Mavic Aksium or Shimano RS10 for heavy rider

I am a heavy rider (265 at the moment) but expecting for my weight to go down over the next year or so. I had bariatric surgery in Feb 2009 and have lost 85 lbs since then. My weight loss has slowed down so I am now at the point of wanting to add more exercise - this is my reason for looking to get a bike again.

How do these two wheelsets compare? These are the wheels that come on the Cannondale Synapse Carbon 4 or 5 which I am leaning towards at this point.

I test rode 3 different "endurance" road bikes (Specialized Secteur Comp, Fisher Rail Super and the Cannondale Synapse 5). I liked the Cannondale the best and am thinking of spending the extra money for a carbon model - mainly for the expected smoother ride quality. I am also going to try to find a Felt Z85 or Z5 to test ride.

Would appreciate any comments on the wheelsets and the bike choice in general. Happy to consider other options if I can find them to test ride in NJ.

Thanks!

 

Of the two the Shimano's are the better ones. The Mavic are radial laced and thus there has been some reports of minor brake rub in hard turns with riders in the 180 pound range...meaning your going to have real problems, and any radial laced wheel will be weaker then a 2 cross design such as the Shimanos.

BUT, having said that, even the Shimano is rated for a 200 pound rider limit and you exceed that limit...sorry.

You need to seriously consider a wheel with more spokes like a Mavic Open Pro with 36 spokes per wheel laced 3 cross (stronger then 2 cross) using DT Competition double butted spokes with brass nipples. Or Velocity Aerohead O/C 36 hole with the same stuff as I mentioned above. The Velocity would probably be even stronger then the Mavic.

Your head is the wrong place man, your looking for a lightweight racing wheel, but how good is a loosing 1/8th of a pound total for wheel weight when the rider is roughly 60 pounds over weight? What is the percentage of gain here? NIL! Then risk major wheel failure and possible serious injury or worse. Get a strong wheel set now and when you loose the weight then get your wheel set you mentioned above as a reward for the weight loss and keep the Velocity's because their good strong wheels.

Edit: you need too be careful about the bikes your looking at too. You need to ask the LBS(S) what the rider weight limit is for each because most bikes are rated from 180 to 220 pounds, and the LBS needs to have your interest at heart and not their profit. If they don't know, a simple contact to the manufacture or manufacture market rep will tell them.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Let me be clear - I wasn't particularly choosing these wheels, this is what comes on the Cannondale models I am considering. The LBS has NOT mentioned any issues with the wheelsets, which I guess should be a concern.

I have told them my weight, they have seen me in person and they know which bikes I am test riding. BTW - Cannondale specs these bikes as 275 lb rider limit.

Perhaps I need to keep looking - or am I going to have to specify different wheels with whatever bike I choose?

 

I recently got back into cycling and ended up with two bikes: a Cannondale Six Carbon 5 (Shimano RS10 wheelset) and a Giant TCR Advanced 2 (Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset). The product manual that came with each bike lists weight limits, which happen to be 300 lbs for each bike. I looked through the Shimano and Mavic websites and couldn't find any weight ratings for wheelsets other than the carbon clinchers.

I weigh 235 (still losing weight) and was concerned when I purchased the bikes. I spoke with my LBS pro (also a master fitter) and checked out the product manual just to make sure. After putting about 300 miles on each bike (still low mileage) the wheels are still true and I haven't had any issues.

 

The Cannondale then would be the better choice and you liked the way it rode. I would find out what the factory equipped wheels are rated for from the manufacture; but I would assume, though I could be wrong that's why you need to check, that if Cannondale rated the bike to handle 275 pounds then the rims should be rated the same? But please check first.

 

How would you compare the two bikes you mention? I was considering the Giant line as well - seem to offer good value for the money. My local shop didn't have any in my size to rest ride though. They did offer to order me one though if I was "serious". I passed for now as I wanted to try some others first.

 

I purchased a set of 2010 Aksium wheels early this year for my everyday bike. I have well over 1000 miles of commuting and fast group riding on the wheels and have not had many issues.

The trueness and tension on the wheels were not to my liking when they arrived. I adjusted them up before riding, I had to true them after another couple hundred miles. One issue with the straight pull bladed spoke design is that some of the spokes twisted after truing, I was able to fix it but marred up some of the spokes doing so.

