appropriate rim built by someone that cares. 

What I've noticed in the shop: Most people couldn't really care less about performance. They want what looks good. Fulcrums look good. Mavics look good. 

For whatever, I can sell a handbuilt set of wheels to an MTB-er easily. Roadies, though...damn. It's hard. Very hard.


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## eddie m (Jul 6, 2002)

-dustin said:


> For whatever, I can sell a handbuilt set of wheels to an MTB-er easily. Roadies, though...damn. It's hard. Very hard.


I think there's some real reasons that the road wheel business all went to name brand wheels. Rims on road wheels are rarely replaced, and when they are, it's critical to get the tension right on the rear wheel. I've found that the local builders around here couldn't reliably build a stable rear 10s wheel. I cringe when they tell me that they check tension by "feel." Once 20 or 24 (or even fewer) spoke road wheels became fashionable, it's even harder to build a wheel like that by hand. It's pretty hard to see how a local builder competes with a factory for that kind of wheel. 
OTOH, MTB rims are replaced more frequently (at least mine were), so it's hard to justify buying a fancy wheel that will require $40 replacement spokes. The wheels are less offset, so it's easier to adequately tension the rear wheel, and MTB wheels still use 32 spokes as well. It's more like building an old 6s than a 10s road wheel, and a lot of ordinary mechanics can build perfectly adequately wheels.

em


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## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

Fulcrum
Fulcrum Spoke Kit Race O Rear
$317.99
Contains: 14 rear right and 7 x rear left spokes
Red spokes
Does not include nipples

That is directly off of QBP.


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

True, spare spokes are expensive for the "bling" factory wheels ... about $15 each for spare spokes ... and wheels like Eurus/Shamal use 3 different spoke lengths per wheelset pair (don't know about Fulcrum, but suspect same). So, just to have 1 ea spare spoke really = 3x15 = $45.

OTOH, my limited experience is that Campy wheels (and by extension, Fulcrum) have very low risk of broken spokes, for riders of reasonable weight (under 190 lbs) on reasonable roads ... the wheels are well-designed & manufactured.


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## lazysod (Jul 4, 2008)

tom_h said:


> OTOH, my limited experience is that Campy wheels (and by extension, Fulcrum) have very low risk of broken spokes, [...]


Could that be because they use G3 / 2:1 lacing, with twice as many spokes drive-side as non-driveside? Thus the NDS spokes gets roughly the same tension as DS, so they're far less likely getting slack.


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## ssauter (Aug 1, 2007)

lazysod said:


> Could that be because they use G3 / 2:1 lacing, with twice as many spokes drive-side as non-driveside? Thus the NDS spokes gets roughly the same tension as DS, so they're far less likely getting slack.


The G3 lacing could definitely help with keeping ND spokes from going slack and lower the stess on the DS spokes compared to the same spoke count traditionally laced. Unfortunately you suffer from rather poor lateral stiffness as a result of the G3 lacing.

Steve


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## eddie m (Jul 6, 2002)

tom_h said:


> True, spare spokes are expensive for the "bling" factory wheels ... about $15 each for spare spokes ... and wheels like Eurus/Shamal use 3 different spoke lengths per wheelset pair (don't know about Fulcrum, but suspect same). So, just to have 1 ea spare spoke really = 3x15 = $45.
> 
> OTOH, my limited experience is that Campy wheels (and by extension, Fulcrum) have very low risk of broken spokes, for riders of reasonable weight (under 190 lbs) on reasonable roads ... the wheels are well-designed & manufactured.


I don't think the issue is that each spoke is expensive, it's that you need to buy the whole set to get one usable spoke. That's how Campy wheels work. 

em


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## lazysod (Jul 4, 2008)

ssauter said:


> [...] Unfortunately you suffer from rather poor lateral stiffness as a result of the G3 lacing.


Do you mean only for G3 lacing, due to the uneven distribution of spokes in the rim, or 2:1 as well?

