'Budget' carbon roa...
 

  You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more

'Budget' carbon road (rim brake) wheels - Vision, Halo or Fulcrum?

7 Posts
5 Users
0 Reactions
399 Views
Posts: 11522
Free Member
Topic starter
 

I've always hankered for set of low-ish profile carbon wheels, ideally 35mm but it looks like I might as well go 40mm as my current alloy Fulcrums are 30mm and there seem to be very few carbon wheels at a reasonable price/ weight limit which are much lighter.

Vision SC45, Fulcrum Wind 40 or Halo Carbaura all seem to tick the boxes, all sub £1000, all 1500g give or take 50g, all appear to be similar enough builds.

I trust Fulcrum but would have liked a wider rim, they're still 17mm internal which I'm used to and like fine, but am assuming I might enjoy wider.

Halo don't have quite the branding I would like (pathetic, I know, but I don't associate them with road cycling!) but otherwise the wheels look pretty decent for the money and I like the 35mm depth.

I don't really know Vision but I do associate them with Triathlon for some reason so presumably they might be reasonably experienced in aero kit. They review well. Not sure I want to go as deep as 45mm though, the roads around here are very rolling and twisty so I'd prefer something that might spin up faster, at a slight aero penalty.

Anyone run any of the above wheels?

Ta

Bike pic just because I can 😎

PXL_20250722_164015070.jpg

 


 
Posted : 23/07/2025 12:43 pm
Posts: 41642
Free Member
 

sub £1000,

Have you looked 2nd hand? The lack of demand for that sort of thing (because all the gear snobs are on disc brakes) means there's wheelsets as low as ~£200 on ebay.  I'm keeping an eye out locally because I'm after a donor set of carbon rims for the track bike to give it some zipp and they're often cheaper than chinese rims.


 
Posted : 23/07/2025 2:43 pm
Posts: 40225
Free Member
 

+1 for secondhand, and put some low offers in - a lot won't be selling for what they're asking


 
Posted : 23/07/2025 3:00 pm
Posts: 11522
Free Member
Topic starter
 

Yeah good points, I guess just for peace of mind I had a sort of blanket 'no second hand carbon' policy, but at least a wheel shouldn't fail as catastrophically as a handlebar...


 
Posted : 23/07/2025 3:25 pm
Posts: 1639
Free Member
 

After trying a set of full carbon road rims years ago I wouldn't personally buy anything without an aluminium braking track as I like being able to stop quickly. Saying that if you don't care then looking at what the Chinese brands are offering might be an idea. ~£550 gets you 40mm rims at 1300g with a 130kg weight limit. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005316458928.html


 
Posted : 23/07/2025 7:25 pm
Posts: 2159
Free Member
 

I've owned lots of Vision wheels and a couple of Fulcrum's over the years

The Visions are very good value for money, the 4-5 pairs of SC40's I've had have been faultless (rim brake and disc versions)

The Fulcrums are just as good, in fact if they have the AC3 brake track and you use Campag carbon brake blocks and Campag Super Record shifters and brake calipers then they are the best rim brakes you can get, I was seriously impressed with them in dry conditions, far superior than Shimano rim brake set ups and even nearly on par with disc brakes in the dry

 


 
Posted : 23/07/2025 7:38 pm
Posts: 11522
Free Member
Topic starter
 

All good stuff, not too worried about braking as this bike rarely goes out in the rain.

I've found someone locally selling some 35mm Bontrager Aeolus carbon wheels, literally one careful lady owner. Think I'll take a punt, they seem to review well even under heavier riders. 

Otherwise perhaps the Fulcrums given escr's endorsement of the brake track 😎


 
Posted : 23/07/2025 7:58 pm

6 DAYS LEFT
We are currently at 95% of our target!