New Fulcrum Sharq all-road wheel review: Wonderful wavy wheels for big, fast miles

Wavy wheels aren’t anything new, even in the gravel scene, but they are still unusual and not something many of us see on a group ride let alone get to ride. Zipp has its 353 NSW and 454 NSW, and while the 454 is touted as an all-out road wheelset, the 353 has all-terrain ambitions. I wouldn’t say it’s a gravel wheelset, but it’s certainly all-road-esque. Likewise, Princeton’s Grit 4540 wheelset is wavy and billed as an all-road contender.

The new Sharq wheelset from Fulcrum is a first for the Italian brand in two senses. It is most obviously the brand’s first foray into wavy rim profiles, but it’s also the first wheelset the company has put out that’s advertised as an all-road product. Previously wheelsets fell into either road (Racing, Wind, or Speed wheelsets), or gravel (Rapid Red wheelsets). I am writing this before the wheels have been released to the public, but my suspicion is that, despite the marketing, these will sit within the ‘gravel’ section of the website and would be a contender for our guide to the best gravel wheels.