ICAN FL40/50 Max Review: 5 Surprising Takeaways from Jourdain Coleman
Foreword
Upgrading to carbon wheels is the standard prescription for any road cyclist looking to inject some life into their ride, but the side effects usually include a bank account in "financial ruin." For years, the industry has conditioned us to believe that if you aren’t paying a "premium brand tax" that rivals the cost of a used hatchback, you’re settling for heavy, poorly built compromises. We’ve been told that performance is gated behind four-figure price tags, leaving those of us without a dentist’s salary to wallow in the world of heavy alloy.
The ICAN FL40/50 Max aims to be the reality check the industry needs. At $800, these wheels promise elite-level specs—Sapim spokes, carbon rims, and featherweight hubs—without the gatekeeping.Here are the five most surprising takeaways from the workshop floor. Buying this wheelset from a EU or US warehouse not only includes taxes and shipping, but also ensures faster delivery.
The FL40/50 Max wheelset has been upgraded to the FL40 II/ FL50 II for 2026.
The following is a video review of the FL40/50 Max by Jourdain Coleman from the UK:
Takeaway 1: They Are Lighter Than the Marketing Claims
In the cynical world of cycling gear, a "claimed weight" is often less a factual measurement and more a hopeful suggestion from the marketing department. However, the ICAN FL40/50 Max pulled a rare stunt: it over-delivered by under-weighing. The front wheel tipped the scales at 617g and the rear at 734g. That brings the total "naked" weight to just 1,351g.
For an aero-profile wheelset with a 40mm/50mm depth split, this is exceptionally light. To put that into perspective, "these wheels are lighter than your hopes of maintaining your FTP during winter." It’s almost unheard of for budget-friendly carbon to arrive significantly lighter than the factory specs, but ICAN seems to have prioritized gram-shaving without sacrificing the structural integrity needed to actually stay in one piece.
Takeaway 2: Precision Engineering That Rivals Premium Brands
Weight is just a number; truness is a craft. I put these on the truing stand to measure lateral truness (side-to-side wobble) and radial truness (the "roundness" or vertical deflection). The results were startling: the average deviation across all measurements was a mere 0.18mm. For context, 0.15mm of deviation is basically "laser straight" to the naked eye.
Out of the nine wheelsets I’ve put through this specific torture test, the FL40/50 Max landed in second place overall. The only set to beat them? Their own cousin, the ICAN Aero 50s. Using my Park Tool dish gauge—which, let’s be honest, costs as much as some wheelsets—I checked the centering. The rim was mirrored perfectly over the hub. This precision ensures your bike tracks straight and prevents your brake rotors from "whispering sweet nothings in your pads" due to misalignment.
Takeaway 3: The "Staggered" Depth for Real-World Control
The FL40/50 Max employs a staggered setup: a 40mm deep rim in the front and a 50mm depth in the rear. While the "more is more" crowd might want 50mm at both ends for the aesthetic, this configuration is a nod to real-world physics. A deeper rear wheel provides the aero gains where they matter, while the shallower front rim prevents the bike from becoming a handful in crosswinds.
For those of us riding in notoriously gusty environments like the UK, this setup is the difference between a controlled descent and a terrifying wrestling match with your handlebars. On the technical side, the rim dimensions also surprised me. While ICAN claims a 23mm internal width, I measured it closer to 23.3mm, with an outer width of 28.6mm (slightly wider than the 27.8mm claim). This extra girth supports modern wider tires, providing a better shape and more compliance without the "lightbulb" tire profile of older, narrower rims.
Takeaway 4: No Shortcuts on Componentry (Sapim & "Shaved Leg" Hubs)
The easiest way to hit a $800 price point is to use generic, heavy spokes and hubs with bearings that feel like they’re filled with sand. ICAN didn’t take that bait. They used Sapim CX-Ray bladed spokes, which are stainless steel and, as the saying goes, "will probably outlast your knees." They are laced in a two-cross pattern where the spokes touch at the second cross—a specific detail that people love to argue about in forum comments, but one that generally provides a robust build.
The ICAN 28S hubs were equally impressive. In the "finger test"—holding the axle to feel for any grittiness—the bearings felt "smoother than a freshly shaved leg on TT day." Even the freehub sound is a showstopper; it sings with a loud, crisp engagement that lets everyone in the group ride know exactly when you’re coasting. ICAN even includes a physical QC sheet in the box with spoke tension readings, which is the kind of "nerdy sexy talk" that proves a human actually touched these wheels before they were shipped.
Takeaway 5: Minor Aesthetic Flaws in an Otherwise Premium Package
Once you move past the impressive internal mechanics and look at the "gloss," the budget reality shows a tiny bit of its face—but only if you’re looking with a microscope. The packaging is excellent, arriving with plenty of protective foam, tubeless valves, and pre-installed rim tape. The iridescent logo has a nice "ray vibe" that is modern without going "full disco ball."
However, I did spot a minor decal imperfection on the rear wheel—a slight misalignment of the sticker. If you’re the type of person who needs your stickers aligned with military precision, this might bug you. But let’s be real: a tiny sticker misalignment is a laughably small trade-off for a wheelset that costs less than your last cycling holiday but matches the technical performance of gear costing three times as much.
Conclusion: The Future of Budget Performance
The ICAN FL40/50 Max is a disruptive piece of kit. It proves that the gap between "budget" and "elite" is closing faster than a sprinter in the final 200 meters. While I’m just a bloke with a truing stand, a dial gauge, and a questionable obsession with technical data, the numbers don't lie: these wheels are objectively high-performance.
If a sub-$1000 wheelset can consistently beat the "big names" in precision truness, weight, and component quality, it raises a difficult question for the industry: are we finally entering an era where performance is no longer tied to a premium price tag, or have we just been overpaying for stickers all along?
