Shimano RS80 or Fulcrum Racing 3???

Huntos
Huntos Posts: 53
edited September 2013 in Road buying advice
My wheels are worn out and I'm looking for a replacement, my previous wheels were a cheap set of FSA RD60 which did the job for a while and for the price have done well, but I'm now thinking about getting something a little better.

My bike is a bit of a multi purpose Swiss-army-knife - a Kenisis Racelight TK2 with full Ultegra 6603 triple groupset which I use for everything from commuting to sportives to weekend touring. I now have a seperate set of sturdy wheels for commuting and touring so I am looking for a good fast set primarily for doing 60-100 mile sportives and maybe some entry level racing. In terms of me, I am 6'2", fairly athletic and fit, and weigh around 80kg.

I want good fast wheels but don't want to break the bank, the two main wheels I have been considering are the Shimano RS80 (currently available for £299 on Ribble) or the Fulcrum Racing 3 (available from about £330). Any advice on these wheels or alternatives in the same sort of price bracket?
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Comments

  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    £299 you say. Ooh that's come down a bit, nice.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    £299 you say. Ooh that's come down a bit, nice.

    If you'd bought them last week they were doing an extra 10% off virtually everything. :evil:
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    keef66 wrote:
    £299 you say. Ooh that's come down a bit, nice.

    If you'd bought them last week they were doing an extra 10% off virtually everything. :evil:

    They were £330 last week IIRC so that would work out the same :).
  • Huntos
    Huntos Posts: 53
    I take it that means you guys think the RS80 are a good buy at that price? Reviews seem good, possibly not the stiffest wheel but light for the price tag???
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Huntos wrote:
    I take it that means you guys think the RS80 are a good buy at that price? Reviews seem good, possibly not the stiffest wheel but light for the price tag???

    It's generally regarded as being quite similar to the Dura Ace C24 but with heavier hubs, and they go for £600ish.
    The RS81 which is the new 11 speed replacement for the RS80 is £450.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Didn't notice that; I was shopping much further down the food chain. Got R501's for my winter build for just over £60 :D

    The RS80's seem to be regarded as a sweet spot in Shimano's wheel range. I'd be interested to know what £300 would get you in a conventional handbuilt wheel.
  • elcani
    elcani Posts: 280
    I loved my RS80s, then this happened while descending the Passo Giau during the Maratona dles Dolomites. Obviously any product can fail, but I'm pretty unimpressed!

    http://flic.kr/p/fjaHuN
  • Huntos
    Huntos Posts: 53
    Ooh, nasty. Are they not very robust? Under what circumstances did that happen, pot hole?
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    ElCani wrote:
    I loved my RS80s, then this happened while descending the Passo Giau during the Maratona dles Dolomites. Obviously any product can fail, but I'm pretty unimpressed!

    http://flic.kr/p/fjaHuN

    Bloody hell :shock: That looks like a very thin layer of carbon!
  • robbo2011
    robbo2011 Posts: 1,017
    I noticed a bike chained to a tree on the descent of the Giau, perhaps that was yours?

    Really disappointing for it to happen during such a special event.
  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    I like the RS80s and don't get the 'not the stiffest wheel' comments but then I am a little lighter at just under 65kg. They do run very smooth (the Shimano hubs are great from 105 through to DA) and, for me, I would rate the RS80s above the F3s. Then again, it does open the whole factory/handbuilt debate as £300+ will get you a nice set of either. Factory wheels can be good (I have had no problems), look great and are well priced but pop a spoke or wear out the rim and in most cases you are bugg3red. Handbuilts can be equally good (if built well...or poor if built badly) in terms of quality, and have the main advantage of being very serviceable (pop a spoke or wear out the rim/hub and it is just a case of sorting that out rather than binning the whole wheel).

    I would also recommend looking at Mavic wheels as well as searching the forum for 'handbuilt'. Decisions, decisions!
  • robbo2011
    robbo2011 Posts: 1,017
    Exactly. it's not a cut and dried decision. I would like to try some handbuilts from someone local to me, but the price of labour over here is astronomical and so the prices I have seen for handbuilt wheels are a joke.

    Much cheaper to buy factory wheels and then junk them when they fail.
  • elcani
    elcani Posts: 280
    robbo2011 wrote:
    I noticed a bike chained to a tree on the descent of the Giau, perhaps that was yours?

