Originally Posted by
macca33
Mate, it was a 70Km handicap road race and the difference in performance - at my level - is probably almost insignificant. What I do notice is the R1s are a bit sharper in handling (less flex / stiffer) and they spin up slightly quicker.
As for maintenance, I bought them second-hand and have done 4500Km on them (through rain, etc), so have the freewheel apart to replace the bearings and give them a good clean-up.
cheers
Thanks. Your response really underscores the difference in wheelsets for the average weekend warrior. Fulcrum 1's which are awesome wheels cost nearly 3's more than Fulcrum 5's. They are a bit lighter and stiffer. Some, particularly those that don't race, may prefer the slightly less stiff ride quality of the Fulcrum 5's. The durability difference is also unclear but the 5's may also be a bit more robust because of spoke count. In summary one is paying almost 3x's as much for the Fulcrum 1's and yet you correctly state the difference for an amateur racer is probably small. I really believe that captures the high end wheelset debate.