Commuting - Upgrading wheels; aksium, fulcrum 7 or R500

hi guys, i have a 2012 trek 7.3fx with its stock nebula wheels. Now i dont know how crappy these wheels are neither do i know how much they really weigh. I am now thinking of getting better wheels so i can have that slight bump in speed. I use my bike mainly for commuting and some 20-30km weekend rides. I weigh 80kg.

what do you think about the aksium, fulcrum 7 and r500. yes, i know that these are all entry levels. i dont want to spend a lot right now as i am thinking of getting a new bike mid next year and will spend my money on that one. i have some spare change at the moment for any of these (they are pretty much in the same range) Im located in China and there are really not a lot of choices here aside from Giant. I am lucky as it is to be able to find a LBS that has these.

r500 is the cheapest of the 3
aksium and fulcrum 7 are pretty much neck to neck with a 30% price difference from the r500

its hard to decide as i am really new into cycling.. but tons of people has already told me that if i will be changing something to my bike..the wheels must be the one to be upgraded. thanks in advance

From the options, would go for the Fulcrums, I've been using Fulcrum 7's for several years now, the original version commuting with approx 100-110kg total weight, worked great till I was hit by a car and the rear wheel rim was bent.

Have been using the current version for over a year now for long distance cycling, with approx 90-95kg total weight, the rear is starting to show some wear now, but it has done around 10,000 KM so would expect to replace in a year or 2.

The Fulcrums also use non-proprietary spokes (i.e. you can replace with normal spokes) if any are ever needed to be replaced, but haven't touched mine since I bought them, and they are still as true as then

thanks jimc101. I did go with the fulcrums racing 7s although as soon as i installed them and took them for a ride i wished i had the racing 5s instead :) in any case im happy right now.. the next time i upgrade would be going straight to racing 3s

hi guys, i have a 2012 trek 7.3fx with its stock nebula wheels. Now i dont know how crappy these wheels are neither do i know how much they really weigh. I am now thinking of getting better wheels so i can have that slight bump in speed. I use my bike mainly for commuting and some 20-30km weekend rides. I weigh 80kg.

what do you think about the aksium, fulcrum 7 and r500. yes, i know that these are all entry levels. i dont want to spend a lot right now as i am thinking of getting a new bike mid next year and will spend my money on that one. i have some spare change at the moment for any of these (they are pretty much in the same range) Im located in China and there are really not a lot of choices here aside from Giant. I am lucky as it is to be able to find a LBS that has these.

r500 is the cheapest of the 3
aksium and fulcrum 7 are pretty much neck to neck with a 30% price difference from the r500

its hard to decide as i am really new into cycling.. but tons of people has already told me that if i will be changing something to my bike..the wheels must be the one to be upgraded. thanks in advance


If your are Referring to Alex R500 rims I found them to be pretty damned good for OEM rims. Very Very easy to change a flat I think only a tubular would be faster. The only reason I traded my set was that they were attached to some God awful Joytech hubs..