My understanding is that with 2:1 or G3 lacing, the wheel will bend more for side loads from the left, due to the lower number of spokes, but less for side loads from the right. Because of the low bracing angle, a normally laced wheel will have have less resistance for loads from the right, so 2:1 or G3 lacing may help even out the difference.

BTW, does it really matter? In the "Bicycle Wheel", Jobst Brandt wrote that: "... a bicycle wheel is so rigid that it's elasticity is not discernible because the tires, handlebar stem, frame and saddle have much greater combined elasticity. Therefore the differences among well constructed wheels are imperceptible to a rider."
And: "If the wheel is strong enough for its intended use, then it is more than adequately stiff".


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

eddie m said:


> I don't think the issue is that each spoke is expensive, it's that you need to buy the whole set to get one usable spoke. That's how Campy wheels work.
> em


Not necessarily .. I bought individual Shamal spokes from BikeTiresDirect (BTD) last month. Campy lists individual spokes and part #s for all their wheels, they have part lists at the website.

My spokes was a 'special order' and took about 3 weeks total ... but probably because I strongly suspect BTD forgot to place _their_ order to the Campy distributor, until I called BTD to follow up, 10 days after placing my order.

Some Campy wheels (eg, Eurus) offer "mini spoke kits", but not on Shamal. Mini spoke kits are 2 each of the 3 different lengths, and there's some list price discount compared to individual spokes.


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## eddie m (Jul 6, 2002)

lazysod said:


> Do you mean only for G3 lacing, due to the uneven distribution of spokes in the rim, or 2:1 as well?
> 
> My understanding is that with 2:1 or G3 lacing, the wheel will bend more for side loads from the left, due to the lower number of spokes, but less for side loads from the right. Because of the low bracing angle, a normally laced wheel will have have less resistance for loads from the right, so 2:1 or G3 lacing may help even out the difference.


A wheel is equally stiff in each direction, regardless of dish. It may be weaker in one direction, that is, a load toward the NDS which does not cause a failure could be large enough to collapse the wheel in the other direction. I don't know if that is a real concern or not. It would take some destructive testing to figure that out. If you are interested, send me a dozen Fulcrum wheels.
For the same number of spokes, I would expect the G3 wheel to be equally stiff laterally, and stronger vertically. You could also increase the stiffness of a G3 wheel by using a hub with the NDS flange offset more. If you do that with a wheel with equal spoking, you run into the problem that the NDS tension gets too low. That's not a problem with G3.
The dealbreaker with G3 lacing is that one broken spoke makes the wheel unrideable, not strength or stiffness. That's true for most low spoke count wheels as well.



lazysod said:


> BTW, does it really matter? In the "Bicycle Wheel", Jobst Brandt wrote that: "... a bicycle wheel is so rigid that it's elasticity is not discernible because the tires, handlebar stem, frame and saddle have much greater combined elasticity. Therefore the differences among well constructed wheels are imperceptible to a rider."
> And: "If the wheel is strong enough for its intended use, then it is more than adequately stiff".


I haven't read his book, but JB mostly talks about 36 spoke conventionally laced wheels. With that qualification, I'm sure he's right. OTOH some of my larger friends feel that some low spoke count wheels are too flexible, although I have never experienced that.

em


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## wankski (Jul 24, 2005)

ssauter said:


> The G3 lacing could definitely help with keeping ND spokes from going slack and lower the stess on the DS spokes compared to the same spoke count traditionally laced. Unfortunately you suffer from rather poor lateral stiffness as a result of the G3 lacing.
> 
> Steve


not picking a fight, but that is ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE. Not only has anyone that has ridden a set of G3 wheels noted the 'solid' ride quality - but the numbers in independent tests exist out there to prove that the G3 eurus is one of the stiffest, and most aero, low profile aluminum wheelset on the market. PERIOD.

If you must go prebuilt alu, Campagnolo make the best in build and materials quality right now, and that is also expected to be true of the similar fulcrum designs. 

If i didn't lace up my own 2:1 wheelset, i would be running campag (and I still run ventos, they wont die!)


