Sunday, May 13, 2007

New wheels: Fulcrum Racing 1

An upside of breaking a spoke at Wildflower; it provided the perfect excuse to buy new wheels. Thanks to all who gave me advice especially Mike Spence, Craig Dalton, James Gracey and Rand Libberton.

Brand/class recommendations included: Mavic Ksyrium ES, Bontrager Race X Lite, Easton and Fulcrum. In the end I chose Fulcrum Racing 1.

So how are they? I must admit, I wasn't convinced that I would be able to tell the difference (especially given my relatively limited road biking experience). My first test ride was the Escape from Alcatraz bike loop on a sunny, dry, almost windless Sunday May 13th. Climbing was easier, descending was faster (I could pick up speed incredibly quickly, even when freewheeling) and the part I'm most impressed with: every street felt like it was newly paved; the ride was incredibly smooth. [They also sound pretty cool and come with their own carry cases :-) ]

Huge thanks (again) to Rand Libberton and the folks at PK Racing, who did all the hard work installing them and servicing my bike post Wildflower.

I also learned about some useful online resources including
PS I was riding ALX 220 and Wildflower was the third spoke to break in 2007 (one front, two back). I guess I should have seen it coming...The weight difference between the ALX 220 and Fulcrum Racing 1 is about 129g front, 227g rear, 356g total.

1 comment:

Ralphie said...

Thanks for info Luke