Campagnolo's latest Bora carbon road wheels are offered in both 35mm and 50mm depths, both with specially machined sidewalls that leave bare carbon fibers for supposedly better braking
Campagnolo's latest Bora carbon road wheels are offered in both 35mm and 50mm depths, both with specially machined sidewalls that leave bare carbon fibers for supposedly better braking - James Huang / Immediate Media
The new Campagnolo Bora tubulars grow in width from 20.5mm from 24.2mm, which will match better with the wider road tires even top pros are now using - James Huang / Immediate Media
Campagnolo has also added a full carbon clincher Bora to the range for 2015 - James Huang / Immediate Media
While it's easy to produce hubs that sound good on paper, few companies are willing to sweat details like this - James Huang / Immediate Media
The new Campagnolo Shamal Mille carries over the same rim profile and hubs as before but gains a new Keronite surface treatment that is said to greatly improve braking performance - and sidewall durability - James Huang / Immediate Media
Aggressive milling on the Campagnolo Shamal Mille decreases rotating weight while leaving plenty of material to reinforce the spoke holes - James Huang / Immediate Media
The large-diameter driveside flange supposedly improves power transfer from hub to rim - James Huang / Immediate Media
The textured sidewalls effectively increase the amount of surface contact between the rim and brake pad. Campagnolo says the new Keronite surface treatment works best with carbon-specific pads - James Huang / Immediate Media
Campagnolo sister company, Fulcrum, showed off the new Racing Zero Carbon clinchers, which use a 30mm depth, 17mm internal width (clincher only), and bladed aluminum spokes arranged in a 2-to-1 pattern (rear only). Claimed weight for the clincher set is 1,358g; the tubulars weigh 1,268g - James Huang / Immediate Media
The new Fulcrum Racing Zero Carbon gets a moderately wide 17mm rim (internal width) to better support 23-35mm tires. Tubeless proponents will be disappointed that these will be tube-type only, however - James Huang / Immediate Media
Front and rear hubs get carbon fiber center sleeves - James Huang / Immediate Media
The new Fulcrum Racing Zero gets a textured Keronite surface treatment for better braking performance - James Huang / Immediate Media
Does this Fulcrum Racing Zero sidewall look familiar? It's the same texture and surface treatment used by sister company Campagnolo on the Shamal Mille - and the same plasma electrolytic oxidation process used by Mavic on its Exalith rims - James Huang / Immediate Media
Campagnolo and sister outfit Fulcrum displayed a wealth of new road wheels at this year's Eurobike trade show. Although there were no disc brake-compatible models on hand, both companies are clearly making the most of rim brake technologies with Keronite and diamond-machined surfaces. Select rims have grown in width, too.
The star of the new Campagnolo range is the revamped Bora 50 carbon wheelset, which gets a new 17mm-wide (internal width) rim for the full-carbon clincher version while the tubular grows from 20.5mm across to a much healthier 24.2mm. Campagnolo says this not only improves aerodynamic performance but it also lends better casing support for the higher-volume tires that even top pros now prefer.
Campagnolo's latest bora carbon road wheels are offered in both 35mm and 50mm depths, both with specially machined sidewalls that leave bare carbon fibers for supposedly better braking : campagnolo's latest bora carbon road wheels are offered in both 35mm and 50mm depths, both with specially machined sidewalls that leave bare carbon fibers for supposedly better braking
The new Campagnolo Bora One 50 carbon clincher and Bora Ultra 50 tubular both get relatively wide rims
Although the clincher remains a tube-type, both versions get Campagnolo's 3Diamant sidewall treatment, which uses a diamond tipped cutter to effectively mill the rims as is done with most higher-end aluminum rims. According to Campagnolo, this leaves more carbon fibers and less resin exposed for better friction characteristics. Even the graphics receive an upgrade in the form of water transfer decals, which are more durable than traditional stickers and saves 15g.
The new campagnolo bora tubulars grow in width from 20.5mm from 24.2mm, which will match better with the wider road tires even top pros are now using: the new campagnolo bora tubulars grow in width from 20.5mm from 24.2mm, which will match better with the wider road tires even top pros are now using
Campagnolo claims improved braking performance from the 3Diamant milled sidewalls
Claimed weight for the Bora Ultra 50 tubulars is just 1,267g while the Bora One 50 clinchers come in at 1,313g.
