American Classic 350 v Fulcrum Racing 3

ronnierocket

On the cusp on upgrading my wheelset from Hope Hoop Pro 3(moving them to my winter bike) to I was thinking American Classic 350. When I phoned my LBS for a quote I was offered a set of Fulcrum Racing 3s and wondered what people thought of both of them. I was quoted £440 for the American Classic v £379 for the Fulcrum (down from approx £530 ish I believe)).

Genesis Vapour
Cervelo RS - wheels to go on here

ugo.santalucia

Have you considered rebuilding the Hope with lighter spokes and different rims?
Cost you much less than the AC which have Taiwanese mediocre hubs...

oli2001

i've had the AC sprint 350 wheelset. very light for an alloy clincher; 1400g. pretty stiff too. only downside for me was they are a bit plain to look at. Overall, a very underrated wheelset and they would get my vote

bikergirl17

i have the american classic 350 -- and even though i weigh sub 50 kg, these flex beyond belief.

if all you are doing is long steady seated climbs, they are amazing given they weigh nothing (i am on the 650s which are sub 1300g).

but stand or do a long, flat stretch, and they feel like they are going backwards. and descending on those long steady climbs? terrifying. hit a pebble and they skid like mad.

it may be my wheel size -- but i have *no* flex issues with my other wheels sets. i would not consider AC an 'upgrade' but actually a step backwards.

ronnierocket

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement!! Doing my first foreign sportive this summer(morzine) then some alpine cycling later in the summer. Although before then is hopefully a sub 4hr time in the Etape Caledonia, 4h 04 last year in bad weather so just looking for a small advantage plus the Hope freewheel noise annoys me now.

bikergirl17

i think you could find or build light climbing wheels even sub 1400g with great hubs and that are relatively stiff. the issue with AC is that they shave weight by using really light (and not great) hubs and rims like tin cans.

if i had an unlimited budget, i would build up a climbing set with tune hubs, saipem x ray spokes and aluminum nipples on velocity aerohead rims (those are the only 650c rims -- but you could even go for seriously light carbon clinchers).

my new wheels are about 120g heavier than the AC, and i definitely felt it on alpine climbs initially -- it is like i lost an entire gear. but i ride a standard so am already at a disadvantage gearing wise to most compact set ups. .

ugo.santalucia

bikergirl17 wrote:

if i had an unlimited budget, i would build up a climbing set with tune hubs, saipem x ray spokes and aluminum nipples on velocity aerohead rims (those are the only 650c rims -- but you could even go for seriously light carbon clinchers).
.

Me too, but I think the Aerohead are running dry in this country... will need to check again with the distributor BLB...