Fulcrum 0 or other?

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Milzy

Guru
This summer I want to sell my Fulcram 5's and get a decent set of tubeless ready wheels. I'm thinking of the 0's but are supposed to be heavier than advertised. Weight isn't an issue so maybe go for some handbuilts? Off the peg may be better as I could put them through the C2W scheme at my friendly LBS. Any suggestions c.c ???
 

S-Express

Guest
I'm thinking of the 0's but are supposed to be heavier than advertised.
Weight isn't an issue

Sorted.
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
Indeed. If you fancy the Zeroes and can afford the ££££ then go for them. A few grams on claimed weight is neither here nor there. For a lower budget, Hunt are excellent (been very happy with my disc brake set, the rim brake wheels seem to be gaining an equally good reputation).
 
OP
OP
Milzy

Milzy

Guru
Indeed. If you fancy the Zeroes and can afford the ££££ then go for them. A few grams on claimed weight is neither here nor there. For a lower budget, Hunt are excellent (been very happy with my disc brake set, the rim brake wheels seem to be gaining an equally good reputation).
Somebody told me you have to go 28's going tubeless or there's no point. Where do they sell 25 tubeless ready tires then?
 

Andrew_P

In between here and there
This summer I want to sell my Fulcram 5's and get a decent set of tubeless ready wheels. I'm thinking of the 0's but are supposed to be heavier than advertised. Weight isn't an issue so maybe go for some handbuilts? Off the peg may be better as I could put them through the C2W scheme at my friendly LBS. Any suggestions c.c ???
I Went from Fulcrum 3's two way fit to Zero's two way fit. Didn't notice much, if any difference except that my wallet was lighter and if you are the type of rider to rack up miles and do some wet riding I found the hubs next to useless as they are not sealed cartridge like the 3's and rim wear was not practical either. I Think past £400-500 per wheelset you have to take a big leap in cash to feel anything worthwhile and I have not even trialled that theory. If they were for my disc brake bike then I would think about spending £££'s as they will last a long time. In defence of the Zero's I didn't maintain them but in my defence there was not much left in one of the rims by the time the rear hub gave up.

Also some decent handbuilt you can spec the rim to be wider the zero's were (not sure about new models) more traditionally thin and with 23mm Tubeless were bloody tight compared to my wider Grail Disc ZTR's
 
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Andrew_P

In between here and there
Somebody told me you have to go 28's going tubeless or there's no point. Where do they sell 25 tubeless ready tires then?
IMO if you want tubeless 23mm is next to useless if and that's is an if you have a non sealable puncture out on the road. Next to impossible getting a tube in to a 23mm tubeless on a Fulcrum Zero at the roadside. I hade to do it once and it took 1 hour and two tubes before I could get going again. Where as a 25mm on a wider rimmed ZTR Grail takes no longer than a normal clincher to stick a tube in and sort the tyre at home.

I did 15k miles+ on tubeless and I am back on clinchers, I got pished off with the wear and the speed at which the tyres got cut up and started to puncture plus the cost also found out I have a severe allergy to Propylene Glycol the main ingredient in the sealants I was using which was the final nail. As an aside the Conti 4 Season I put on snapped in to the Grails exactly if not louder than tubeless tyres.
 
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OP
Milzy

Milzy

Guru
IMO if you want tubeless 23mm is next to useless if and that's is an if you have a non sealable puncture out on the road. Next to impossible getting a tube in to a 23mm tubeless on a Fulcrum Zero at the roadside. I hade to do it once and it took 1 hour and two tubes before I could get going again. Where as a 25mm on a wider rimmed ZTR Grail takes no longer than a normal clincher to stick a tube in and sort the tyre at home.

I did 15k miles+ on tubeless and I am back on clinchers, I got pished off with the wear and the speed at which the tyres got cut up and started to puncture plus the cost also found out I have a severe allergy to Propylene Glycol the main ingredient in the sealants I was using which was the final nail. As an aside the Conti 4 Season I put on snapped in to the Grails exactly if not louder than tubeless tyres.
This is some serious food for thought. Maybe fulcrum 3 and stick to tubes. Thanks for your wisdom.
 

Andrew_P

In between here and there
This is some serious food for thought. Maybe fulcrum 3 and stick to tubes. Thanks for your wisdom.
I think I have given tubeless too negative review. 25mm is the utopia but in 25mm the tubeless tyres are mainly aimed at the performance end of the market as per 23mm. The Fulcrum two way fits must have a different rim set up because even some 23mm clinchers can be pretty tight to get on. Unfortunately the bike that the Zero's were on could only run 23mm max due to brake and chainstay restrictions. My main advice was to avoid the Zero's. Type in to Google Fulcrum Zero wheel wobble or bearings and see the forum posts. They are a performance wheel and the bearing need tweaking pretty regularly, which I didn't do.

Hard wearing and good puncture protection the best I had was the Schwable S-One 30mm and very slight nobble but made the bike feel a bit dull, The Hutchinson Sectors 28mm were ok as well. Everything else I tried I was getting 1200-1800 miles out of before they got to cut up or multiple slow punctures worst for wear were the Schwalbe ones but rode fantastic! But those miles were only 2-3 months riding hence the costs were getting out of hand.

Tubeless I found quite a steep learning curve, from getting them on and sealed up to what to do with slow leaking punctures. But I did run for the 15k miles with only two ride stopping punctures, plenty of slow leakers or ones that only held air at 40-50psi but with tubeless these I was still able to ride. They feel great as you can run lower pressures etc. They take a bit more maintence but are very reliable overall.

Shimano do some nice road wheels that can take tubeless, or search Google for handbuilt wheels.

Things to look out for on most factory built wheels is the spokes and hubs for maintence bladed spokes and sealed rims were beyond my ability and the bike shops I took them too mostly turned their nose up at working on them. With a Handbuilt you can pick a really nice and easy to maintain cartridge hub and pick your spokes and rim a lot of rims have the option of two way fit it just means change the rim tape. When the rim wears out they are only about £40-90 to replace and you can keep the hubs and maybe the spokes. Plus most bike shops would be happy to work on them and service the hubs. IMO factories are great but most of them are pretty much throw away once the rim has gone and Fulcrum only sell them in wheelsets. So if only the front or back has gone then you are buying an extra wheel every time.

I have DT Swiss 240s Hubs - Standard Spokes and ZTR Grails rims on my disc brake winter bike. When I look at braking the summer one out I will look around for some nice handbuilts!!
 

Andrew_P

In between here and there
^TMN to me.
Yeah saw that but wasn't sure if it was this thread lol - you got the disc versions if I recall correctly? Are they home serviceable they look like it, standard spokes and spoke holes and cartridge bearing hubs?
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
Yeah saw that but wasn't sure if it was this thread lol - you got the disc versions if I recall correctly? Are they home serviceable they look like it, standard spokes and spoke holes and cartridge bearing hubs?
Not sure about home servicing, but doubt it would be a problem, nothing that's bespoke...
 
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