dr_max

https://www.fulcrumwheels.com/jspfulc...lse&xc29=false

My friend say he doesn't trust carbon wheels like Zipp 303 or 404 because of the rought roads here in Quebec they often crack when we hit those huge potholes in races.

What should I do with? I have Ksyrium ES right now and wanted to go carbon. Are the Fulcrums that far better?

tekhna

Fulcrum Zeros are tight. As for whether it's worth more for the two way fit, I don't know. But if I weren't interested in aero and wanted to dump my Mavics I'd do it for Fulcrums.

Val23708

those spokes are very expensive to replace...

dr_max

What's the price approximately?

bdcheung

$46

awiner

I had to replace a spoke in March on my front Fulcrum Zero. It was a $12 item.

thedips

you dont get em for value... you get them because they look sweet and are lightweight...

reasons you dont get them for value..
- proprietary spokes, and nipples (which are very pricey)
- aluminum nipples and rims have tendency to seize and saves little weight over fulcrum 1s (stainless nipples)
- they are a pain to true... or cant be trued much (tend to create stress cracks around the nipples if you are not careful with them 2 local mechanics both urge not to true them if not really needed)

lots of other rims and wheels out there (custom made) etc are just better designed or tend to get more "BANG FOR THE BUCK"

with that all said i have them... i love them because i got them for the bling.. mine are the all red version... i take very very good care of them..clean them and inspect them after every other ride. they stay round and true.. they feel very stiff not flexy and spin free and fast (ceramic)...



ps. awiner- where did u get quoted on 12$? i was quoted over double that for spokes.... any info? thanks..

JayC

I bought some replacement rear spokes last year. They were $35.00 each.

However, I think the odds of you breaking one is pretty slim. Ive ridden the crap out of mine and theyve never even gone out of true. I weigh about 240 and Im hard on wheels.

The front spokes might be a little cheaper OR all of them could be cheaper since Campy is handling all the Fulcrum stuff now instead of it going through a 3rd party like it used to.

awiner

I bought a couple Red Zero spokes (They also come with a nipple) from Airbomb at $12 each. https://store.airbomb.com/

Front Spoke Info: ( https://store.airbomb.com/ItemDesc.asp?IC=SP9530 )

Airbomb Part No.: SP9530
Manufacturer Part No.: R0R-SR

They also have the Rear Spokes for $15.00 Each. ( https://store.airbomb.com/ItemDesc.asp?IC=SP9531 )

Airbomb Part No.: SP9531
Manufacturer Part No.: R0F-SR

One of the specs say the spoke is silver, but it is indeed RED and is the correct part # from the Fulcrum parts list. It seems Airbomb now has them in stock, or at least QBP does.

dr_max

Isn't Aribomb really pricey over shipping though?

Bob Dopolina 

I've ridden the crap out of my Racing 1 wheelset. They even survived 6 weeks of racing in Belgium.

They are solid.

I have NEVER seen a rim failure and I handle these wheels (through a service center) on a daily basis. Spoke failures have all been due to crashes.

I have seen some galvanic corrosion on a few Racing Zeros but I live on an island in the tropics. Salty ocean air has an effect on quite a lot of stuff here. YMMV.

DrPete 

The only gripe I could ever manage to come up with for the Fulcrum 1's was that they were almost TOO stiff. Totally indestructible, super fast, raced crits for 2 seasons and never needed a spoke wrench. Just awesome wheels.

JayC

Yea.. mine got stepped on. Thats why I needed new spokes. Coming to a stop, the rider behind me didnt realize I was stopping and knocked me down and in the processing of unclipping stepping on my front wheel.

DaveSSS 

I've had the Fulcrum Zero for two years and had no problems. The spokes are indeed aluminum, but the nipples are nickel plated, so I'm not sure if they are also aluminum. I've had no problem with siezing, but I don't ride in the wet and I've only tweaked a couple of spokes in two years.

No wheel that I know of uses stainless steel nipples. Stainless spokes sure, but the nipples will be aluminum or nickel plated brass.

All that said, if damaging a rim is much of a possibility, you'd be better off with something cheaper and lighter like speed dream wheels or even HED Ardennes.

I never thought much about repair costs until I trashed my Powertap wheelset in a car/bike accident. The drivers car insurance paid for the rebuild, so I didn't care what it cost, but replacing two DT Swiss RR1.1 rims, all new spokes and rebuild labor was only $300. A carbon rim alone might be $750.

Rebuilding a Fulcrum would be quite expensive - perhaps not even worth doing, depending on whether the spokes were reused. The nipples are very difficult to install. They are inserted into the valve stem hole and guided over to the rim hole with a magnet - one by one. A special steel insert is screwed into the nipple to allow the magnet to attract it.

Zen Cyclery

Alloy spokes are a pain. Have thought about a custom built set?

garysol1 

Why not look at a strong aluminum rimmed carbon wheel such as the Mavic Carbon Carbones? You will get the aero effect of a 54mm carbon rim with the strength of your ES's. They are a bit heavy but unless your doing BIG climbs the aero effect will trump the weight gain.

awiner

I don't remember off hand but I believe shipping for two spokes was approx $8.

So in essence if you added shipping into the price, each spoke was $16.00 ($12+$4)....

Bob Dopolina 

+1.

Once you get the hang of it it's more time consuming than difficult. A PITA either way.

JayC

Get a set of HED Jets if you want the carbon bling without the carbon fragileness.

Theyre fast wheels and given their construction, I ride mine all the time.

Geoff326

I have fulcrum 1's and bent a spoke when my bottle flew out of the cage and hit the rear wheel. I ended up payin' $16 for a replacement spoke and $9 for shipping .


Here's a site where you can get fulcrum replacement spokes. I didn't order mine from here, I forgot which site I ordered from.
https://www.bikeparts360.com/products...spokesnipples/

PanicDog

The OP already has Mavic Ksyrium ES (1490g claimed) and these Fulcrum Racing Zeros are claimed at 1425g. So, they are both aluminum wheels with aero spokes.

The Fulcrums can take a tubeless tire. Other than that, is there any difference between the two?

dr_max

What about these? https://cgi.ebay.com/HED-JET-650c-Tub...ayphotohosting

Do they have any better yeard actually?

kayakdiver

^^^^^^^

don't quite understand your question but are you really looking for 650C's?

dr_max

I finally bought a brand new set of Reynolds Assault wheelset at $840 on eBay instead. Had Mavic Ksyrium ES, wanted to try carbon. Didn't go Mavic for now.

Think I had a great deal?

kergin

They are Campagnolo wheels, which means they ought to be tough as f*ck and very smooth.