Went to the Fulcrum shop.
Me: Hey, could you stock that thing for me?
Them: You got it.
They arrived.
Speed 55C wheels.
2018 model, but I didn't write on the box myself.
Like Mavic, Fulcrum has switched to not including a wheel bag with their mid-range models.
Since the "Speed" is the new flagship replacing "Racing Speed,"
it comes with a wheel bag included.
The wheel bag design has been updated—
with a pull tab added to the zipper, making it easier to open.
The wheel color selection has been narrowed down to this darker tone only, leaning toward the Dark Label aesthetic.
Having fewer options is convenient from a restocking perspective.
It's somewhat similar to the Campagnolo Bullet from a while back.
I've stocked them all in Shimano spec.
The difference from the Campagnolo spec is the freebody and brake pads,
but for this shipment only, I can accommodate spec changes without additional charge.
I notice I'm wiping it anyway, but the slight dirt on the white aluminum freebody
is the fault of the Romanian worker, not me.
About the AC3 rim.
There's this salmon-fillet-like texture in the brake zone that supposedly improves braking power,
particularly in wet conditions, but I'm skeptical about it.
The original carbon rim already has good braking, so I don't see much added benefit,
and there's the downside of faster brake pad wear.
However, according to someone I spoke with, when using
SwissStop Black Prince pads, they wear down aggressively,
but with the OEM pads, that's not as much of an issue.
Since the OEM pads are cheaper than Black Prince anyway,
there's not much reason to use non-approved alternatives,
but when someone is constantly switching different manufacturers' carbon wheels
all using Black Prince pads exclusively, that's how you end up in that situation.
Regarding the Speed 55C, neither the official website nor my materials
list the published weight for each wheel separately.
According to them, the 55C weighs 1470g and the 40C weighs 1420g.
That's a 50g difference front-to-back, meaning the rim weight difference between 40C and 55C
is about 25g, and considering the 55C has shorter spokes,
the actual difference is probably around 30g or so.
But calling roughly 30g difference for 15mm of rim height essentially equal
might be a bit generous.
I'm an outer-diameter-weight purist and tend to undervalue wheel aerodynamics
except for specific race formats.
A deep rim that's reasonably light is fine, but a ridiculously heavy deep rim—
the aerodynamic benefit never outweighs the weight penalty.
The Speed clincher models come in USB bearing spec only,
and the tubular models come in CULT bearing spec only, so
if I'm comparing this to Campagnolo's Bora,
the comparison would be against Bora One clincher and Bora Ultra tubular.
So here, I've listed out the published weights.
The Speed 55T is 65g heavier than the Bora Ultra 50T.
That's likely due to the 5mm rim height difference and G3 having shorter spokes
compared to 2:1.
But between the Bora One 50C and Speed 55C,
interestingly, the Speed is 15g lighter.
So you should buy the Speed over the Bora One if you're going clincher!
That's how I'd like to wrap this up, but to be honest about why that's the case—
the difference is mainly in the front hub.
The Bora One has aluminum hub shells front and rear,
but the Speed C's front hub has a carbon hub shell,
just like the Speed T does.
I removed all the extras and took an actual weight measurement without quick-release.
The pair came to 1508g.
I only pulled one out of five pairs, so I don't know if this is a particularly light unit.
Regarding the Speed 55C, if I only had two pairs of wheels—the Speed 40C and 55C—
and had to use them as complete matching front-and-rear sets (no mixing 40C front with 55C rear),
I'd definitely use the 40C more often.
But based on reliable data from the inspection frequency of Bora wheels,
customer trends suggest it's not necessarily "35mm all the way!"
Keeping that in mind, I've decided to do the Speed 55C festival.
Until 2017, Speed only came in 40C/40T/55T,
so this new model fills a gap in the lineup.
In its defense, if the 40C uses regular butyl tubes
and the 55C uses thinner butyl tubes,
then having nearly the same outer-diameter weight while the 55C is 15mm taller in rim height—
maybe the 55C isn't so bad from an outer-diameter-weight perspective. Hehehehe.
You'll probably say "but you're using a deep rim in the rear in that image up there,"
to which I'd reply that EDGE's 65mm deep rim weighs only 378g actual weight—remarkably light.
If that were 500g instead, I absolutely wouldn't use it.
For this festival, the distributor is supposed to send racing caps as promotional items,
but they're delayed and arrival is pending.
Even if they do arrive, there will only be 4, which isn't enough for 5 wheel pairs.
So I've added Fulcrum tire levers as an alternative gift option.
When purchasing the Speed 55C, please choose either a tire lever or racing cap.
Whichever runs out first, the remaining one becomes the automatic bonus.
Tektro calipers are not included (just to be clear).
As for the actual price, it's normally ¥362,880 including tax, but...
if I could mention it here, I'd have already posted it here.
So thank you for your interest.
One more thing: for inventory inquiries, please visit the shop or call.
