Mavic's evil empire



nurul

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Jan 4, 2004
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Let's get away from MAvic wheels and see what the alternative is for lighweight, stiff, aero wheels around the £200 ($350) price tag.
Over the last 15 yrs I have used Mavic Open 4cd on Ultegra 7 1990, Campagnolo Moscow on Ultegra 9 1998, Mavic Cosmos 2001, Cosmic Elite 2004, Rolf Vector Pro 2000 plus a host of cheapie wheelsets which aren't worth mentioning.
The Mavic SL seems to be the best marketed wheels at the moment in the UK. Mavic yes you guys have the marketing power, you pay your pro teams to ride them and you get the mags to test and reccommend them but they cost from £400 to £600 and you claim they are about 1500g less skewers.

Here is the start of a list to look at wheels half the price, close to the 1500g claiemd weight and lets see who has ridden them and you think.


1)FSA have just released a great range from 1.4 to 1.65kg and their RD200 model at 1.65kg looks great and goes for £200!!!
www.fullspeedahead.com

2)Campagnolo Zonda is claimed 1730g and goes for about £230

3)American Light wheelsets just are not marketed well and appear to be superlight and around £200. Does anyone know more?

4)Corima I think have some bargain carbon wheels out there as in 2004 we are commercially able to embrace them as skittishness has been ironed out.

5)Rolf you need to bring your prices down somewhat but my Vector Pros are still fab.

Rationally speaking a wheel set including skewers under 2kgs is light.When you break the 1.75kg they are mid-light.Below 1.65 they are very light. Below 1.5kg super light. Under 1.4kg ultra and those at are left under 1.2kg are mega light and perhaps not for the riders heavier than 12 stone or 168lbs. Can anyone add to our price:quality ration and look at great wheels at half the Mavic Ksyrium SL wheelsets. I am not exactly anti Mavic but I don't want them to get a Shimano style hold on market.
Ultra serious sarcastic and smug all day forum surfers don't bother trying to show off with your "to the nearest gram" trite.
 
theres lots of good wheels sets out there. i think its legit to base the decision in no small part on whether you can get a deal on one.
 
Originally posted by fushman
theres lots of good wheels sets out there. i think its legit to base the decision in no small part on whether you can get a deal on one.
That's incredibly true. I recently bought a pair of '04 Kyrium SLs but only because I was able to get them at an astounding price. Each of the wheels listed above is either a proven alternative or displaying a lot of promise. The FSA set, in particular, is an exciting newcomer given its weight, price, and the credibility of the company. I'll be interested to see what longer-term reviews say.

Rolf, by the way, no longer exists. The company was dissolved by its founder, Rolf Dietrich, and re-formed as Rolf Prima. The good news is that they've got a whole new line of wheels (the Vigor, the Elan) and proprietary technology; the bad news is that the economical workhorses of the '90s are no longer being made... the Vectors are a vanishing relic.
 
Additions to the list... hmmm... one that jumps out is Velomax, which has been garnering a huge upswell of enthusiasm for their wheelsets over the past few years. The Ascent II and Orion II wheelsets both come in at under 1500g, and sell for roughly $700 USD per pair. The more economical Circuit wheelset goes for around $400 USD, and weighs 1650g.

Best of all, though, they're durable, and people seem to love them.
 
Originally posted by lokstah
Additions to the list... hmmm... one that jumps out is Velomax, which has been garnering a huge upswell of enthusiasm for their wheelsets over the past few years. The Ascent II and Orion II wheelsets both come in at under 1500g, and sell for roughly $700 USD per pair. The more economical Circuit wheelset goes for around $400 USD, and weighs 1650g.

Best of all, though, they're durable, and people seem to love them.

Got a set of Circuit Comps with my new frame recently. The hubs to me are the high point...clean design, low friction, no noise from the freewheel, and a great polished black finish. They use a semi-aero 28 mm section rim, with high spoke tension, and seem very stiff and responsive.
 
I know more about the American classics wheels/hubs, I am not happy at all with them in fact I regret very much buying them.

If somebody wants more info I can do an effort and post it here because generally I do not want to speack about it.

BR

froque
 
Originally posted by froque
I know more about the American classics wheels/hubs, I am not happy at all with them in fact I regret very much buying them.
Bummer. AC wheels have a few big fans around here, and they have pretty strong reputations in general. But I won't ask for details if it pains you...

:(
 

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