Netherlands based FFWD (fast forward) is a relatively new company which specialises in producing carbon wheels, with the aim of building the lightest and fastest wheels possible

light they certainly are and indeed very fast. with a wide range of choice from road to cyclo-cross and track (triathlon too if anyone is interested), all riders are catered for. the last couple of years have spawned a growth in availability of carbon wheelsets, so there’s now plenty of choice

FFWD wheel’s certainly have a lot going for them, if we take the F5R-190 ceramic wheels as anything to go by. at their centres rotate DT Swiss 190 ceramic hubs, with ceramic cartridge bearings – they’re the lightest DT hubs available. DT Aerolite spokes (20 front/24 rear) slot into the 50mm deep TC35 carbon rims making their weight a scant 1422g

so their weight impresses, as does the fact they’re hand built by the company’s ‘master wheel-smith’ Zoran Kabala at their hq in assen. each wheel even comes stickered with its own serial number and a birth certificate stating the production date. a nice touch

much of the range, from discs, four- and three-spokes, and rim depths of 20mm, 38mm and 50mm are tubular only. prefer to use clincher tyres? there’s a choice of 38mm or 58mm wheels. Shimano and Campagnolo versions are available.

we have in stock most examples of the FFWD wheels (including a fine 3 spoke/disc example on my Argon18 E-114 TT rig), and what we don’t we can get in short notice

all wheels include posh (and strangely nice smelling) wheel bags, brake blocks and skewers

aahhh, nothing like a bit of bling to pimp your ride.