Gravel wheelset choice Fulcrum racing 5 db Road?

Trying to make final choices on a possible Titus Goldrush build following the demise of my Ti456 and the big choice is wheels.

I’d prefer to use cycle solutions,  my employer’s c2w scheme operator.  I’ve trawled the website and wheelset stock is a bit limited.   My goto was/is mavic allroad however they are only showing as available in 650b (I’ve called though and they are checking on 700c with purchasing).  If not the next possibility seems to be fulcrum racing 5DB.  How would these work out?  I’m sure they are a fine wheel and more than adequately tough for regular road commutes and light family pootles on tracks and with an internal rim width of 20mm I’d have thought 40or 45mm tyres would be fine but the description says 25-28mm tyres….eh?

Alternatively I build the bike with 650b allroads, but the larger 700c seems better suited to my use.

Does anyone here have experience of these alternatives?  Thanks

My only experience of Fulcrum is via two Planet X purchases.

When I bought my first gravel bike I upgraded from the Fulcrum 900’s to 700’s, mainly as +300g lighter for not much more and then when I bought a new gravel bike (Free Ranger) I just went with the supplied 900’s as I was going to buy a far nicer pair (and the original 700’s were QR).

The rims aren’t the easiest to tubeless, and when I looked at the Fulcrum website they admitted that they only recommended tubeless with a very limited tyre range.

No idea about the 5 DB, but worth checking.

As it is the 900’s have done service with tubes & slicks – best part of 2kg so now looking for some nicer wheels for slicks too.

Tubeless isn’t a big factor for me, thanks though.

20mm seems a bit narrow for Gravel.

They have the DT Swiss ER 1600 and E 1800’s in stock which are 22mm internal and 700c, maybe have a look a those.

They also list the G and GR gravel wheels but don’t seem to have any rears in 700 for either of these.

How serviceable are the hubs on Fulcrum and other cheap brands? Axle or bearing wear could mean game over. But if they’re cheap enough the equation might make sense

In my personal experience – I have has 2 sets of Fulcrum wheels for road gravel (Racing 5 rim brake I think, and Racing DB Sport perhaps) as well as currently owning a set of Red Zone 5s for my hardtail. The hubs seem to wear out incredibly quickly on them all. I got my HT wheels last October I think and they’re already rumbly and rough sounding.

I found it hard to get spare parts for Fulcrum wheels a few years ago (and very ££). Might have changed nowadays.

The centerlock ring/system they use is a bit annoying as it’s a very shallow, externally splined lock ring, and not like other (Shimano internal or external) lockrings. Otherwise, they were pretty smooth wheels – 700s and the Rapid Red 5s.

No idea what the fulcrum I like really, just that they are sealed bearings.  They are showing as £350, down from £400. The 350b mavic allroad are £305.

Funds are limited unfortunately,  I’d not been planning this build, it’s required due to a cracked frame forcing a change.  Bearing that in mind,  if the wheels die in a couple of years I guess I’d look to upgrade a little then.

The fulcrum don’t sound great… fingers crossed they can find 700c mavic allroad for me!

I’ve had the Fulcrum disc 77 and rated them in use and never had any real issues in the two years of heavy off-road use. As with all wheels wear and tear, I replaced a couple of spokes and bearings, non Fulcrum though as their spares were expensive and not easy to find. The rims aren’t the toughest either and again expensive to replace. I’d have replaced the rims if I hadn’t replaced the wheels with a heavily discounted Superstar set.

So if you can dind them cheap then I’d have another pair. Note that these wheels are often sold on new bikes and people put them on ebay, so a bargain might be found there

Fulcrum wheels are excellent IMHO, I have 2 sets of Racing 6DB – cartridge bearings, easily serviceable just like the 5DB’s, these have been used for racing CX for 2 seasons and have never skipped a beat. I also have various lower end ones and a set of Racing 3DB which are bloody excellent.

Tubeless is dead easy on any of the wheels badged as 2Way fit, and unless you’re fitting what amount to lightly treaded MTB tyres, 20mm internal will be fine.

Ahh great,  that’s good real world experience and positive too. Feeling much better now!

I’ve also heard back from cycle solutions who say the mavic allroad in 700c, shimano freehub, will be coming at the end of May.   Same £305 as the 650b. The frame won’t be here until then anyway so I think the decision is made.   I can get on the phone to px and confirm the Goldrush.

Sounds like I’m 21 minutes too late but I’ve got the Fulcrum DB 5’s and run them on a Nukeproof Digger in 700cc size with 32mm Spech Roubaix tubeless tyres. I’ve had Fulcrum Racing 3’s before so was confident to buy these. Cartridge bearings are easier enough to come by and I’ve found the rims to be fine. They are (were?) Campagnolo underneath anyway. Not taken them on rougher gravel as I have 650bs and bigger tyres for that, but they’ve easily withstood some big old straight-edge dings in pot-holes. I’d happily recommend and given the alternative is Mavic (who often have quite unusual/expensive parts) I don’t think they’re a bad option at all for your use case.

Got 12 year old Fulcrum 7’s on my CX bike I bought second hand last year (Colnago World Cup). After truing them up and replacing all the rear wheel bearings, the wheels are fine. I’ve used these older wheels for road, and shoved on some hardly used, but at least 10 year old Aksiums for gravel use (the blurb says not for off road). Been fine.

Given a choice I’d go handbuilt, by me. But these are what I had.

OK thanks. I’ll be ordering in a day or two but it’s good to hear the fulcrum would likely be fine too.  👍