I also found that my 8 speed cassettes did not fit properly on the rear hub. It seems some others had this issue as well; I ended up filing the cassette body down a tad to resolve this.

Durability and reliability wise, the wheelset has not disappointed me yet. I weigh 225 lbs and usually carry a fair amount of gear. I have not noted wheel flex to be an issue.

I have a lot of experience with breaking spokes on 32 and 36 spoke wheelsets within a few hundred miles of purchase. Bear in mind these were rather cheap wheelsets, but I do even up the tension before using them. Should a spoke break, replacement looks to be a rather easy process - easier than J-bend.

Overall I am pretty happy with the Aksiums, I paid far less than retail for them. At retail price I may have pursued other options. Asthetically they updated the look of my old bike considerably.

 

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you.

Both are great bikes. The Giant is a bit faster bike, but because everything about it is lighter than the Cannondale. One thing I do like about Giant over most other companies is that they are well respected Carbon Fiber frame manufacturers, and they produce their own frames as well as frames for a few other major bike companies. You can't go wrong with either bike.

 

Check out the cannondale carbon 6. The 09 came with mavic22 rims and cannondale C3 hubs 36 spokes per wheel. This model will save you a few hundred bucks that you can save towards lighter wheels in the future.

 

Good idea for an upgrade option. I ultimately decided against that because (a) I wanted to upgrade the groupset. I felt the Tiagra's performance to be a bit suspect, in my opinion...and (b) my local LBS is known for taking good care of their customers. They assured me I wouldn't have any problems with the wheelset. Between their assurances, their reputation for helping out customers, and the product manual stating a rider weight limit of 275 or 300 (I can't remember which), I felt like I was covered.

You may opt for davereo's option, and then spend the savings on the groupset, since you might never really use a set of racing wheels, depending on your goals for getting on the bike.

 

The best option: have a set of custom wheels made for you. A wheel builder will discuss your needs with you and will come up with a solution suited to said needs. As a bonus, you'll get a wheelset that is at least as good as either of the two wheelsets in question and likely stronger and lighter. Then you can sell your original wheels on eBay. You can get a nice set of custom wheels made for $300-ish to $500-ish.

Frankly, I don't think the RS-10's or the Aksiums are a good option for you. There both low spoke count wheels, which is what you don't need. Plus, the Mavic's rear hub is a crap design.

 

I have been a bike technician for the better part of a year now after retiring from an engineering career and I see a lot of wheels in for repair and have researched this subject quite a bit since I am also a Clydesdale rider. I am in the process of building a bike as well.

I would not even consider seriously riding a wheelset with 20 to 30 spokes regardless of brand. It is just not smart. Depending on how you ride, your weight and where you ride you may get by with it for a while but why push your luck. You could have a serious accident from a wheel failure and trying to save a few grams, gain some minor aerodynamic advantage or have cool looking high tech wheelsets is not worth the risk for things that will make no difference in the longrun.

My lightest wheel set has 32 spokes and at 250# I consider this minimal. I just built a set using DT Swiss TK540 rims and Dura Ace hubs with 36 DT Swiss Comp Butted 2.0/1.8 spokes. I was going to use Mavic Open Pro rims but they took too long to deliver so I switched to the DT's.

If you go to http://www.prowheelbuilder.com/ to order wheels and enter your weight in the 250# area, most of the time it will not let you even pick less than 32 spokes except for the strongest rims and it is usually not recommended.

 

I'm a rider over in New Zealand. I ride a Scott CR1 Pro and a Scott R3 with Di2. I'm also a heavy rider too. Firstly, congratulations on the weight you lost! That's fantastic! Wicked achievement I read the first post reply and stopped reading. Ignore that twat who instantly said "you need to loose more weight". Until you've been a bigger rider, you just don't have a clue. I started at 130kg (285lb) and are down to 100kg. I have RS10's on one bike and Mavic Aksyums in the other. Both will hold your weight just fine. After 2 yrs of riding and racing, they're fine. Like all wheels, they will come out of true in the first few weeks. But after that, you'll likely only Tyne them every 6+ months. Trust me, my first R500's would warp every week! Good luck with your riding and good work. Sam Wellington, New Zealand