DA 7850 C24 CL v Ksyrium SL v Fulcrum 1

Stevo_666

I've identified 3 possible sets of good factory built wheels that could be had for around the £500 mark with a bit of shopping around. I'll be doing mostly weekend blasts/fitness runs: some of the roads are slightly 'scarred' country lanes but nothing out of the ordinary for the UK. Weight is clearly important but durability/decent strength also counts. (They all look nice so satisfy the inner bike tart in me )

I've heard a lot of good things about the DA's on here but have not found any direct comparisons of these three together. I'm sure all would be fine but you know what it's like with these sort of purchases - tend to get over-analysed...

So what would you buy out of those three and why? Your thoughts and experiences please ladies and gents

Ta in advance.

Wobblehead

Can only comment on what I have, Fulcrum 1's. Much stiffer than the 7's I had before, being a big lad iI used to get flex whilst climbing, 1's give no noticable flex.

Only done a few hundred miles on them but no issues what so ever.

Love them to bits, don't think you will be dissapointed.

Good luck what ever you choose.

Anonymous

I had a set of the Dura Ace carbon clinchers. Had to sell them to fund my Zipps.

Wish I hadn't had get rid, they were fantastic.

Pretty stiff, rolled beautifully, very aero for shallow rims but the best thing about them was the comfort. No other aluminium clincher comes close IMO...

relanium

Ive had Ksyrium SL Premiums and now using DA 7850 CL's.

The Ksyrium SL's look very nice if you have a black bike with them been all black, there quite light I think around 1485g mark, bomb proof, very strong wheels, fast at rolling - my only concern with these wheels were the quick release rattles, so if you buy a pair I suggest you replace them with KCNC skewers.

The DA 7850 CL's - Well what can I say about these wheels, their fantastic, very light at 1380g, excellent as a climbing wheel, accelerate really fast & spin just perfect... and very strong. Personally if I was you I wouldn't even considered looking at the Mavics - go for the DA's

Ask NapD he loved his DA's

CarbonCopy

NapD loves DA`s but strangely bought Mavic`s this time round.He had a reasonably explaination for this but i`ve forgot now :?

Anonymous

CarbonCopy wrote:

NapD loves DA`s but strangely bought Mavic`s this time round.He had a reasonably explaination for this but i`ve forgot now :?

He didn't in the end...

He got a front built up by Derek from www.Wheelsmith.co.uk

(Extralight Hub, CX Ray Spokes, IRD Cadence road rim)

DA Carbon Clinchers are the best factory clinchers around IMO...

CarbonCopy

LOL nice one

gabriel959

I disagree, the best clincher you can buy for £500 is the Campag Shamal Ultras, still available on ebay.

Anonymous

gabriel959 wrote:

I disagree, the best clincher you can buy for £500 is the Campag Shamal Ultras, still available on ebay.

Why is it the best then Gabriel?

Garry H

NapoleonD wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

I disagree, the best clincher you can buy for £500 is the Campag Shamal Ultras, still available on ebay.

Why is it the best then Gabriel?

Because it's what he has?

gabriel959

They are absolutely bombproof and light too. I don't think there is a stronger wheel on the market, that might not matter if you are 10st but I am 14st and a bit and a tough wheelset is required, I did only demo'd them for a couple of rides but they very light, very stiff, they roll, roll and keep rolling for ages (even more than my Fulcrums!). They also don't suffer from the problems the Fulcrums seem to have...

I mean, I have my Fulcrum's which I like but they are a touch heavy compared to the Campags (1425g I think!), ok, they are not as light as the Dura-Aces (which I haven't ridden mind) but I betcha they are stiffer and more importantly (for me) more durable.

Disadvantages, they are usually very expensive... This offer makes them a steal IMO. Shame I am poor.

P.S: I haven't found a bad review on the internet either apart from people complaining that they can't fit tyres as they are too tight!

