Lampre-Merida rider Filippo Pozzato wasn't just riding a new Merida ReactoEvo aero road bike in last Sunday's Tour of Flanders. He also set off from Brugge on a new set of carbon wheels. The 35mm-deep Fulcrum Racing Speed XLR 35 will fill a long-running hole in between the company's shallow-section Racing Light XLR and 50mm-deep Racing Speed XLR for what should be a versatile set of race wheels.
BikeRadar managed to get some information from Fulcrum and as it turns out, there will be three new 35mm-deep models coming soon, not just one. The top-end Racing Speed XLR 35 set that Pozzato used at the Tour of Flanders uses a downsized version of the Racing Speed XLR rim, meaning a fairly conventional width, a slightly blunted nose, and a rather traditional rounded-V profile.
Claimed weight for the tubular set is 1,230g per pair (540g front; 690g rear) – almost 100g lighter than the Racing Speed XLR.
Otherwise, features from the Racing Speed XLR are wholly carried over, including the 18/21-hole front/rear drilling with quad-butted bladed stainless steel spokes and a two-to-one lacing pattern out back, carbon fiber central hub bodies, Fulcrum's CULT adjustable hybrid ceramic bearings and externally located nipples with special reinforcements inside the rim to prevent pull-through.
Fulcrum will also use the new 35mm rim profile for two more moderately priced road wheels. The new Racing Speed 35 will use the same rim but with all-aluminum hub bodies and steel bearings while the Racing Speed CX will feature similar hubs with additional sealing to better withstand power washing.
The rim cross-section looks fairly traditional on Fulcrum's new Racing Speed XLR 35 as seen here on the bike of Lampre-Merida rider Filippo Pozzato.