FULCRUM wheelset 28" SHARQ Carbon Center Lock
For its 20th anniversary, the Italian brand Fulcrum gave itself and all its fans a special gift: the release of its first all-road and gravel wheelset. The SHARQ is the result of intensive development work and advanced technology. With its innovative rim and spoke design, it offers a unique combination of handling, stability, aerodynamics and responsiveness. The wheels recently proved their robustness at the prestigious Unbound Gravel race.
The unique, patent-pending rim shape is the result of an experimental development process in which the interactions with the wheels were analyzed in a wide variety of wind conditions. The result is the characteristic 2-wave rim shape, with a regular symmetrical wave on the rim nose that merges into an asymmetrical wave on the flanks. The profile height varies between 42 and 47 millimeters from the lowest to the highest wave section. With this design, Fulcrum achieves an optimum balance between low air resistance and stable handling in crosswinds. Compared to a conventional profile with the same height, an improvement in crosswind stability of 21 percent was achieved in the wind tunnel at angles of attack between 0° and 10° and even up to 30 percent at angles of attack between 10° and 20°.
The rims are made from a special carbon laminate, which has enabled Fulcrum to reduce the weight of the SHARQ wheelset to 1440 grams. This value is all the more astonishing when you consider the large inner rim width of 25 millimeters and an outer rim width of 29.8 millimeters. These dimensions make the wheelset the perfect choice for all road, all-road and gravel tires from 30 millimetres wide. The rims have a mini-hook for a secure fit with tubeless and tube-type tires, and thanks to the closed, holeless rim bed, no tape is required for tubeless mounting.
Fulcrum has also broken new ground with the spokes and has developed the A3RO steel spokes with a width of 3 millimetres and a thickness of 0.8 millimetres especially for the SHARQ, with which the wheels achieve considerable aerodynamic advantages. The spoke seats on the hubs and the spoke base have been specially optimized to prevent the spokes from twisting. To ensure the long-term stability of the spoke structure, the wheels are built with a 2:1 spoke ratio without contact points between the spokes. In order to utilize all marginal gains even with the rotational energy of the hubs, the in-house USB ceramic ball bearings are installed, which run on continuous axles with an adjustment ring. This allows the bearing preload to be set extremely precisely for the best possible smooth running.
Technical data:
Area of application: all-road, gravel, road bike
Wheel size: 28" (ETRTO: 622 x 25 mm)
Rim type: clincher (clincher and folding tires)
Brake type: for disc brakes only
Brake disc mount: Center Lock
Hub material: Aluminum, steel
Rim material: UD Carbon
Spoke material: Steel
Inner rim width: 25 mm
Outer rim width: 29.8 mm
Rim height: 42 to 47 mm
Offset: no
Number of holes: 24 holes (per rim)
Spokes: 48x A3RO 0.8 × 3 mm, straight-pull blade spokes (black)
Lacing pattern: front: 2:1 lacing| rear: 2:1 lacing
Axle standard front: 12x100 mm thru axle
Rear axle standard: 12x142 mm thru axle
Front bearings: 2x USB ceramic bearings
Rear bearing: 4x USB ceramic bearings
Freehub compatibility: 11-, 12-speed Shimano Road; 11-, 12-speed SRAM XDR; 13-speed Campagnolo N3W or Shimano 12-speed Micro Spline
Freewheel type: pawl freewheel with 3 pawls (each pawl additionally toothed 3 times), 36 ratchets
recommended tire width: 30 - 65 mm
max. air pressure: 5.8 bar (84 PSI)
maximum system weight: 120 kg
tubeless compatible: yes
valve hole: Presta valve (SV)
Color rims: black, UD carbon matt, logos - silver/grey
Color spokes: black
Color hubs: black matt
Weight according to manufacturer: 1440g
Weight self-weighed: 1453g (wheelset); 670g (front wheel); 783g (rear wheel); 10.2g (2x tubeless valves); 12g (center lock ring)
Scope of delivery:
1x front wheel
1x rear wheel
2x wheel bag
2x tubeless valves
2x Center Lock rings
2x tire levers
1x manual
