Fulcrum Racing Quattro wheels

A lot of wheel for not a lot of money is the first thought that springs to mind when it comes to Fulcrum's new Racing Quattro wheels, the latest addition to the Italian wheel manufacturers line-up.

The Racing Quattros slide in between the Racing 3 (/content/review/53415-fulcrum-racing-3-wheelset) and Racing 5 in the company's range and manages to be both an affordable training wheel ideal for the winter or an aero racing wheel in its own right. The Quattros are pitched squarely as a durable all-round aerodynamic wheelset that doesn't break the bank at £299.99.

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The Quattros most noticeable feature is the 35mm deep aero aluminium rim which with the oversized flange on the rear driveside hub keeps the spokes short - resulting in a strong wheelset. Their 1,787g weight (a little higher than the claimed 1,710g) isn't particularly light weight, but compares well with other similarly priced wheels.

The rim is stiffer radially than a traditional shallow box section rim which means less spokes can be used to build them up. There's 16 stainless straight pull steel bladed spokes up front and 21 in the rear wheel. They're held in place at the rims with smart red nipples and laced radially at the front and use the company's '2:1 Two-to-One' lacing pattern in the rear wheel.

With two spokes on the drive side for every one spoke on the non-drive side, the tension in the spokes can be higher and evenly distributed. The spokes are held in the flanges using an anti-rotation system that means during the build, or spoke replacement, that the aero spokes are orientated in the correct way.

Considering their price, they are exceptionally well made and have stood up to many months of hard riding without showing any signs of stress. I've been running these wheels on my long-term Cannondale Evo test bike and while they obviously lack the immediacy of a lighter wheel, once up to cruising speeds they roll along well.

Are the 35mm rims of the Racing Quattros more aero than the Shimano RS80s, a conventional box section rim wheelset, they replaced? Not significantly, if my experience is anything to go by you'll be hard pressed to notice the difference. On back-to-back testing on familiar roads I detected only a smidgen of difference. The reality is that it would be hard to come to a reasonable conclusion on their aero performance without getting a wind tunnel involved in the test procedure.

One downside of all that radial stiffness is that on some of the rough roads of my test circuit they made for an occasionally harsh ride. They're fine on anything smooth but along a road where the top layer of Tarmac is breaking away, they can be a touch jarring. They're impressively strong though... I've battered a few potholes on night time training rides and they show no signs of dents or dings, nor have they deviated from true.

Slinging the bike around reveals that while acceleration is limited due to their weight, that once up to speed they roll along with good pace. They're nicely responsive when weaving the bike through fast corners and feel solid under heavy sprinting and sudden change of directions don't faze them either.

So, a very tough and strong wheelset with reasonable aero speed, they look good with smart decals and they're very durable with the bearings still running smooth. For the money, we're prepared to overlook the occasionally harsh ride and enjoy their fast ride performance.

The Quattros have all the hallmarks of a perfect training wheelset that will survive some hard riding as much as they're well suited to a reasonably fast set of wheels for racing in the summer.

Verdict

A lot of wheel for not a lot of money. Fast and durable, a great all-rounder