    Really disappointing for it to happen during such a special event.

    Nope it wasn't mine. The wheel broke while going round a very tight hairpin about 1/4 of the way down. Luckily I was going slowly and was able to come to a controlled stop. After walking about 3km in my socks I got a lift to the bottom where there was a maintenance station. They lent me wheel and I carried on, having lost about 50 minutes!

    I'm fairly sure the carbon delaminated as a result of the aluminium rim heating up under braking. I'm expecting a warranty replacement but won't exactly be filled with confidence using them anymore.
  • arlowood
    arlowood Posts: 2,561
    Why not consider the halfway house option of buying an off-the-peg set from a wheel builder

    These two sets both featured very highly in Bikeradar reviews so might be worth considering for your budget of around £300

    http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... t-12-45725

    http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... t-12-45720

    WRT the RS80's, I did have a set which I raved about initially as they were such a vast improvement over the standard wheelset they replaced on my Spesh Secteur. However after a few months I started to notice a fair bit of flex in the front wheel when out of the saddle and at 85kg I'm not that much heavier than you.

    Eventually ditched them in favour of a handbuilt set that cost me less than £300
  • FransJacques
    FransJacques Posts: 2,148
    ElCani wrote:
    robbo2011 wrote:
    I noticed a bike chained to a tree on the descent of the Giau, perhaps that was yours?

    Really disappointing for it to happen during such a special event.

    Nope it wasn't mine. The wheel broke while going round a very tight hairpin about 1/4 of the way down. Luckily I was going slowly and was able to come to a controlled stop. After walking about 3km in my socks I got a lift to the bottom where there was a maintenance station. They lent me wheel and I carried on, having lost about 50 minutes!

    I'm fairly sure the carbon delaminated as a result of the aluminium rim heating up under braking. I'm expecting a warranty replacement but won't exactly be filled with confidence using them anymore.
    Was it unrideable or did you just play it safe? That looks rideable to me.

    RS80s *are* stiff, they're just not light. The rear I have weighs 930 grams whereas the all Al 7600 rear wheel (essentially the same wheel just different rim) is 950 grams plus you don't need a rim tape. Not sure about the value proposition there...

    Easton EA90SL (not SLX) are worth a look as are American Classic wheels in your price range. Great hubs if you're not too far north of 80 kgs.

    I weigh 83-84kgs and raced last cross season on my RS80s with nary a wheel 1 mm out of true. They were stiff and robust.
    When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.
  • robbo2011
    robbo2011 Posts: 1,017
    Ah, so someone else had a major problem too then. At least you managed to get to the finish, so not a complete disaster.

    My wheel nightmare occurred 2 weeks before the Maratona when a spoke broke on my Easton EA90 SE rear wheel halfway up a mountain pass in Switzerland. Had to walk part of the back down until I could get some help. Luckily it wasn't at the Maratona. Bought a new set of Ksyrium SLS for the Maratona.

    I've had the Easton wheel fixed, but I don't trust it any more.
  • robbo2011
    robbo2011 Posts: 1,017
    Easton EA90SL (not SLX) are worth a look

    I've had spoke breakage and freehub problems with the Easton EA90 SE wheels (less than 18 months of use), I'd steer clear.
  • Huntos
    Huntos Posts: 53
    Well, have decided to go ahead and ordered a set of Shimano RS80 with a pair of Michelin Pro 4 Race Service Course to wrap them in - will let you all know what I think when I've got them and had time to test.....
  • elcani
    elcani Posts: 280
    ElCani wrote:
    robbo2011 wrote:
    I noticed a bike chained to a tree on the descent of the Giau, perhaps that was yours?

    Really disappointing for it to happen during such a special event.

    Nope it wasn't mine. The wheel broke while going round a very tight hairpin about 1/4 of the way down. Luckily I was going slowly and was able to come to a controlled stop. After walking about 3km in my socks I got a lift to the bottom where there was a maintenance station. They lent me wheel and I carried on, having lost about 50 minutes!

    I'm fairly sure the carbon delaminated as a result of the aluminium rim heating up under braking. I'm expecting a warranty replacement but won't exactly be filled with confidence using them anymore.
    Was it unrideable or did you just play it safe? That looks rideable to me.

