With so much emphasis on aerodynamic efficiency on the road these days, it may seem a little strange to see a new high-end wheel set from a major brand that has focused more on reducing weight with minimal consideration. by drag. However, this is what Fulcrum has done with its new Speed 25. There’s little talk of wind tunnels and NACA profiles and that sort of thing, but it’s also missing a lot of grams, and it probably feels great to go up.
The light does right?
The Speed 25 is about shaving grams, starting with its shallow depth of 26 mm (so shouldn’t they be called Speed 26?) Instead of the more common 35-50 mm figures. which currently dominate the high-end road wheel market. We do not have a weight of rim stated, but the actual weight of a set that has recently arrived for the test is a negligible 1,295 g with a free wheel body compatible with Campagnolo, only 10 g more than s he says.
The U-shaped profile may retain some aerodynamic efficiency, and if so, Fulcrum doesn’t do much, but the biggest story is the differential cross section. Fulcrum uses a symmetrical shape on the front, but an asymmetrical shape on the back with the bed of spokes slightly offset to the outside. This is an old (but still effective) trick to help balance the tensions of the spokes from side to side, and Fulcrum claims that it also makes the most responsive wheel energetic.
The front edge has a 26 mm deep symmetrical profile. The molded neck for the valve stem is a nice touch. Meanwhile, the rear wheel uses a remarkably asymmetrical profile to help balance the tension of the spokes.
The inner width of both wheels is 21 mm quite generous, and with an outer width of 27.6 mm, Fulcrum has optimized the configuration for 25-28 mm tires. These tires can be camera-free or tube-type, and for those who opt for the former, no temperament treadmill is required thanks to the solid outer wall of the rim.
However, whatever way you decide to go with tires, these are just disc brakes for the Speed 25; there are no plans for a version with a rim brake.
The hub housings are made of forged aluminum and rotate on Fulcrum’s “USB” hybrid ceramic pads with easily adjustable preload. At the rear is a conventional ratchet-type ratchet mechanism, but with a 36-tooth ratchet ring for a relatively fast gear speed of 10 °. Free-standing bodies are available for Shimano, SRAM XDR and Campagnolo N3W cassettes.
Aluminum hubs rotate on Fulcrum’s hybrid USB ceramic pads.
Connecting it all, there are 24 straight-blade stainless steel spokes front and rear with aluminum nipples in a conventional two-cross pattern. Interestingly, however, Fulcrum has intentionally designed the spokes for the spokes so that they do not touch the intersections, which should eliminate the crunch that can occasionally affect the wheels with black-finished spokes.
The sale price is US $ 2,526 / £ 2,000 / € 2,190, with some slight variations depending on the selection of the body of the free bushing. Australian prices have yet to be confirmed, but wherever you are, the wheels are supposedly available in stores and online now. We are just waiting for some excerpts for our set of tests and we will have to have a full review in the coming weeks.
You can find more information at www.fulcrumwheels.com.
The actual weight of a Fulcrum Speed 25 wheel test set was 10 g of the claimed weight. A 25 mm Continental Grand Prix 5000 (printed width) matches the edge width of 27.6 mm almost perfectly. Fulcrum’s 2-Way Fit wheels are great for tube-free set-up because they don’t require a treadmill, although the initial construction is certainly more tedious, as the nipples have to be guided into their respective holes with a temporary insertion of steel and a magnet. Lips raised from the tire bed promise predictable tire safety when running without a tube. Yes, they are hooks you see! The 21mm inner width looks wide for a climbing wheel, but it’s also a versatile dimension that seems to play well with 25mm tires (despite what ETRTO thinks). Interestingly, Fulcrum has not bothered with any carbon fiber in the core casings of the new Speed 25 wheels. Congratulations to Fulcrum for the adjustable bearing preload. Note how Fulcrum runs an externally threaded locking ring for the fluted rotor. It seems curious until you realize that this allows Fulcrum to run a pad with a larger diameter than it would otherwise fit inside a housing with an internally threaded locking ring. Stainless steel spokes with blades are used everywhere. However, the steel spokes do not touch each other on the crosses, however, to prevent it from creaking under load.