Anonymous

gabriel959 wrote:

They are absolutely bombproof and light too. I don't think there is a stronger wheel on the market, that might not matter if you are 10st but I am 14st and a bit and a tough wheelset is required, I did only demo'd them for a couple of rides but they very light, very stiff, they roll, roll and keep rolling for ages (even more than my Fulcrums!). They also don't suffer from the problems the Fulcrums seem to have...

I mean, I have my Fulcrum's which I like but they are a touch heavy compared to the Campags (1425g I think!), ok, they are not as light as the Dura-Aces (which I haven't ridden mind) but I betcha they are stiffer and more importantly (for me) more durable.

Disadvantages, they are usually very expensive... This offer makes them a steal IMO. Shame I am poor.

P.S: I haven't found a bad review on the internet either apart from people complaining that they can't fit tyres as they are too tight!

They are stiffer than the DAs but the DAs are sooo comfortable it's untrue. The Shamals were quite harsh feeling.

aberdeen_lune

I would go for Campag Neutron Ultras if I were you. I have Fulcrum zeros,da 24cls & neutron ultras. The dura ace wheels are light but not as comfy as the neutrons and not as hard wearing. I've not used the zeros much but I would rate the dura ace wheels as my fifth best wheels out of the five factory road sets I have.

Anonymous

Aberdeen_lune wrote:

I would go for Campag Neutron Ultras if I were you. I have Fulcrum zeros,da 24cls & neutron ultras. The dura ace wheels are light but not as comfy as the neutrons and not as hard wearing. I've not used the zeros much but I would rate the dura ace wheels as my fifth best wheels out of the five factory road sets I have.

How odd! Interesting...

relanium

gabriel959 wrote:

P.S: I haven't found a bad review on the internet either apart from people complaining that they can't fit tyres as they are too tight!

If you do a search through this site on the DA 7850 CL's I don't think you'll find anyone complaining about them, and ive never seen one bad review on DA's.

gabriel959 wrote:

They are absolutely bombproof and light too. I don't think there is a stronger wheel on the markett!

I'd disagree with you there, my DA's have had some hammering over the last few months on crappy roads & pot holes, and their still true..... For a factory built wheel but still very light I would say the DA's are bombproof!! And I think a lot of people on this site would agree with me

andy162

I use the SL's & have had no problems. I had to take a bit of play out of the front the other week. Dead simple with a little Mavic tool thingy (supplied with the wheels). You don't even have to take the wheels out to do this either.

Mine get used/abused with everything from chaingangs, racing ,sportives etc & are still as true now as the day I bought them(18 months ago).

They're light, comfortable, strong & look good...I rate them.

phil s

I have the Shamal Ultra 2-way fit (2009 model with Shimano freehub) and aside from the ponces who moan about using a Campag wheelset on a Shimano groupset, I have only one gripe about them - fitting tyres. Boy, oh boy. They are light, very strong indeed and spin well. I would rather have a Dura Ace wheelset as it's more aero and strong enough for my 69kg so I may end up selling. BTW, please all stop saying wheels are bombproof. Someone told me my last wheels were bombproof, yet they were blown to smithereens by a single hand grenade. What's more, Wiggle refused to refund me for this obvious fault :evil:

Stevo_666

Some good advice here - thanks gents 8) Weight-wise, probably should have mentioned that I am about 68-69kg depending whether pre or post-curry so do not need something massively strong on that front.

Not many Fulcum fans on here it seems?

gabriel959

I have Fulcrums and they are great, but I don't think the Fulcrums 1 are better than the Campag Shamal Ultras or the Dura Aces. The offers on those (usually £600+ wheelsets) put them above that.

The only sets of Fulcrums I would buy would be the 3s as they are exactly the same as the one apart from the steel spokes oposed to alu spokes. And the other ones would be the Zeros as they look so amazing!

Stevo_666

gabriel959 wrote:

And the other ones would be the Zeros as they look so amazing!