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## Ako_si_Lance (Jun 10, 2009)

Which Fulrum wheelset is comparable with Mavic Ksyrium Equipe? Performance wise and not just price wise


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## Ibashii (Oct 23, 2002)

Ako_si_Lance said:


> Which Fulrum wheelset is comparable with Mavic Ksyrium Equipe? Performance wise and not just price wise


I've been on the entire Fulcrum line at least once in the past year and I'd say, at the risk of comparing apples and oranges, that they're somewhere between the 3 and the new 'Racing 5 Evolution,' which is an OK wheelset for the price (the old Fulcrum 5s stink, IMO). The 3 seemed like a pretty darn good midlevel wheelset to me (I can't comment on durability tho). IMO if you're going to spend more than that (i.e. zeros or 1s), why not go talk to a reliable custom wheelbuilder? I don't understand the argument for dropping over a grand on factory wheels.

I have a love/hate relationship with Fulcrum. They ride nice, stiff but gentle, provide a quality wheel for any reasonable budget...and my most recent pair is tolerating my highest-mileage season in years without a problem. However, I don't like servicing them--I'm sure there's a special Campy-Fulcrum tool in shops for getting the bearing cartridges out but I don't have one so it's a PITA, and both the freehub and DS bearing housing seem to collect goo and require maintenance more often than they should--and this whole replacement spokes story is a freakin' crime: hasn't happened to me yet, but you wanna hold your customers hostage for big cash and sometimes have our bikes out of commission while we wait for fancy proprietary parts? Screw that. Part of me wants to go back to 36 nice round steel spokes just on principle.



lazysod said:


> [...]
> 
> BTW, does it really matter? In the "Bicycle Wheel", Jobst Brandt wrote that: "... a bicycle wheel is so rigid that it's elasticity is not discernible because the tires, handlebar stem, frame and saddle have much greater combined elasticity. Therefore the differences among well constructed wheels are imperceptible to a rider."
> And: "If the wheel is strong enough for its intended use, then it is more than adequately stiff".


Uh-ooo...I think I smell a little bit of truth, and I'm not sure it's only true for traditionally-laced wheels. I don't really have the science background to make the argument tho: anyone??


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## wankski (Jul 24, 2005)

Ako_si_Lance said:


> Which Fulrum wheelset is comparable with Mavic Ksyrium Equipe? Performance wise and not just price wise


define performance?
IME all wheelsets unless you are talking about lightweight AND aero designs are pretty much a wash performance wise... (btw, i define aero as <25w @ 50km/h which doesn't cover any mainstream alu wheelset in production AFAIK, and lightweight to me is say <1400g these days, JMO)

no mavic K wheelset, no matter how much u spend on them, will make u faster in a TT if that's what u mean by performance? 100g is neither here nor there either if you mean leightweight when you are talking about 1600g actual at mavic Ks 'high end'

for the money if you want a fulcrum that has awesome quality hubs and other components for the $$$, and should be for low profile alu, one of the stiffest and most aero...i'd suggest the racing 3s....

Aside from that the fulcrum 7s are a great pick as they take regular straight gauge 2.0mm j bend spokes - not expensive proprietary spokes - and have awesome build quality for the money. (incredible little being asked here, often had for under $200!!). That factor alone makes them better than anything in the K range if you just wanna 'set and forget' and pile on the training miles IMHO.


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## awiner (Aug 28, 2007)

Coming up to 15,000 miles on a pair of Fulcrum Racing Zeros.... Not an issue at all other than one spoke I needed to replace after a crash on the front wheel. The spoke set me back $12.00 .... Hubs are super smooth and easy to service.


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## spastook (Nov 30, 2007)

I have the Fulcrum Racing 1's on my Independant Fabrication. No scientific data to back me up but damn these wheels seem fast. They inspire you to dive into corners and hold a line beautifully. I have a Shimano Dura/Ace 7801 wheelset on my Orbea Opal and I use this bike for local club T.T.'s and I'm considering swapping over to the Fulcrum 1's because they feel so damn fast.


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## lyleseven (Nov 15, 2002)

Good luck if you think they are going to wear out!!! They are light, fast and durable as hell!


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