~$400 Wheelset: Fulcrum Racing Quattro vs. Shimano Ultegra

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

As the title says, I'm looking for a new wheelset around the $400 price point. I've found both the Fulcrum Quattro and the Shimano Ultegra 6700 to be good candidates. Which one would you go with? Do you have any other suggestions?

The Ultegra wheelset is tubeless compatible, but at this point I don't have any tubeless tires, and not sure if it's worth it. I'm not a big racer, but like to do a couple centuries in the spring and of course some long training rides leading up to that.

[mykell9999]

Look at the Ultegra RS80's too

[Charlie the Unicorn]

Can't be 100% sure, but the ultegra level wheels seem to carry more bang for the buck. I'd go with handbuilts before either of those, but between the two I'd opt for the shimano wheels.

[Wig.Ken]

I would recommend FULCRUM Racing Quattro.
These wheels are great, once you get to 20-40 mph they really come into there zone you can feel how much easier it is due to the streamline of the wheels. Great wheels I would recommend.

[biker jk]

Get Shimano RS80s. Great wheels for the price. Light rims at around 390 grams so they spin up fast. Total weight just over 1500 grams. Easy to service Shimano hubs.

[maximum7]

I second the RS 80 at $400 or actually a little over. (Ribble)
I would think the Fulcrum 3's would be more of a comparison, than the Quattros.

[AndrwSwitch]

Depends.

Do you already have some good workhorse wheels? If not, I'd spend the money on some conservative wheels with J-bend spokes and serviceable hubs.

It's nice to be able to replace rims, and not whole wheels, when I wear out my brake tracks.

I have some wheels from bicyclewheelwarehouse that I got for my MTB for a do-over. All different pricepoints, and mine were built quite well.

The road bike actually still has its original hubs and spokes, twelve years later, although I did eventually wear out the rims. For me, this was illustrative of the utility of sticking with a traditional design.

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Thanks for the replies. I'd love to get the RS80's but they are over my budget for this upgrade ($400). I don't ride enough road to make it worth it, I just do a couple big rides and a century early in the year and then it's MTB for the remainder of the year.

I can still get the Ultegra 6700's for $385 shipped from wiggle.co.uk. But I'd be open to a hand built or custom wheelset that would be close to that weight but offer superior performance. Any suggestions?

[AndrwSwitch]

The standby is Open Pros on Ultegra hubs with whatever name-brand double-butted spoke. You can probably do that for $400.

I got some wheels for my mountain bike from bicyclewheelwarehouse.com. There are also some wheel businesses that post here, your shop can probably build wheels, and QBP has a program.

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

So those Open Pros are better than the Ultegra rims? Is there anything wrong with the Ultegra rims?

[morgan1819]

So those Open Pros are better than the Ultegra rims? Is there anything wrong with the Ultegra rims?

There is nothing wrong with the rims on the 6700 wheelset. They are fantastic.

I think Andrw's main point was that the Ultegra's are a 'system' wheel, using proprietary spokes and rims (not the standard off-the-shelf j bend spoke and nipple combo), so you would have to replace the rim with the same rim, if it ever wore out.

I put about 7,000 miles on my 6700's, and they were perfect in every way. Rims handled the worst roads with no problem, the hubs are like jewelry, and I loved the option to go tubeless. My wife has them now, and loves them as well. I believe they are 16 spokes front, 20 rear.

The advantage of going with a standard Shimano hub, Mavic rim combo is having the option to replace the rim for about $50-$70, and the spokes for about $1 each off-the-shelf. You also have the option of specifying the number of spokes you need when having them built. If you are a bigger guy (200+), then it is nice to have 32 spokes option front and rear.

Everybody rides in different scenarios (good roads, bad roads, light rider, heavy rider, flats, hills, wind, no wind, race, no race), so choose accordingly.

[AndrwSwitch]

OK, I'm going to go off on a bit of a rant.

Wheels are often cited as the biggest upgrade you can make to a road bike. I think getting it fit makes a bigger difference, but people often don't count that - usually it's a bunch of lateral parts changes anyway.

It's true that swapping wheels makes a bigger difference than, say, swapping the crank or getting a more expensive rear derailleur, assuming the previous parts already function. Making them a better upgrade. But I don't think that makes them a good upgrade, necessarily. Upgrades don't usually exist in a vacuum. I don't have the numbers at my fingertips and am too lazy to recalculate it, but the actual changes in times on various types of road - climbs, rolling hills, four corner crits, etc. - for someone riding fancy wheels vs. the stock wheels that come on most road bikes are really, really small. If the goal is to win a race or a couple of primes, maybe that's enough. I've won sprints by inches. (On cheap wheels, incidentally.) But I think that in terms of an actual change in the riding experience, it's really not much. However, the manufacturers and the Internet have got people convinced that they'll have a little less trouble staying up with their group ride if only they buy these new wheels.

