Fulcrum Race 7's

mickcee

Hello,

I ride a Specialized Allez Sport (First Road Bike) and am a happy rider. I am thinking about changing the wheels on this bike but don't want to spend a small fortune.The Fulcrum Racing 7's fit my price range, what does anyone think of these?

I am not great on bike maintenance or mechanics, apart from changing too different tyres, clip less pedals and black bar tape. So I presume i would need Shimano Free hubs? That might sound like a stupid question but i really am learning about my bike and myself as a rider.

So any advice on the wheel sets or something else in that price range would be greatly appreciated

ai_1

I rode Fulcrum 7s for most of the last 18 months and had no problems with them. They've been solid and reliable for me.
They weigh just under 2kg which isn't terribly light. Why are you changing wheels? I don't know what the Allez Sport comes with but unless they're extremely heavy, are damaged or have some other issue I'm not sure you'll notice a huge difference. In which case it might be better to wait a while, keep saving and go for something that will make a more significant difference.

If the groupset is Shimano or SRAM you'll want a Shimano freehub. If it's Campagnolo you'll need a Campagnolo freehub. The cassettes have different splines to locate them on the hubs so you need to make sure you get the matching hub for your current groupset.

deswahriff

..the other ever-popular first upgrade are Mavic Aksiums...check out Merlin, they usually have offers on older year models... assuming your Allez comes with DT Swiss something or others, you should feel an immediate benefit from a wheel upgrade, ( I know I did!) and decent tyres ( use the search!) can make a surprising difference too...

...bear in mind, if you're not mechanically minded, you will need to switch the cassette over from your existing back wheel....not a difficult job, but some tools required.

slowbike

Nothing particularly wrong or right about F7's. My TT setup currently has a hybrid of F7 rims and F5 hubs/spokes. I will be replacing them when my times improve, but they haven't stopped me from some reasonable performances. There is little weight difference between them and the Fulcrum Racing 5's - the latter have bladed spokes though.

IMHO, there is a noticeable step up from the Allez stock wheels (usually Mavic CXP22) to Fulcrum Racing sets (probably others as well).

Most Allez's seem to be Shimano - so a shimano freehub will be required.

borisface

Just be aware that fulcrums and campagnolo wheels are made from the same materials just a different spoke pattern as fulcrum are owned by campag. You may find some equivalent campag wheels a bit cheaper than fulcrums. I think Khamsins are campags equivalent. Just remember that you need shimano-fit campag wheels if that's what gearing you're running.

Bozman

I used them for a couple of winters, noisy hubs but they do the job well.
I swapped them out for some Shimano RS21s this year purely because they look better and they're a damn sight quieter, the RS21s have been faultless and I can recommend them, you'll pick them up for the same price as the racing 7s.

BrandonA

I have some Fulcrum 6s on my Tarmac Elite.

When I stand up and throw down the power the wheels buckle so much so that the spoke magnet touches my Garmin sensor. When not standing up though the wheels seem perfectly adequate.

slowbike

BrandonA wrote:

I have some Fulcrum 6s on my Tarmac Elite.

When I stand up and throw down the power the wheels buckle so much so that the spoke magnet touches my Garmin sensor. When not standing up though the wheels seem perfectly adequate.

Depends how close to the sensor your spoke magnet is normally ...

if they hit the brake blocks or even worse - the frame - then I'd start worrying ...

Anyway - they're not buckling - they're flexing.

Mikey23

Slight change of emphasis here with apologies to the OP.. Another racing 6 user here on my roubaix comp. I think they are a combination of bits of 5 and 7 if memory serves me we'll but I've not seen any write ups of them. They seem ok to me and I assume I would have to spend lots of dish to get better?

crescent

I've had a set of Fulcrum 7s for nearly three years now and they are excellent. They have been used on summer and winter bikes and have never put a foot wrong. A tiny bit of flex when out the saddle, powering (ahem) up a hill but nothing that has caused me any issues. I have never had a loose spoke (something that happened on a weekly basis with the original Alex Rims on my Allez) and they are straight as a die despite being ridden over the lunar landscapes that pass for roads around my neck of the woods. An excellent first upgrade I think. I liked Fulcrum wheels so much I upgraded to a set of Racing Quattros and I'm equally impressed with them.

Anonymous

Surprised racing Quattros have not been mentioned already.

Just got some for my wife and am really pleased with them.
They might not look good on all bikes but look great on hers.

Unless stock wheels are broken I would upgrade a bit more rather than just slightly (not saying that 7's are only a slight upgrade over stock ones though).

sparklehedgehog

I have the 2014 7's on my wet bike and think for the money thy are a great buy however as already mentioned they definitely have plenty of lateral flex when climbing so be aware of that.

Other than that they're good looking and good for the little money they go for