New product: Fulcrum Racing Zero CMPTZN DB wheels

The Racing Zero family, Fulcrum’s flagship, welcomes a new model, the CMPTZN DB. Description here.

Source: Press Release

Launched in 2007 with the first aluminum-spoked wheel, the Racing Zero concept was an immediate success with the most demanding enthusiasts due to its extraordinary qualities, namely a clever balance of responsiveness, lightness, and reliability. In 2017, the DB (disc brake) version appeared and then evolved the following year to the carbon version.

Over the years, the range has been modernized and reworked. The latest novelty concerns the Racing Zero CMPTZN DB: it is the lightest and most refined aluminum version, in terms of design, of the Fulcrum line, intended for disc brake bikes. The improvement of one of the strongest and most responsive wheels on the market was achieved through the use of CULT bearings and classic 2:1 lacing with oversized double-butted aluminum spokes. CULT (CERAMIC ULTIMATE LEVEL TECHNOLOGY™) bearings are made of special steel for the bearing races. This material is extremely resistant to corrosion, allowing the balls to be lubricated with a thin layer of oil instead of the usual grease.

Thanks to the absence of lubricating grease and the precision machining of the bearings, the very high-quality ceramic balls drastically reduce the friction coefficient and thus increase the rolling efficiency of the wheels, which can even be nine times higher than the rolling efficiency guaranteed by standard solutions. CULT bearings thus allow the athlete to maintain higher speeds and save precious energy.

The other key element of this wheel lies in the spokes, sometimes mistakenly considered the least important part of the wheel, but which deserve further examination. The Racing Zero CMPTZ DB wheel retains Fulcrum’s 2:1 lacing: 14 spokes are arranged on the side of maximum torque, 7 on the opposite side (difference between front and rear); this design ensures symmetrical behavior of the wheel despite the asymmetrical structure, making it very responsive. The spokes are produced from an aluminum bar that is pressed and then machined on a lathe to obtain the correct shape for the head that will be screwed to the hub and nipple, while maintaining an aerodynamic profile for the rest of the surface.

The rear hub, machined from a single aluminum block, optimizes torsional stiffness and ensures efficient power transmission as well as system integrity. Conversely, the front hub, which is not subject to torsional stresses from the drivetrain, is lightened by the application of carbon fiber between the two flanges. Both the front and rear hubs have oversized flanges to optimize the angles of the 21 aerodynamic aluminum spokes on each wheel.

The aluminum rim, entirely machined in Italy, stands out for its incomparable design and has a 30 mm rim depth: an ideal choice in terms of lightness and handling. This wheel retains 2-Way-Fit technology, which is now a must for Fulcrum and allows traditional or tubeless tires to be mounted without the need for rim tape, thanks to the internal undrilled rim bed.

Furthermore, Mo Mag technology allows the nipples, once positioned inside the rim through the valve hole, to be “guided” to the spoke attachment point using a magnet. This simple trick allows for a wheel without holes on the upper wall, but with spokes tensioned by traditional nipples.

The 19 mm internal width with 2-Way-Fit profile allows tubeless tires from 23 mm up to the widest sizes to be mounted.

Finally, particular attention has been paid to the weight and design of the wheel: its clean lines have made it possible to achieve this dual objective. This extremely elegant wheel, lightened by even foregoing stickers, has undergone various surface finishing treatments that give it an attractive black-on-black effect.

Thanks to all these innovations, the CMPTZ model, with its strong personality, joins the Racing ZERO DB model, whose new version was presented at Eurobike: it is characterized by the new optimized 12 mm thru-axle (both front and rear – as for the Racing Zero CMPTZN DB) and by renewed graphics thanks to the application of reflective stickers; but it retains all the essential elements of the Fulcrum range.