I bought my 'A' road bike back in 2000. I think I'm a little lucky in that it was a smaller-label bike (LeMond, but before it got as thoroughly Trek-ified as they did in later model years) and it shipped with a complete 105 kit, down to the hubs. I put many thousand miles on the original wheels and eventually chewed up the rims enough that I felt I needed to replace them. I actually still have the original spokes and nipples (in retrospect, should have replaced the nipples ) as well as having reused the hubs. They're a great every day wheel and they've been fine for the couple of forays into competition I've made on that bike - I kinda race "everything but road."

I think I've benefited a lot from having conservative, serviceable everyday wheels on that bike. And my others, too. My fanciest wheel cracked at the spoke holes. I replaced it with a 36-spoke wheel - the bike is for commuting; why it shipped with a low spoke count wheel is beyond me.

To me, it makes sense to get a sensible training wheel first. Since bikes don't necessarily ship with those anymore, it's also something that I think makes sense when someone succumbs to the bug about throwing some more money at their bike.

Now, if someone wants to get some lightweight wheels or some aero wheels or whatever as a supplement for the everyday wheels they have, fine. I still think it's a bit silly for anyone who's not racing at a level where they're lent that stuff by a sponsor. But it does bug me a bit to see people moving from cheap wheels to supplemental wheels to vanity wheels without ever getting some every day wheels.

[looigi]

Neuvation. They have 22mm wide rims. 1470gm and $399/wheelset.

[maximum7]

But I think that in terms of an actual change in the riding experience, it's really not much. However, the manufacturers and the Internet have got people convinced that they'll have a little less trouble staying up with their group ride if only they buy these new wheels.

So then the high end factory wheels and the wheel builders on here (that tell you their wheels are lighter, stronger, and way better for the money) are blowing smoke as well?
Shouldn't we all be riding the stock Mavic Aksiums that came on our bikes since they are no worse than the Zen cyclery's wheels or Boyds, or Williams? Sure maybe, possibly, if, the Mavics won't last as long, there's no reason to buy lighter, or stronger, since they don't really make a difference?

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I appreciate the info. I think the 6700's will work for me, as I'm max about 175#. I do have some pretty bad roads in some areas, but for the most part there aren't any potholes or rough seams I can' avoid. I'm going to keep my eyes open, but for the same $$$ it looks like the 6700 wheelset is hard to beat.

There is nothing wrong with the rims on the 6700 wheelset. They are fantastic.

I think Andrw's main point was that the Ultegra's are a 'system' wheel, using proprietary spokes and rims (not the standard off-the-shelf j bend spoke and nipple combo), so you would have to replace the rim with the same rim, if it ever wore out.

I put about 7,000 miles on my 6700's, and they were perfect in every way. Rims handled the worst roads with no problem, the hubs are like jewelry, and I loved the option to go tubeless. My wife has them now, and loves them as well. I believe they are 16 spokes front, 20 rear.

The advantage of going with a standard Shimano hub, Mavic rim combo is having the option to replace the rim for about $50-$70, and the spokes for about $1 each off-the-shelf. You also have the option of specifying the number of spokes you need when having them built. If you are a bigger guy (200+), then it is nice to have 32 spokes option front and rear.

Everybody rides in different scenarios (good roads, bad roads, light rider, heavy rider, flats, hills, wind, no wind, race, no race), so choose accordingly.

[scottma]

I think the Ultegra wheels for that price are a very good choice.

[AndrwSwitch]

So then the high end factory wheels and the wheel builders on here (that tell you their wheels are lighter, stronger, and way better for the money) are blowing smoke as well?
Shouldn't we all be riding the stock Mavic Aksiums that came on our bikes since they are no worse than the Zen cyclery's wheels or Boyds, or Williams? Sure maybe, possibly, if, the Mavics won't last as long, there's no reason to buy lighter, or stronger, since they don't really make a difference?

I like to think well of people. I think custom builders are mostly trying to make the best wheels they can, and companies like HED and Zipp have their goal and the market will support them in pursuing it. And they can make wheels that are lighter, and wheels that generate less drag.

But, you need to put it in context. When I get on my bike, I'm a system that weighs on the order of 190 lb. When I'm going fast, I'm losing a few hundred Watts, mostly from air drag against my body. I have a couple thousand kJ of kinetic energy associated with me. I don't think that losing a few grams of mass or reducing my air resistance by an amount measured in grams-force is going to change much. I've noticed more of a difference in handling bungie-ing a U-lock to the back of my commute bike, and it's supposed to make a bigger change in air drag for me to zip up my jersey.

If a friend asks me about replacing some Aksiums, even though I don't like them very much, I'll tell him to run them into the ground and go out to a nice dinner.

I do have a soft spot for nice tires, though.