Fulcrum debuts light and stealthy Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN DB road wheels
The annual Sea Otter Classic trade show unfortunately isn’t happening as usual this month, so to fill the gaping tech news void left in its wake, we went ahead and put together our own virtual event, which we’ve playfully dubbed… Pond Beaver 2020! We’ve gathered up a mountain of information and images of new gear to come this season, and we’ll be rolling it out to you in a satisfying steady stream over the next few weeks.
Fulcrum’s flagship lightweight carbon clincher disc-brake road wheelset, the Racing Zero Carbon, is getting an upgrade just in time for the northern spring. The new Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN DB features the same 19mm-wide (internal width) and 30mm-deep tubeless-compatible carbon rims as the standard version, but with a murdered-out black-on-black color scheme and Fulcrum’s highest-end CULT adjustable bearings, which are built with ceramic balls and cryogenically treated races, and lubricated with oil instead of grease, all in the name of reduced friction.
Fulcrum’s so-called ARC technology features strategically placed strips of carbon that locally reinforce the spoke holes without having to bolster the entire rim. Notably, the spoke holes are molded in place, not drilled.
Additional details include a solid, airtight outer rim wall thanks to Fulcrum’s clever MoMag assembly process (whereby the aluminum nipples are fitted with a steel slug and then guided into place with a magnet), 21 bladed aluminum spokes per wheel with two-to-one lacing patterns for more even spoke tensions, a carbon fiber front hub body, and strategically placed swatches of carbon fiber at each spoke hole for additional pull-through strength without adding unnecessary mass.
Fulcrum is offering the Racing Zero CMPTZN DB with Shimano/SRAM, Campagnolo, or SRAM XDR (at a small upcharge) aluminum freehub bodies, all with splined rotor interfaces. The stock hub fitment configuration is 12mm thru-axle front and rear, although optional end caps are available for quick-release, 15x100mm front thru-axle, and 12x135mm rear thru-axle interfaces.
Claimed weight is 1,440 grams per set, and the retail price is US$2,657 / €2,200 (pricing for other markets is to be confirmed). Fulcrum says wheelsets should be available at retail outlets now.
The outer wall of the Fulcrum Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN rim is solid and inherently airtight since the spoke holes don’t go through both walls of the rim.
Both the front and rear wheels utilize triplet spoke lacing with twice as many spokes on one side as the other to help even out the tensions given the disparate bracing angles.
The Fulcrum Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN DB wheels rotate on the company’s top-end CULT hybrid ceramic bearings. The ceramic balls are held in polymer retainers, and the steel races are cryogenically treated for hardness.
The contrasting patterns in the carbon rim look very trick.
The straight-pull bladed aluminum spoke heads are flat edges so that they don’t rotate in the hub flange when truing is required.
The front hub features a carbon center sleeve.
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