RShea

Looking at a spare set of wheels for my road bike. There are a number of possible good deals out there on used Fulcrum Wheels. Fulcrum 5, 6 and 7. I had looked at them years ago when I was shopping to replace the stock wheels on my Specialized Allez Sport. But not sure of the difference between the 3 models and others opinions of the wheels. About the use for these, no racing just group training rides. Usually run 700x25 tires.

f4rrest

My fulcrum 5 have been fine for 2 years (about 10,000 miles). I broke 1 spoke, but other than that haven't had to true them yet. The rear bearings have developed a bit of play, and since they're cartridge bearings, I cannot adjust the preload to take the play away. New bearings are about $20 for a pair though.

Maelochs

I'd have to ask some to see.

surgeonstone

Have been riding two pair of fulcrum 5's for the past 3 years with no problems, until this past week when I rode through a flooded road in three different sites with water over the hubs. Not a good idea, but they have been a very reliable set of wheels.

Marcus_Ti

Like all boutique wheels... The parts are bizzarro non standard and very expensive if you ever need spokes or free hub pawl springs or bearings or ofc rims

Jofu

So Fulcrum is owned and produced by Campagnolo. Are the Fulcrum wheels not sharing anything with Campagnolo wheels?

Geoff

GeneO 

7s have been pretty bombproof for me and I am heavy and ride on terrible roads.

OnyxTiger

I bought a pair of FR5s just a month ago, needing some training wheels. Found a set on Craigslist for $100... seller had used them for 4 years for the same purpose. Said he trues them up once a year, but otherwise bombproof.

The rub is, I thought they'd be a problem for me, especially considering I'm 265 lbs and like to do OOS sprints and also have bombed down descents doing 40+.

So far, they've been impressive. No issues with true... I don't like to slow down much on gnarly patches of road, and have hit some 2 inch bumps at speed. The model I have are the 20f/24r ones (I'm aware they went down on spoke count), but these spin up great and hold speed well. Light, and spin for a good amount of time. The front bearing is starting to have a sort of grainy noise that's only detectable when spinning off the stand with little environmental noise, but no problems with spin.

At $100, I probably wouldn't throw anymore cash at it to service the hubs with new cartridge or anything, but I would certainly consider another 20/24 set for training... they've done me no wrong. I hear the spokes are like $15 a pop (pun intended obv)

Inpd

I bought the Fulcrum 7 LGs for one bike and the Campy Khamsins for another. The 7 LGs are nice wheels but the Khamsins are little nicer. But if the 7s are even a bit cheaper I would buy them.

I also don't understand the relationship b/w the product lines of Fulcrum and Campy. Someone wrote that its so that Campy can sell Shimano compatible products under a different brand name, but many Campy wheel sets (like the Khamsins) are available with either a Shimano or Campy hub.

Inpd

Forgot to mention a key difference.

The 7 LGs have a 23mm interior rim width and the cheaper Campy wheels (i.e.the Khamsins) only 20.5mm

But the Khamsins have sealed bearings (inject @dr_lha saying nothing wrong with bearings) which are great in terms of not having to service the wheelset.

RobbieTunes

I'd take a Khamsin over a Fulcrum 7, having had both, but the 5, 6, or 7 are not bad wheels. Bearings are cheap and easy to replace, the wheels are simple to true and maintain, and they are sick cheap used in many cases.

Marcus_Ti

Not sure about part compatibility...but if you break one NDS spoke it'll cost $50. The damn things only care sold in front/read combined "kits" that include only ONE NDS spoke.

Sy Reene

Doesn't the CX Version that's available for FR7s accomplish the sealed bearing desire? I'm looking at either LG CX 5 or 7s for my commuter to replace the stock wheels (which is built on a Nashbar steel CX frame) and to hold 35mm tires.

Also... I'm pretty sure the EXTERIOR rim width of the LGs is 23mm; not the interior.

garciawork

My 3 2-way's have been golden since... 2011 I believe. No truing, thousands of miles, still straight as day one.

velociraptor

I have 2 sets of Racing 3's, 2011 and 2015.

I love them, relatively lightweight at ~1550g and completely bombproof. The perfect all-purpose wheelset. Particularly excellent for climbing.

~4k miles on the '15s and ~9k miles on the '11s and haven't yet had to true or service the hubs.

Although I'll probably rebuild the hubs on the '11s this winter just to be proactive.

MagicHour

I have a set of both 7 LG CX and 5 LG. It's subtle, but I prefer the ride of the 5 LGs - a little lighter, bladed spokes. Seem to roll better and feel lighter, climbing. Don't feel as harsh as the 7s-I'm 160#. Tested with a 700x28 panaracer gravel King ~90-95psi.

I originally bought the 7 LG CX to use on my all-road black mountain cycles set up thinking the upgraded bearing seals would be better for longevity and against dust and dirt, and use the 5 LGs as a spare set/rear trainer wheel. Ended up swapping roles after some test rides, and now use the 7 LG as my trainer wheel. I plan on upgrading the 5 Lg bearings to better sealed ones, come time to replace them , which I believe will bring them up to CX level spec. Otherwise there is no other difference between LG and LG CX models - per Fulcrum tech support inquiry.

In any case these Fulcrums are decent budget wheels-got both sets from Wiggle with ridiculously fast free shipping to NYC.

K.Katso

Fulcrum are basically just Campagnolo with another brand name on them. The Fulcrum Red Wind wheels I have for one of my old bikes are exactly the same as the Campy Bullet wheels my friend has on his bike. The only difference is the Shimano hub and the stickers. They are high-quality wheels, I don't believe they are any less quality than the other set of Campy wheels that I have. I have a few friends that swear by the Fulcrum Racing Zero wheels, one of them has had his for a number of years with no problems and he is a pretty big guy and very hard on equipment. In my opinion you can't really go wrong with that brand.

caloso

Fulcrums came as the stock wheels on my Tarmac. "Racing S Four", which is apparently a 3 rim on 5 hub. Pretty nice aluminum wheelset: seems solid enough for daily wheelset.

Doug28450

Trying out for U-Boat commander?

fietsbob

Well is this a Romanian Campagnolo product, or did they go to Taiwan to get them made ?

surgeonstone

And I made it, like most U Boat commanders my vessel was sunk.

2manybikes

Glad it was U boat and not my boat.


Too easy, I know, but I could not resist.

qcpmsame 

I put over 20,000 miles on my original OEM set of Racing7, I still have them, I'm just waiting for a build to use them. The only reason I got the Racing7 LG was to use the 11 speed 6800 cassette when I purchased an Ultegra group set. Bearings on the originals are still smooth, no broken or loose spokes ever came up. I'd recommend them, the spares are readily available, and prices on wheel sets, and parts, can be great. the Racing7 LG were $129.00, from Ribble.

Bill

ne_dan

Campy wheels with a Shimano freehub

RShea

Thanks for the comments. I thought about them and based on the comments that the spokes are not usually readily available and pricey, I went another direction. Picked up a set of Neuvation M28 wheels. May try them as the main primary set on the the bike for awhile and use the set on there now as a backup set.