Fulcrum Zero's or Carbone SL's - Opinions from owners please?

Hungrycol

Soooo how are all you Zero/SL owners getting on with your wheels? I'm torn between the Fulcrum Racing Zero's and Cosmic Carbone SL's, both around the same price.

I've just sold a set of Fulcrum 3's so I'm in for an upgrade and drawn towards the Zero's cos my my great experience with them... but... but... but should I go carbon aero instead? While I see that SL's are popular there seem to be a lot for sale too?! A lot of "there's brilliant wheels, mine are for sale" threads! Zero's are less popular but still a great wheel by searches so far. As somone said on a previous thread do I go top of the range alu wheel or entry lever carbon aero? Humm. I'm also wondering how serviceable the ceramic bearings are on the Zero's.

I hope to use them mainly for racing and weekend morning spins on my Cannondale.

Would love to hear from owners on their experience of each and even those who have owned both.

freddie_

I have a set of Racing Zero's and cant speak highly enough of them. I have the 2 way fit so have used tubeless tires on them for over a year and love it. No punctures yet all the benefits of tubs.
Expensive wheels but are as close to bomb proof as possible, ideal for Irish roads.
I would 100% recommend them.
Hope that helps

Hungrycol

freddie_ wrote: »

I have a set of Racing Zero's and cant speak highly enough of them. I have the 2 way fit so have used tubeless tires on them for over a year and love it. No punctures yet all the benefits of tubs.
Expensive wheels but are as close to bomb proof as possible, ideal for Irish roads.
I would 100% recommend them.
Hope that helps

That does help freddie, thanks. I'm stretching the budget on the Zero's as it was going to be the Racing 1's initially so I won't be going that extra mile on the the 2 Way Fit. I'm a 14 st rider, and have had no brake rub on the Racing 3's when mashing on climbs I had so I'm inclined toward the Zero's.

Have you had any issues with the ceramic bearings or are they expensive to service?

fat bloke

If you're going for a one-set, do it all wheelset, definitely the Fulcrums. The carbones are grand for the bling but when the road goes up, or there's a cross wind, the fulcrums and similar are the job. Ideally you'd have the Fulcrums as your work-a-day, honest-to-goodness, hard-graft dependable race wheels, and then on the odd sunny day when the photographers are out you'd have your deeper section label-spinners .

If you look after them anything like you did your racing 3's, they'll be a bargain on here in a few years time too. I had racing threes for a few years and loved them. Had an issue with spokes cracking on one, but it was replaced under warranty (fair play to css and fulcrum) and no other issues. I wasn't quite so lavish with the tender loving care and the decals and stuff peeled off em but they were always perfectly functional. So the zero's as a rung or two above, must be smashing altogether.

Diarmuid

Did you consider the Dura Ace 7900 CL24?s They get very good reviews and would be in the same league as the ones you've mentioned. The reason I ask is I am looking around for something similar at the moment

moby2101

Hey

Have you had a look at these?Thinking about these myself.
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=23498;page=1;menu=1000,4,123,30;mid=21;orderby=3

Hungrycol

Diarmuid wrote: »

Did you consider the Dura Ace 7900 CL24?s They get very good reviews and would be in the same league as the ones you've mentioned. The reason I ask is I am looking around for something similar at the moment

Yeah I seemed to have discounted the DA's early on. They just don't rock my boat. Carbon laminate sounds a bit iffy to me too. I'm leaning more and more to the Zeros. Going to buy them in a German site so hopefully I'll have no warranty issues.

Hungrycol

moby2101 wrote: »

Hey

Have you had a look at these?Thinking about these myself.
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=23498;page=1;menu=1000,4,123,30;mid=21;orderby=3

Too far above my budget. I'm looking at Jedi Sports. (They're €100 cheaper on Jedi BTW.)

Murph100

Hungrycol,


Yeah the Zero's will be bombproof, I have the Campag equivalent, Shamal Ultras, absolutely the best wheels ever, taken all sorts of abuse & knocks and still perfect after 3 years.

FWIW the Fulcrum One is probably the better buy as the only difference is in the hubs, its still Campag hubs but without the ceramic bearings ( big deal ) and no carbon fairing on the hubs. Just like Shamals versus Eurus.

Forget about deep section alloys like the SLs, heavy as f*@k & completely defeats the purpose IMO, if you want deep sections go for full carbon tubular like Fast Forwards.

Also I've seen loads of guys who have Carbone SLs having to ditch the front wheel and pop in a reserve POS low profile wheel because of our usual high winds here in the Kingdom, would have been better off with just a decent low profile set in the first place :rolleyes:

Diarmuid

Hungrycol wrote: »

Yeah I seemed to have discounted the DA's early on. They just don't rock my boat. Carbon laminate sounds a bit iffy to me too. I'm leaning more and more to the Zeros. Going to buy them in a German site so hopefully I'll have no warranty issues.

