Fulcrum 3 vs Campag Zondas, or ?

[S13_Alan]

I got a good amount off a Boardman Team Carbon when Halfords had them on sale the other month. Really pleased with it, but since I got the discount I fancy buying some nicer wheels for it.

Thinking that £300 would be a good amount to set as a budget.

Narrowed it down to these two wheel sets. Now I know they are both made by the same people, roughly same weight, both get really good reviews etc.

Are there any factors besides the slight price difference to take into consideration? Or just go with what spoke pattern I prefer best?

Have I missed any other wheels around the £300 mark that are better?

I'm 9st, so no need to worry about being too heavy for any.

Cheers!

[anonymous-user]

I htought they were quite separate companies despite Fulcrum being wholly owned by Campag but interestingly it would appear they are made by the same people in the same factory! every day is a school day and all that!... I believe Fulcrum were established so Campag could sell wheels at lower price points and not damage the Campag brand.

There are subtle differences between them, rim depth etc but the major difference then appears the spoke pattern, fulcrum use the 2:1 spacing and campag the G3 where 2 drive side spokes are evenly spaced against 1 non drive side spoke, G3 are evenly spaced groups of 3 spokes to 1, drive side to non. I'm 82 kgs and havent buckled my Zondas yet despite some less than ideal road surfaces.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 13th September 21:32

[S13_Alan]

Thanks

I think for the £40 difference in price I might just go for the Zondas and then buy some better tires with the money I save. Can't really find anything on the net to suggest that one set is better.

[mowog]

Check out Reynolds Solitudes as another option

[TwistingMyMelon]

I'd go for Zondas, never heard a bad word about them, a guy I ride with has them and says how good they are, plus seen several glowing reports on here for them

Wish I got a set instead of Fulcrum 5s, although to be fair they are lasting well for me

[MadDad]

I have Zonda's on my Ti bike, excellent wheels but they are stiff so can give a bit of a rough ride over bad surfaces, that said the upside of stiff wheels is the power transfer.....

[Steve vRS]

Looks like I may replace my Ultegras with Zondas then!

[MadDad]

You won't be disappointed!!

[S13_Alan]

Sounds like I'm making a good choice then, cheers!

Off work for a week soon, so will get them ordered before then, give me plenty time to get out and try them

[doolie]

Another with Zondas here, no complaints. I've put on around 1700miles on them this year, still as True as the day they were purchased

[Bobley]

I tried my son's Fulcrum 3s on my Boardman Team C. To be honest, apart from the noisy freehub I didn't notice the difference from the std Aksiums. I normally use 23mm GP 4 seasons and the Fulcrums had 25mm Paves. I really wanted to like them but they're still just wheels.

[S13_Alan]

Bobley said:

I tried my son's Fulcrum 3s on my Boardman Team C. To be honest, apart from the noisy freehub I didn't notice the difference from the std Aksiums. I normally use 23mm GP 4 seasons and the Fulcrums had 25mm Paves. I really wanted to like them but they're still just wheels.

The newer Team Carbon got different wheels to the older ones. Mine has non branded hubs of some sort plus what seems the most basic Mavic rims. Think had it been Aksiums on mine I'd be far less keen to upgrade. Reviews of it mentioned the wheels as being where they managed to cut the cost and that were the one part which could do with attention.

[Matt_N]

They're Mavic CXP22s on the 2014 Team Carbon I think, a decent wheel but very much entry level (nothing against them btw I have them on my winter bike for the strength and high spoke count).

For £300 it's worth considering some handbuilts imo.

You'd get H Plus Son Archetypes, so a nice wide toroidal rim which has some mild aero benefits and gives a nice round tyre profile, Miche Primato hubs which roll lovely and look good and then build up on your choice of DT or Sapim spokes.

[ccr32]

Another here with Zonda's and 23mm GP4000s's - i'm a big fan of them, and never had any issues with them - I'm about 85kgs these days and haven't seen any buckles as yet, and have been running them for over a year and a half now.

[duff]

Very happy with my Racing 3s, around 4k miles with no problems and I'm 95kg.