Bicyclism

The Fulcrum Racing Light is a fabulously expensive, fabulously light and fabulously good looking climbing wheel set for the serious cyclist ... or for the serious poseur!  Hill wheels for the Quickstep, Liquigas, Lampre and Cofidis teams, Fulcrum's new carbon climbing wheels have been tested at the ultimate level of competition.  But can they measure up to the probably even more demanding needs of the obsessive road bike granfondisti set?  Are these the weapons of choice to psyche the competion out on the starting line?  Are they the perfect match to your brand new Pinarello Prince, Look 595 or Ridley Noah?  Here is my summary: These wheels are roughly equivalent to strapping on a rocket when ascending your least friendly local hills...If you wanted more efficiency than these to get up hills, take the chair lift.  And then there is the cornering.  Carbon rails.  You cannot get better than this.  No way, no how.  And what about resistance to gusty side winds?  What wind...

---

 

 

Wheels are a hard thing to test.  They are such an integrated part of any bike that it is always difficult to separate the relative contributions of frame or wheels to the overall picture of cycling performance.  You need to switch between different wheel sets and take a ride.  But how many of us can host a stable of different wheel sets to test out?  And in the interests of objectivity, you need to run each ride back to back as to separate each outing by a day or more is to introduce the vagaries of climatic difference and the impact of always wavering mood and physical condition.  We all know the score; some days we feel better and stronger than on others.  How can we be sure that all of the difference from one day to the next is squarely attributable to different wheel choices?  It's tough.  Oh, and don't forget the rubber. Each wheel choice needs the same treads; or tyres can blur our experiences.  Which all, really, points to the inescapable fact that objectivity in bike bits testing is futile.  Objectivity only exists in the academic scientist's fantasy world. For the rest of us, subjectivity rules.

Which is all really mounting up to my excuse for what is surely a subjectively tainted wheel test!   

My test bike is the Pinarello Prince carbon (latest model).  My test wheel set is the carbon Fulcrum Racing Light and my 'control' is the Mavic Ksyrium ES.  Both share similar, but not the same rubber (Continental Attack/Force on the Racing Lights and Continental GP4000s on the Kysrium ES rims).  Both are equipped with Campagnolo Record cogs (11-23 titanium in both cases).  Both have Bontrager Racing Light tubes.  All are run at 110psi front and back.  So, when I conclude that the Racing Lights are more of this or less of that I am comparing with the Kysrium ES's and not with the entire spectrum of wheel sets that are possible.

The Fulcrum Racing Light is the most expensive wheel set that Fulcrum produces. They are not the lightest, but they are the most costly.  The Australian price is around $5,500 for the pair.  The Racing Light is purpose designed for climbing.  They are low profile, lightweight, super stiff and responsive to all the eccentric riding dynamics attendant to going up hill.  They are not going to be as aerodynamically sleek as the Fulcrum Racing Speed deep profile rims.  But then again, the Racing Light's will be more intimately in tune with the slower paced, erratic world of hills and the grunt you need to stay ahead of the field.

I am testing the clincher version, though it is to be noted that a tubular version is also available.   Weights are 585g for the front and 785g for the rear, to total 1370g for the set.  The tubular version comes in at 560g and 720g for an overall wheel set weight of 1280g.  Astounding!  The construction is carbon with very thin, very sharp steel bladed spokes and alloy rims front and back.  As a person who likes to oil his chain on a work stand while rotating the rear wheel, I have to say that these spokes are deadly!  You need to keep your fingers out of the way or the ensuing amputations will become another (probably unwelcome) source of weight loss for your rider-bike package.  

I am not aware of anyone else who does balanced wheels like Fulcrum.  When I got mine, my local dealer was a bit bemused by the two thick round stainless steel spokes front; looking for all the world like some el-cheapo spoke repair job that the distributor is hoping you won't notice.  But notice that these thick, round and silver colored spokes (contrasting rather profoundly with the bladed, black and vastly thinner spoke blades everywhere else) are directly opposite the valve stems.  That should be a clue to this plot.  These heavier spokes are there to offset the weight of the valves.  This is one interesting way to balance bicycle wheels!  And balanced they are.  If you spin a wheel, it just keeps on going, and going, and going.  Which also suggests and is testimony to the rather amazing bearings in both hubs.  Wonderful stuff.  

Speaking of the hubs, one rather evident difference between my Kysriums and the Racing Lights is the loudness of the freewheel ratchet on the latter.  The Racing Light's click with a vengeance. So much so that I felt compelled to operate on the rear hub to check lubrication.  Now, being familiar with the innards of the Ksyrium's and their double pawls, opening up the Racing Lights is a bit surreal.  Just about everything is different.  The mechanical design of the Racing Light wheel set is entirely different; I recommend reference to Fulcrum's hugely thick and comprehensive manuals before you start. There are three pawls in there.  And, if you are familiar with the Kysriums, you know all about Mavic's ultra special, very thin and fabulously expensive oil.  Put that aside too.  The Fulcrum's are lubed with grease.  That took some mental adjustment on my part I must say.   Oh, and even with new grease, these Fulcrum ratchets are still loud.

I have to comment on looks, as well.  These Fulcrum's are stunning.  They are a perfect match to the black and red of my Pinarello Prince.  This is Italian carbon at its absolute best.  And did I say Italian?  Yes, handmade in Italy -  at least for the wheels...

Now, everyone knows that Fulcrum are a brand of Campagnolo.  The popular myth is that Campagnolo introduced Fulcrum so that it could accommodate Shimano drivechains as an option; something they had always found hard to do with Campagnolo branded wheels.  You can equip your Fulcrums with Campagnolo, Shimano or SRAM.  Mine are appropriately dressed in Campagnolo. From some desktop research, it is evident that the closest Campagnolo branded wheel set to the Fulcrum Racing Light is the Campag. Hyperon Ultra's.  I would love to test those back to back!  But on paper, the two are very close indeed.  The Hyperon's weigh 20g less (at 575g front, 775g rear) and cost marginally more, but they look very similar, have exactly the same quick releases, and are of equal quality (that is, perfection).

One final point to mention before I hit the road is that the Fulcrum's are asymmetric on the back and symmetric on the front.  This means that the rim is distinctly lop-sided on the back, with the spoke ridge offset to the off-drive side.   This, presumably, helps to counterbalance the immense asymmetric forces imposed by drive-side chain/pedal dynamics.  

Now for the good bit.  These wheels are roughly equivalent to strapping on a rocket when ascending your least friendly local hills.  These are the hill wheels for Quickstep, Lampre, Liquigas and Cofidis. So they are not exactly a handicap... The direct comparison between the Ksyrium ES and the Racing Light wheel sets is that the Racing Lights are way stiffer.  And the Ksyriums are stiff, great climbing wheels.  The Fulcrum's are way better.  Being carbon, they mitigate some of the harshness of bikes like the new super stiff Pinarello Prince carbon.  But they mitigate that harshness without reducing road feel and efficiency.  If you wanted more efficiency than these to get up hills, take the chair lift.  

And then there is the cornering.  Carbon rails.  You cannot get better than this.  No way, no how.  And what about resistance to gusty side winds?  What wind...  On windy days, you can keep your  deep dish windsail wheels.  Give me these beauties any day.  These should be the compulsory wheel choice for the Pinarello Prince - the world's best bike perfectly matched to the world's best wheels.  There, I told you this review would be subjective.  An unmitigated carbon bliss out.  Lovely.

< Prev		Next >