The same upgrades can be found on the new Bora Ultra 35 and Bora One 35, whose shallower 35mm-deep rims bring the claimed weights down to 1,179g and 1,223g, respectively.
Campagnolo hasn't forgotten about its aluminum wheels, although we consider changes to the new Shamal Mille to be more revisions than a wholesale redesign. Indeed, the new wheelset carries over the same hubs, bladed aluminum spokes, 2-to-1 rear lacing pattern, and 15mm-wide (internal width) machined alloy clincher rims from before. However, the rim now gets a plasma electrolytic oxidation coating, which is better known by its Keronite trade name (and is the same surface treatment used by Mavic for its Exalith rims).
The new campagnolo shamal mille carries over the same rim profile and hubs as before but gains a new keronite surface treatment that is said to greatly improve braking performance - and sidewall durability: the new campagnolo shamal mille carries over the same rim profile and hubs as before but gains a new keronite surface treatment that is said to greatly improve braking performance - and sidewall durability
Meet the new Campagnolo Shamal Mille, complete with new Keronite-coated rims
Based on our experience with Exalith, the super-hard surface treatment should yield a longer-lasting dark grey finish to the rim. And like Mavic, Campagnolo claims improved braking performance as well (at least when used with the company's current red carbon-specific pads).
Claimed weight on the new Shamal Mille clinchers is 1,426g.
Full carbon clinchers from Fulcrum
Improvements to Fulcrum's wheel range come mostly on its shallower Racing Zero range for 2015.
Headlining the updated wheels is the all-new Racing Zero Carbon, which uses the same hubset and bladed aluminum spoke system as the standard Racing Zero but with an all-new 30mm-deep, 17mm-wide (internal width) full carbon clincher rim. The new rim makes do with a standard 3K weave on the braking surface, however. That said, Fulcrum does extend the Keronite treatment to the freehub body, which should reduce marring from cassette cogs.
Campagnolo sister company fulcrum showed off the new racing zero carbon clinchers, which use a 30mm depth, 17mm internal width (clincher only), and bladed aluminum spokes arranged in a 2-to-1 pattern (rear only). claimed weight for the clincher set is 1,358g; the tubulars weigh 1,268g: campagnolo sister company fulcrum showed off the new racing zero carbon clinchers, which use a 30mm depth, 17mm internal width (clincher only), and bladed aluminum spokes arranged in a 2-to-1 pattern (rear only). claimed weight for the clincher set is 1,358g; the tubulars weigh 1,268g
Fulcrum now has a full carbon clincher called the Racing Zero Carbon
Claimed weight for the clincher version is 1,358g while the tubulars come in at just 1,268g per pair.
Also new is the Racing Zero Nite clincher wheelset, which is essentially a Fulcrum-branded version of the Campagnolo Shamal Mille, complete with the same 26/30mm differential front/rear alloy clincher rim profiles and Keronite rim coatings. The Fulcrum version uses conventional rear spoke lacing instead of Campagnolo's 2-to-1 pattern, though, nor does the Shamal Mille get the Racing Zero Nite's Keronite-treated freehub body. Fulcrum does, however, offer the Racing Zero Nite in a tubeless-compatible version.
Does this fulcrum racing zero sidewall look familiar? it's the same texture and surface treatment used by sister company campagnolo on the shamal mille - and the same plasma electrolytic oxidation process used by mavic on its exalith rims: does this fulcrum racing zero sidewall look familiar? it's the same texture and surface treatment used by sister company campagnolo on the shamal mille - and the same plasma electrolytic oxidation process used by mavic on its exalith rims
Keronite-treated surfaces should retain their appearance for ages
Claimed weight is 1,428g.
And speaking of freehub bodies, they're largely the reason why Fulcrum exists. While Campagnolo offers its wheels with Shimano/SRAM-compatible freehub bodies, many riders with Shimano/SRAM-equipped bikes simply don't want to mix groupset brands and the Fulcrum label provides a more neutral alternative.
James Huang is BikeRadar's former technical editor. After leaving BikeRadar in 2016, he worked at CyclingTips and Escape Collective. He now runs the Substack cycling publication N-1 Bikes.
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