    RS80s *are* stiff, they're just not light. The rear I have weighs 930 grams whereas the all Al 7600 rear wheel (essentially the same wheel just different rim) is 950 grams plus you don't need a rim tape. Not sure about the value proposition there...

    Easton EA90SL (not SLX) are worth a look as are American Classic wheels in your price range. Great hubs if you're not too far north of 80 kgs.

    I weigh 83-84kgs and raced last cross season on my RS80s with nary a wheel 1 mm out of true. They were stiff and robust.

    It wasn't ridable as the wheel would no longer clear the fork bridge (meaning I had to wheel the b@stard bike on it's back wheel during my walk!). Plus, I think you'd have to be mental to ride down those descents with a structurally unsound front wheel!
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,337
    I'm swimming against the tide on this, but if I enter a big ride, I normally ride my most reliable equipment, rather than the most performing, to avoid things like these to happen. Had you been on a standard set of 32 spoked wheels, you would have finished the Maratona no problem, maybe 5 minutes after your mate, probably not, as chunky wheels give you more confidence on the descents and you do go faster, but anyway, does that matter?

    Thing is most people ride these events as if they had a supporting vehicle behind, which they don't really... look at the amount of money and time invested for doing half a ride... :cry:
    left the forum March 2023
  • mamba80
    mamba80 Posts: 5,032
    ElCani wrote:
    I'm fairly sure the carbon delaminated as a result of the aluminium rim heating up under braking. I'm expecting a warranty replacement but won't exactly be filled with confidence using them anymore.

    Its pretty good they lent you a wheel.

    As to a warranty replacement, depends if they read this or not :)
    RS80's should have a 2yr warranty.

    fwiw - If Madison dont have any in stock (its all 11sp now, which is why dealers are shifting out their 10sp wheelsets) its down to the dealer to refund you or not - i phoned Madison "customer care" to check this out and they insisted this was 100% their policy and NOT to upgrade to the newer stuff.

    Madison reinburse the dealer what he paid, i was offered a pro rata refund based on use :roll: :x
  • elcani
    elcani Posts: 280
    Ugo, you are probably right, although to be fair to me I'd never had a single problem with the RS80s (or any other wheel) until this point and there's always a balance to be struck between reliability and performance/weight.

    In terms of warranty replacement, the retailer has sent the wheel to Madison and I'm waiting to hear back. It's a front wheel, so I shouldn't be affected by the move to 11 speed.
  • mamba80
    mamba80 Posts: 5,032
    Yes mine was too but the 10sp frt is different to the 11sp front.
    However the RS80 is a far more common wheel so hopefully you ll be fine and they have the stock to replace yours.
    My gf has used the rs80's at the Maratona for 3 years now, with no problems at all, so you were unlucky, glad you could keep going though.
    My mate rode around on an alloy tarmac spesh and handbuilts- hope3's on 32 spoke open pro and cx33's and stuffed me on the climbs, its the legs that do the talking :)
  • elcani
    elcani Posts: 280
    mamba80 wrote:
    its the legs that do the talking

    Too true! And nothing my legs were saying on the Giau would make it past the swear filter. :)
  • adamfo
    adamfo Posts: 763
    ElCani wrote:
    I loved my RS80s, then this happened while descending the Passo Giau during the Maratona dles Dolomites. Obviously any product can fail, but I'm pretty unimpressed!

    http://flic.kr/p/fjaHuN

    How thick is the carbon, presumably a V shaped channel bonded to the alloy rim ?
  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    And here we have yet another reason I do not like such wheels

    9394587282_3bd8d9ddc6_d.jpg

    The more I see of these the less i like them - and I was totally unimpressed to start with.
    Yellow is the new Black.
  • mroli
    mroli Posts: 3,622
    Smidsy has just posted the original delaminated wheel up - it isn't a second delaminated wheel. Just thought it was worth making that point.
  • It also worth making the point that for any popular product you can search the internet and find someone for whom the product has failed in some fashion.
  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    mroli wrote:
    Smidsy has just posted the original delaminated wheel up - it isn't a second delaminated wheel. Just thought it was worth making that point.

    True. Just seemed easier than having to open the flikr link.

    My comment is still my comment :wink:
    Yellow is the new Black.