Me: Hey, could you stock that thing for me?
Them: You got it.
They arrived.
Speed 55C wheels.
2018 model, but I didn't write on the box myself.
Like Mavic, Fulcrum has switched to not including a wheel bag with their mid-range models.
Since the "Speed" is the new flagship replacing "Racing Speed,"
it comes with a wheel bag included.
The wheel bag design has been updated—
with a pull tab added to the zipper, making it easier to open.
The wheel color selection has been narrowed down to this darker tone only, leaning toward the Dark Label aesthetic.
Having fewer options is convenient from a restocking perspective.
It's somewhat similar to the Campagnolo Bullet from a while back.
I've stocked them all in Shimano spec.
The difference from the Campagnolo spec is the freebody and brake pads,
but for this shipment only, I can accommodate spec changes without additional charge.
I notice I'm wiping it anyway, but the slight dirt on the white aluminum freebody
is the fault of the Romanian worker, not me.
About the AC3 rim.
There's this salmon-fillet-like texture in the brake zone that supposedly improves braking power,
particularly in wet conditions, but I'm skeptical about it.
The original carbon rim already has good braking, so I don't see much added benefit,
and there's the downside of faster brake pad wear.
However, according to someone I spoke with, when using
SwissStop Black Prince pads, they wear down aggressively,
but with the OEM pads, that's not as much of an issue.
Since the OEM pads are cheaper than Black Prince anyway,
there's not much reason to use non-approved alternatives,
but when someone is constantly switching different manufacturers' carbon wheels
all using Black Prince pads exclusively, that's how you end up in that situation.
Regarding the Speed 55C, neither the official website nor my materials
list the published weight for each wheel separately.
According to them, the 55C weighs 1470g and the 40C weighs 1420g.
That's a 50g difference front-to-back, meaning the rim weight difference between 40C and 55C
is about 25g, and considering the 55C has shorter spokes,
the actual difference is probably around 30g or so.
But calling roughly 30g difference for 15mm of rim height essentially equal
might be a bit generous.
I'm an outer-diameter-weight purist and tend to undervalue wheel aerodynamics
except for specific race formats.
A deep rim that's reasonably light is fine, but a ridiculously heavy deep rim—
the aerodynamic benefit never outweighs the weight penalty.
The Speed clincher models come in USB bearing spec only,
and the tubular models come in CULT bearing spec only, so
if I'm comparing this to Campagnolo's Bora,
the comparison would be against Bora One clincher and Bora Ultra tubular.
So here, I've listed out the published weights.
The Speed 55T is 65g heavier than the Bora Ultra 50T.
That's likely due to the 5mm rim height difference and G3 having shorter spokes
compared to 2:1.
But between the Bora One 50C and Speed 55C,
interestingly, the Speed is 15g lighter.
So you should buy the Speed over the Bora One if you're going clincher!
That's how I'd like to wrap this up, but to be honest about why that's the case—
the difference is mainly in the front hub.
The Bora One has aluminum hub shells front and rear,
but the Speed C's front hub has a carbon hub shell,
just like the Speed T does.
I removed all the extras and took an actual weight measurement without quick-release.
The pair came to 1508g.
I only pulled one out of five pairs, so I don't know if this is a particularly light unit.
Regarding the Speed 55C, if I only had two pairs of wheels—the Speed 40C and 55C—
and had to use them as complete matching front-and-rear sets (no mixing 40C front with 55C rear),
I'd definitely use the 40C more often.
But based on reliable data from the inspection frequency of Bora wheels,
customer trends suggest it's not necessarily "35mm all the way!"
Keeping that in mind, I've decided to do the Speed 55C festival.
Until 2017, Speed only came in 40C/40T/55T,
so this new model fills a gap in the lineup.
In its defense, if the 40C uses regular butyl tubes
and the 55C uses thinner butyl tubes,
then having nearly the same outer-diameter weight while the 55C is 15mm taller in rim height—
maybe the 55C isn't so bad from an outer-diameter-weight perspective. Hehehehe.
You'll probably say "but you're using a deep rim in the rear in that image up there,"
to which I'd reply that EDGE's 65mm deep rim weighs only 378g actual weight—remarkably light.
If that were 500g instead, I absolutely wouldn't use it.
For this festival, the distributor is supposed to send racing caps as promotional items,
but they're delayed and arrival is pending.
Even if they do arrive, there will only be 4, which isn't enough for 5 wheel pairs.
So I've added Fulcrum tire levers as an alternative gift option.
When purchasing the Speed 55C, please choose either a tire lever or racing cap.
Whichever runs out first, the remaining one becomes the automatic bonus.
Tektro calipers are not included (just to be clear).
As for the actual price, it's normally ¥362,880 including tax, but...
if I could mention it here, I'd have already posted it here.
So thank you for your interest.
One more thing: for inventory inquiries, please visit the shop or call.