When Fulcrum Racing Zero added the stealth black label Cmptzn to their alloy wheels, it was as much as getting a new look, as it was a spec upgrade to what you’d expect from a carbon wheelset. Now that the Racing Zero Carbon wheels get the same stealth Cmptzn treatment, it also gets a performance update, dropping weight and spinning up to the Campagnolo-family’s most premium CULT ceramic bearings.
Fulcrum Racing Zero Carbon Cmptzn DB tubeless all-road wheels
Fulcrum now just calls the Racing Zero Carbon Cmptzn DBs a road wheelset. But when they debuted the same 19mm internal, 30mm deep full-carbon rim profile a year and a half ago, it was branded as all-road or even gravel.
In that short time gravel keeps going much wider, but the 2-Way Fit hooked tubeless rim with no spoke holes drilled in the rim bed, still makes for a simple & secure way to set up anything from traditional road tires, to something more modern & wide to take on a bit of mixed-surface road riding – rated for 23mm to 40mm tires.
So, what’s new in Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN?
The core look of Cmptzn (read Competition in Italian without all those pesky vowels) is the low-key black-on-black aesthetic. But the name itself hints at a racier focus. The new Cmptzn wheels do get a bearing upgrade, moving from USB of the standard Racing Zero Carbon, now to top-spec CULT (Ceramic Ultimate Level Technology). That changes brings a claimed 9x smoother and faster rolling (vs. conventional steel) ceramic balls, in special high-end steel bearing races, and spinning in light oil instead of standard bearing grease. The claims sound pretty wild. But anecdotally I’ve ridden thousands of dirty all-road kilometers & several cyclocross seasons with CULT-equipped Campy wheels, and the bearings really do feel faster & smoother and seems to stay that way with little, if any maintenance.
The side benefit of the shift to CULT bearings is that they are lighter, shedding an extra 10g off the already light carbon wheels.
Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN DB – Tech details
The low-profile tubeless Cmptzn disc brake wheels us full carbon rims made from mostly UD fibers, with reinforcing Twill woven fabric visibly overlaid to reinforce at the spoke holes.
The 30mm deep, 19mm internal, 26.5mm external rim uses a Campy 2-Way Fit hooked bead that can be run clincher with tubes or without by adding any tubeless valve. The MoMag inner rim well doesn’t have spoke holes (nipples are guided into place during wheel building with magnets) so no tubeless tape is required. Wheels are laced with front & rear specific 2:1 lacing for more even tension of the 21 straightpull, bladed aero aluminum spokes (front: 14 disc-side/7 driveside; rear 7 non-driveside/14 driveside).
Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN is only available as a disc brake wheel, with centerlock (AFS) rotor compatibility on the oversized alloy flange hubs, with a carbon front hubshell and 12mm thru-axles. Complete wheelsets have a claimed weight of 1440g, and a max rider+bike weight limit of 120kg.
Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN – Pricing & availability
The new Racing Zero Carbon CMPTZN disc brake all-road wheels are available globally now for $2657 / 2190€ with Shimano or Campy freehubs, or for an extra $11 / 9€ with a SRAM XDR driver.
