Fulcrum quattro or chinese carbon from Farsports?

benhodds · July 2013

Hi

I have been cycling now for a few months and with using Strava about to clock up my first 1000 miles in the saddle. I ride a Boardman Race which i love and rides really well. In June i did my first 100 mile sportive in a time 6:36 hrs, a charity ride. I have another one in September and am aiming for sub 6 hours.

At present my 20-30 mile rides over similar terrain to the 100 mile route are doing an average speed of 18 mph. When i first started cycling i was averaging 16 mph. I do push myself on each ride to get faster but now am looking to upgrade and as per all advice i read its the wheels. I dont have a huge budget, £250 and trying to find the right mix of aero and weight loss, at present of Mavic CXP22's.

I have narrowed my options down to Fulcrum Quattro but have also been pointed to some carbons in the same price but unbranded which have the same aero profile and around 300g lighter. Is this too good to be true? Do i stick with the brand that is known?

Any advice appreciated

elderone · July 2013

Hi,cant speak for the chinese but I have the fulcrum quattro and I think they are a very good wheel set.I am very happy with mine.They do have low spoke count so check your wieght against specs.Im 69kgs so not an issue for me.

benhodds · July 2013

Ah im weighing in around the 95kg mark!

Wirral_paul · July 2013

You'd probably be wise to spend your £250 on a set of handbuilt wheels then rather than a low spoke count set of factory wheels that are often a bugger to repair / true up. I've got a set of H Plus Son on Novatec hubs that ride really nicely and are easily repaired if something goes wrong like a broken spoke.

I've got both deep and shallow wheels, and for general riding i am typically on the shallow section wheels. Fast flat rides and the carbon deep section wheels come out and they sound brilliant - but if you are just going to have one set of wheels then i'd stick with standard rims. My carbon wheels are 58mm but a bit too much for the hilly rides into Wales that i do. Great for going into Cheshire though. Dont expect a deep rim to be as comfortable on a long ride.

noiseboyfeetman · July 2013

I've got the Fulcrum Racing 5's and i'm about the same weight, I find the FR5's a decent wheelset, so far they've bombproof and stayed true. If I was to ever get them replaced though I think i'd go down the handbuilt route as suggested above.

Fulcrum quattro or chinese carbon from Farsports?

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