Haven't heard any negative reviews on the DA's and in fact on bikeradar, roadbikereview and weightweenies forums they posts are very favourable. I think that's where I'll be putting my cash

stevie_b

Diarmuid wrote: »

Haven't heard any negative reviews on the DA's and in fact on bikeradar, roadbikereview and weightweenies forums they posts are very favourable. I think that's where I'll be putting my cash

They'll be my next wheels too. Those hubs are smooooth.

Hungrycol

Diarmuid wrote: »

Haven't heard any negative reviews on the DA's and in fact on bikeradar, roadbikereview and weightweenies forums they posts are very favourable. I think that's where I'll be putting my cash

Cool. I don't have any experience of Shim wheels but I do of Fulcrum so I suppose I'm considering on going with what I know. Did see a nice docu about wheel building in the Shimano a few years ago and their DA wheel department was very impressive.

fat bloke

Well. I've had those DA carbon clinchers for two years now and I absolutely love them, and stand by them 100%. Savage wheels. Light, strong, reasonably priced so you don't have to be too precious about them. If something happened then then I'd be straight out to replace them directly.

moggs1972

i ride cosmic sl's and kysirium sl's. the kysiriums are almost identical in weight to the fulcrums that you are looking at. in this country we have no climbs or terrain that weight would be a factor. aero benefit will always be more of an advantage to weight on our roads unless the wind is blowing hard when the cosmics can be a handfull. dont let grams be a factor in your decision, it means nothing. the important thing is useability, if you are looking for a 365 day wheelset then the fulcrums are prob your best bet unless ya can afford both:o

sy

Hungrycol wrote: »

I hope to use them mainly for racing and weekend morning spins on my Cannondale.
Would love to hear from owners on their experience of each and even those who have owned both.

I bought zeros few months back to replace Carbone SLs and I have them fitted to a Cannondale!
Didn't like the SLs, granted they are bomb proof but too heavy and harsh for my liking and hate the cross wind effect. We get a lot of windy weather here so not for me. Sold them after few months as much preferred my Easton EA90 SLX's which I have been riding for past few years.. Bought the Zero's based on reviews etc so time will tell. They compare well with the Eastons in weight and smoothness but appear to be lot stronger and more suitable to our roads. As for the ceramic bearings, not the main reason I bought them and the Eastons are just as smooth.
One of my friends has the Carbon Laminated DA's and swears by them but I was never impressed by their looks :pac:
I bought my Zeros here but they only have Dark Label in stock at the moment

Hungrycol

moggs1972 wrote: »

i ride cosmic sl's and kysirium sl's. the kysiriums are almost identical in weight to the fulcrums that you are looking at. in this country we have no climbs or terrain that weight would be a factor. aero benefit will always be more of an advantage to weight on our roads unless the wind is blowing hard when the cosmics can be a handfull. dont let grams be a factor in your decision, it means nothing. the important thing is useability, if you are looking for a 365 day wheelset then the fulcrums are prob your best bet unless ya can afford both:o

Thanks moggs, defo not concerned with weight as I know losing a few lbs of body weight would be much cheaper! I am looking for a one for all type if wheel.

AstraMonti

I think you are comparing two different wheels. I wouldn't say that the Carbones is an everyday wheel comparing to the Zero. It's not that it's not robust enough to handle every day torture, on the contrary it's a very good wheelset, but it's just too deep for everyday use. I think you need to have another pair in order to buy the carbones, unless you like being blown around up in sally gap

skerry

Diarmuid wrote: »

Haven't heard any negative reviews on the DA's and in fact on bikeradar, roadbikereview and weightweenies forums they posts are very favourable. I think that's where I'll be putting my cash

In the same boat as yourself. Been wanting to upgrade from my Easton Vista SL's and am hoping to pull the trigger on a pair of Dura Ace C24's in the next month. Have yet to come across a bad review. Couldn't really justify a pair of deep sections given the type of terrain I ride, pair of all rounders would be more useful.

ryan0380

I am currently in the middle of a bike build and considering my wheel options too. I have a set of kysrium sl's which will be goin on the bike it the short term. I am considering getting a set of carbon rims but I am not quite convinced that the expense justifies the perceived gains of the aero aspect. My new bike will be used mainly for racing and some dry training spins during the summer. Another thing that puzzles me is what effect does the rim depth of carbon wheels have, both positive and negative? Take Zipps for example what are the major differences bet 303's, 404's, 606's or 808's other than rim depth. I know 808's are stiffer for time trials, sprinting etc. What would be the advantages of say 303's and the nice fulcrum zeros already discussed in this thread.

Basically I am asking people who race and ride carbon rims to tell me why they do!!!!
Thanks, I don't ask for much!!!

Arthurdaly

I own a pair of cosmic carbones SL and they make a massive difference to my solo spins, speedwise its worth at lest 2kph on flat average wind terrain. In a bunch I'm sure the benefits are non existant but everytime you poke your nose out the front things appear easier.

They are the lighest wheel I own so I dont mind taking them up a few hills. A strong crosswind on sally gap is a nightmare so I am concious of when I take them out.

Ive looked at the zeros and now I am trying to justify buying those for when the roads point up!