Mavic Aksium v. Fulcrum Racing 5 v. Kore Gradient

[biker jk]

I'm looking for a set of training wheels and have whittled down my choice to either Mavic Aksium, Fulcrum Racing 5 or Kore Gradient. The first two wheels have a pinned rim joint while the last is welded. These wheelsets range in weight from 1855gms to 1567gms. The Kore Gardient is around 25% more expesnive than the others (and has an unconventional skipped spoke lacing). If anyone has an opinion on the positives and negatives for these wheelsets I would really appreciate your thoughts. I have looked at reviews on the internet but they were scarce for the Kore Gradient and few and far between for the Fulcrum's (which I guess reflects the relative sales of these wheels more than anything else). Thanks.

 

[Powerful Pete]

I have never ridden the Aksiums, which are an honest wheelset, from what I hear. Never even heard of Kore as a company, maybe they are not marketed in Europe, so no comment there either.

I regularly ride (as my training wheels) a pair of Fulcrum 7s (so, one model down than what you are considering, and paid them around 100~120 Euro, if I recall correctly). They are a very nice wheelset for the price, nice smooth hubs and decent looks. They are not light (I did not even check their weight when I purchased them, as I was looking for reliability) and do have pinned rims.

So as a Fulcrum customer, I recommend you consider the Fulcrum 5s. Nice wheelset, Campagnolo made (and their wheelsets are top-notch) and very reliable.

Of course, probably a better way to spend your money is to have your shop build you a bulletproof wheelset from scratch - best hubs you can afford+a decent rim (a la Mavic Open Pro or anything from Ambrosio) and you will have a light, easy to maintain, and wonderful wheelset for years. My 'Sunday' wheels are Mavic Open Pros with Campagnolo Chorus hubs. Wonderful.

But the pre-mades do tend to look sexier...

 

[scirocco]

Fulcrum are quite often specified as original equipment on UK bike builds, so the magazines like Cycling Plus often have reviews on them, or mention them along with the bike review. You will see them in nearly every edition. Cycling Plus is often on sale in Aus newsagents.

I have a set of Fulcrum 3's (one up from the 5's that you are after) and really like them. As Pete says, they have all the qualities of the Campy components. The 3's are very stiff indeed (perhaps a bit too stiff for me as a light rider) but I guess the 5's would not be quite so stiff.

De Grandi Cycles in Geelong carry all the spares if you ever need them.

 

[biker jk]

I have never ridden the Aksiums, which are an honest wheelset, from what I hear. Never even heard of Kore as a company, maybe they are not marketed in Europe, so no comment there either.

I regularly ride (as my training wheels) a pair of Fulcrum 7s (so, one model down than what you are considering, and paid them around 100~120 Euro, if I recall correctly). They are a very nice wheelset for the price, nice smooth hubs and decent looks. They are not light (I did not even check their weight when I purchased them, as I was looking for reliability) and do have pinned rims.

So as a Fulcrum customer, I recommend you consider the Fulcrum 5s. Nice wheelset, Campagnolo made (and their wheelsets are top-notch) and very reliable.

Of course, probably a better way to spend your money is to have your shop build you a bulletproof wheelset from scratch - best hubs you can afford+a decent rim (a la Mavic Open Pro or anything from Ambrosio) and you will have a light, easy to maintain, and wonderful wheelset for years. My 'Sunday' wheels are Mavic Open Pros with Campagnolo Chorus hubs. Wonderful.

But the pre-mades do tend to look sexier...

Thanks PP, I was leaning towards the Fulcums. I did consider the handbuilt option using Mavic Open Pro and Shimano 105 hubs but the cost was way over my budget for the second (cheaper) bike I'm building. I'm planning on spending less than A$300 for the wheelset.

 

[BullGod]

Thanks PP, I was leaning towards the Fulcums. I did consider the handbuilt option using Mavic Open Pro and Shimano 105 hubs but the cost was way over my budget for the second (cheaper) bike I'm building. I'm planning on spending less than A$300 for the wheelset.

just as an FYI i've ridden semi pro RR's on aksiums....do the job fine. They even take the cobblestones in Belgium nicely. good strong wheel. They're my normal training wheels but my race wheels keep popping spokes on the cobbles and bumpy roads round here, so through lack of funds I'm racing on the aksiums. Get some looks at a crit from the guys with Zipps, but I don't care....