Fulcrum Wind 40 DB wheelset review

Italian brand Fulcrum has, until now, had great wheel offerings at the highest end as well as excellent offerings down at the entry level. For 2020, it seems it is addressing the higher levels of mid-range with the new carbon Wind range.

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The Wind sits below the high-end Speed and Racing carbon models but brings a lot of that technology into the mix.

The rim is 40mm deep and constructed using unidirectional carbon fibre layers shaped with a blunt aero shape with an 8mm radiused edge at the spoke bed. The rim is wide at 19mm and can be used both as a standard clincher or tubeless.

The rim edge is specially shaped to blend more smoothly with the tyre, thus eliminating an area of turbulence that can both slow you down and disrupt the handling. The rim width is generous without being too wide at 21.5mm externally and 19mm internally.

All of the Wind range of wheels are hand-assembled and come with a warranty card. The components, aside from the light carbon rims, consist of CNC-machined aluminium hubs holding 24 straight pull spokes.

The spokes sit in special alloy beds in the rim, which means perfect alignment and friction-free tensioning when building (or maintaining). Because the spokes sit in these special inserts it means that the inner rim bed isn’t drilled, resulting in a perfect seal for tubeless tyres, which was borne out when I fitted 28c tubeless tyres and they seated first time and suffered no air loss over months of testing.

The hubs may lack the ceramic CULT bearings and carbon hub shell of Fulcrum’s top-end wheels but, in their favour, they roll smoothly, the freehub engagement is quick and, after hundreds of miles of testing, I haven’t detected any play at all.

Weight-wise, the Winds come in at 780g for the front and 900g for the rear – that includes tubeless valves, Shimano freehub (they have options for Campag and SRAM XDR) and 12mm end caps for thru-axles, so that’s 1,680g a pair in total. They aren’t light, but they’re not detrimentally heavy either.

On the road, the Winds impress with their resolute stiffness. This adds a responsive feel to direction changes and pedal inputs, especially when sprinting hard.

Running the same tyres as the wheels they took the place of (Zipp 303 disc), the Winds are more rigid, though a bit heavier. Into a stiff crosswind they handle with an assured stability, making them a great companion for fast, undulating roads.

You may want to find something a little lighter if climbing is your main aim.

Fulcrum Wind 40 DB wheelset details

1. The Wind’s rim profile is shaped to minimise the transition between tyre and rim, making for smoother less turbulent running
2. The spokes sit in special alloy beds. No spoke drillings in the rim bed ensure a leak-free tubeless fit
3. The spoke coupling system called DRSC has inserts within the rim that allow the spoke nipples and hub to align perfectly