Alexrims s500 vs Fulcrum 7 (Red) racing wheels

daz51

Hey,

i am thinking of changing the wheels on my Allez Triple 08. It came with Alexrims s500 and i want to put Fulcrum 7 racing wheels on.

anyone know any weights of the Alexrims wheels?, the alexrims website dont even list them.

are the Fulcrum 7's any good?

I will be putting pro race 3 tyres on it as well.

cheers guys

gkerr4

the alex ones will be purely for the OEM market and will be pretty low value.
fulcrum R7's are well regared as entry level upgrade wheels and will make a decent upgrade to your allez.

they are of a similar level to the mavic aksiums, campag vento's and shimano 105's - the only thing against the r7's is that the R5's are not a whole lot more and are probably a better upgrade route if you can stretch.

daz51

yes gkerr4, i noticed that on wiggle for an extra 40 quid you can have the racing 5's

chriscw

Just replaced my alexrim DA22 wheels with a pair of Fulcrum Racing 3.

massive difference in performance.

used to be able to hear my wheels flexing whilst honking up hills. 3s are far stiffer and immensly faster. weigh about a third less too.

daz51

the reason that i am looking at the 7's or 5's is that you have to look at the bike they are goin on. The allez only cost me above 500 quid so spending too much on wheels seems pointless

gkerr4

the allez is a good frame to upgrade though - lightest in it's class, comfortable in it's geometry and very stiff.

your std rims, if sold in a shop, would have a value of between £35 and £60 for the pair - so a set of wheels like the R7's is a good upgrade. I just think, again from reading here, that the 5's offer the best value - the 3's are better still but perhaps not such a massive improvement as the extra cost.

Stewie Griffin

I got a pair of handbuilt mavic open pros with shimano hubs from my LBS for less than £200. quite peed off when I got home & found them online at markedly less . Nevermind you live and learn, I do trust my lbs and their advice, I guess you pay a bit more for that.

However, as an upgrade to the S500's that came on my Allez 08 they are a huge improvement. They are stiffer, partly by way of a higher spoke count but notably lighter too (One in either hand, which could very easily also have been what I wanted to believe ). The roll on the hubs is much better too

Onto spoke count, if you weigh more than X (no idea what X is, others might have a better idea) dont get anything with a fancy spoke pattern, apparently. Im 81Kg, (6 more than I want to be ). What condition are the roads that you ride on in is something else.

As to where to get them from, Im happy having paid a bit more for mine now that I have read a few threads (on this forum and others) on Charlatan Companies and their Charlatanery. Do a bit of research and save yourself some time & stress if not a few bob.

deal

i have the 5's and they were a good upgrade over the supplied wheels (which were also some type of alex rims) on my 2007 giant scr 2., they were noticably lighter with one wheel in each hand

its worth noting they have an extremely loud freewheel so loud infact im thinking of selling them on and getting something else :!:

Lagavulin

Other than tyres the first upgrade I made to my Allez was wheels. The Alexrims (AT400's I think) were pretty shite. I now use the rear on the turbo but it was constantly out of true and could really do with it again.

I'd say a set of this years Aksiums or Fulcrum 5's would be a good investment.

Keanocp

Was in a similar position recently, couldn't decide between Fulcrum 3's or 5's, but after reading several posts re loud freewheels and tyre fitting problems, I went for the new Shimano RS20's instead. Couldn't be happier with them, especially as I only paid £73 for the pair. They were very highly rated in a recent Cycling Plus and it sounds as if the red graphics would suit you.

Plus they can be had for less than £100 (see my post in "the bargain buy thread" from earlier today) and are at least as good as the Racing 5's, if not better!

Marko1962

Keanocp wrote:

Was in a similar position recently, couldn't decided between Fulcrum 3's or 5's, but after reading several posts re loud freewheels and tyre fitting problems, I went for the new Shimano RS20's instead. Couldn't be happier with them, especially as I only paid £73 for the pair. They were very highly rated in a recent Cycling Plus and it sounds as if the red graphics would suit you.

Plus they can be had for less than £100 (see my post in "the bargain buy thread" from earlier today) and are least as good as the Racing 5's, if not better!

How about that for timing, I have a Focus Variado expert with Shimano RS20's as standard and was wondering what the general consensus was regarding these wheels. Personally as a newbie I'm happy with them but am wondering if I should upgrade so was reading this thread with interest seeing as wheels in my price bracket is being discussed.

bendertherobot

Let's be clear about this. If you knock over a foolish pedestrian whilst running Fulcrum's only the deaf might have a claim against you

thamacdaddy

I got the racing 7's on my bike as stock and have to agree with the noise thing...its not too bad but does make them sound a bit cheap....I would probably say this is a hub rather than freewheel issue as it sounds like a hollow alu sound rather than being on a more solid build hub.

Wheels will be among the first things I upgrade on mine. And the guy mentioning the type of bike its going on the cost level of the allez means you are paying majority for the frame. The frame is decent and so upgrading the components is worth it.....its not like a bad frame where spending decent money on it will be a waste of cash.

DavidBelcher

thamacdaddy wrote:

I got the racing 7's on my bike as stock and have to agree with the noise thing...its not too bad but does make them sound a bit cheap....I would probably say this is a hub rather than freewheel issue as it sounds like a hollow alu sound rather than being on a more solid build hub.

It's 'cause Fulcrum are a Campag subsidiary, and therefore the freehub design is similar; Campag rear freehubs are well-known for their noisy ratchets when freewheeling! This isn't any reflection on the quality of the product, just one of those things.

David

bbtothehead

Have a look around for last years Shimano's 105 wheel (WH-561) which you can pick up for about £80 and are an absolute steal at that price. They are more than equal to Racing 5s in my opinion.

Lagavulin

Noisy freewheels? I think Racing 3's are relatively quiet compared to the ratchet mechanism in the DT Swiss 1850's. Now that's loud!!

giant_man

Must admit, I'd say fuck it and go and buy some shimano RS20s for 90 quid, done deal.