They do look the business (in a 'look at me' sort of way ), but a bit over what I'm prepared to spend unfortunately.

TimoH

Stevo 666 wrote:

Not many Fulcrum fans on here it seems?

Well... I am 8) I just did not bother to reply because I don't have any experience about the other two wheels you're considering.

I'm extremely happy about my Racing 1s. They provide plenty of stiffness and rigidity even for a heavy guy. They still make me smile every time I ride them.

what brakes

i have the fulcrum 1's, great wheels no flex, and keep on spinning! i have the 2009 model with the fat aero spokes which looks really good compared to the thinner flat spokes of the 2010 models. The best thing of all is they really do smooth the road out!

i dont have experience of the others you mention but do have a cheaper pare of campag wheels and also cheaper fulcrum wheels and the fulcrum wheels are better made than the campag ones i have!

Anonymous

what brakes wrote:

i have the fulcrum 1's, great wheels no flex, and keep on spinning! i have the 2009 model with the fat aero spokes which looks really good compared to the thinner flat spokes of the 2010 models. The best thing of all is they really do smooth the road out!

i dont have experience of the others you mention but do have a cheaper pare of campag wheels and also cheaper fulcrum wheels and the fulcrum wheels are better made than the campag ones i have!

This keeping on spinning thing is quite amusing.

I have some cheap as sh1t wheels that came with my TT bike, they spin 'forever' too...

I have been guilty of it as I have said it about some wheels, I think it's more that they spin very smoothly. If you tap a wheel while holding it and it takes 1 minute to stop, compared to a wheel that takes 2 minutes, the difference is probably less than a tiny part of a Watt difference when you are riding at 300 watts.

rolf_f

what brakes wrote:

i dont have experience of the others you mention but do have a cheaper pare of campag wheels and also cheaper fulcrum wheels and the fulcrum wheels are better made than the campag ones i have!

Guess who make Fulcrum wheels..........

Anonymous

Rolf F wrote:

what brakes wrote:

i dont have experience of the others you mention but do have a cheaper pare of campag wheels and also cheaper fulcrum wheels and the fulcrum wheels are better made than the campag ones i have!

Guess who make Fulcrum wheels..........

Heh heh, I noticed that too.

Stevo_666

On balance I am leaning towards the DA's. But I have plenty of time to mull this one over...

haggisinlondon

I for one am in the same position as you, debating between wheel sets in the same £ bracket.

Best deals are online obviously but most sites don't stress if the wheel set is 2009 edition or the latest edition. Still I should stop reading every posting on here about wheels and go for the DA's

gabriel959

The Shamals are also pretty good, I haven't found a single bad review from anyone!!!

what brakes

Rolf F wrote:

what brakes wrote:

i dont have experience of the others you mention but do have a cheaper pare of campag wheels and also cheaper fulcrum wheels and the fulcrum wheels are better made than the campag ones i have!

Guess who make Fulcrum wheels..........

I know exactly who makes the Fulcrum wheels! but they are definately better finished than my campy ones! make of that what you will but thats my experience! it could just be a friday afternoon campy wheels that i have?????

James_London

One difference nobody seems to have mentioned is sidewind stability and aerodynamics. The Ksyriums and R1s (especially the older fatty-spoke ones) are much twitchier in a sidewind than the DAs. Although controlling the bike per-se is not really an issue in gusty conditions, taking your hands off the bars in a sidewind can be hazardous. I switch between wheels a fair bit and have to think about it before putting on a gilet or whatever.

Also, the Ksyriums absorb about another 10W than the DAs here.
(Ksyrium ES and Shimano WH-7850-C24-TU are very similar constructions to the two wheels in question. R1s were not tested and the newer R1 spokes will likely be better anyhow)

Stevo_666

James_London wrote:

Also, the Ksyriums absorb about another 10W than the DAs here.

Interesting tech stuff - thanks 8)