ksyrium sl or carbone sl?

tnerb said:

i am currently running 2005 ksyrium sl. but now i am getting into racing. and i have a few crits coming up. would some ksyrium carbone sl be worth it or is their performance not that much greater. or what about those new ksyrium es?

This probably won't be a "popular" reply, but unless you're getting a lot of 5th and 6th cat3 placings and need to be top-3, it probably won't make a difference. In other words, the difference in wheels for crits might be the final 1% after you have the power and cornering issues down pat, and have advanced through the lower categories; I don't have the experience to comment on higher levels, but if you're at the cat2 or cat1 level, perhaps aero carbons are justified. The only event where aero wheels truly make an impact are TTs, and by extension, RRs if you're strong enough to be out in front (solo or small breakaways).

tnerb said:

i am currently running 2005 ksyrium sl. but now i am getting into racing. and i have a few crits coming up. would some ksyrium carbone sl be worth it or is their performance not that much greater. or what about those new ksyrium es?

Stick with what you have. Unless you are already a very elite rider, an upgrade in wheels (or any other component for that matter) will not make much difference in your placing. Want to get faster, improve your fitness, strength, and technique.

If you're looking to spend that kind of money on a really high end carbon type wheel...have you looked into the Token MONO-Q C1. I race on a set of these and they sell for about $500 USD less than the Carbones. I have a set of the Carbones that I cracked when I hit a pot hole. The quality of the Token wheel is very good for the price and the weight is only 1530 grams for the set. I have some Tufo Tubular Clincher S33 Specials on them and I have had great results at the races. If they can save you a couple hundred dollars--then great. 🙂 Good luck at the races.

tnerb said:

i am currently running 2005 ksyrium sl. but now i am getting into racing. and i have a few crits coming up. would some ksyrium carbone sl be worth it or is their performance not that much greater. or what about those new ksyrium es?

Vector7 said:

If you're looking to spend that kind of money on a really high end carbon type wheel...have you looked into the Token MONO-Q C1. I race on a set of these and they sell for about $500 USD less than the Carbones. I have a set of the Carbones that I cracked when I hit a pot hole. The quality of the Token wheel is very good for the price and the weight is only 1530 grams for the set. I have some Tufo Tubular Clincher S33 Specials on them and I have had great results at the races. If they can save you a couple hundred dollars--then great. 🙂 Good luck at the races.

Yeah sure you did Vector 🙄 Carbones are aluminum and you cracked them? Wait are you Cat 1 turning pro or Cat 3 now, just wondering if you were ever able to get the inconsistancies in all of your posts straight.

You won't go wrong with either wheel from Mavic as they are top knotch stuff and way more reliable and bomb proof than anything out there except for Campy wheels. Clearly the Carbone is the better wheel and if you have the money it is a no brainer... if your quandry is related to justifying it financially well you will never be able to do that and might as well just get a low-end set of wheels. I would spring for the carbones if it were me.

EDIT: I just saw you already have a set of Ksyriums, for sure it does not make sense to upgrade the Ksyrium SL, and financially you will not see a big difference with the Carbone SL but it is a better wheel and if you want to upgrade it is a no-brainer over the Ksyrium SL from where you are coming.

No sense in upgrading the wheels - those that you have are more than adequate.

Shoe them with some great rubber for racing maybe.

Something like the Veloflex Black with Latex tubes will save you a bit of weight and give you a great ride in criterium events.

Technique round tight bends and the ability to quickly pick up speed is the key to doing well in crits - practice it often and hard!

i would suggest that for crits the ksyriums are better but for road races you would get advantage from the carbones. its only slight, but deep section wheels are noticeably less manouverable/predictable into corners.

i have both but for this reason i use the ksyriums for crits.

I have both, i like the ksyriums for rolling, and cosmics for flat, and i have other wheels for climbing, but if you go into any climbing races, i would definitely not use the cosmics. Just stick with what you have, ksyriums are all around greta wheels, and not to mention bombproof.