Mavic Aksiums are they reliable? NOT!

mike drake

I recently wore out my Mavic Open Pro wheel, so decided it was time to invest in some winter training wheels, so after much research (web forums and talking to cycling club members) I decided to go for what a lot of other club members were using, Mavic Aksiums.

These were purchased just before Christmas, so you can imagine my surprise when climbing a hill the other Sunday (1st Feb), a spoke detached from a fractured hub. After detaching the spoke from the rim and bending the now, much buckled wheel straight enough so that the bike was rideable, I was able to complete my ride on a less hilly route.

Monday morning and I was straight onto Merlin Cycles (from whence they were purchased for £110) and they have now been sent back to them and then onto Mavic and I currently await a new wheel. But can you imagine my surprise when Merlin said they have had a few with the same problem and then this weekend after speaking to others in the club I find three others have had the same problem and one had a wheel collapse. I was also in a bike shop in Leyland on Saturday and they had a wheel with exactly the same problem.

Since this I have heard of local shops having this problem as well. My wheel is on it’s way back to me after having visited Mavic in France. It cost £14.99 to post it to Merlin Cycles and this is not refundable, this is their response ‘With regards postage, this is only refunded if the item is faulty when it arrives to you or if it breaks straight away. As you ordered the wheel in Nov we wouldn’t be able to reimburse this. This is covered in our terms and conditions http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=page&id=12’ I sure if I pushed it under the Sale of Goods Act, I could argue they were not fit for purpose and I should not be out of pocket. The lesson here is don’t buy large articles on the net, but locally, one member of my club bought his from Caygill Cycles in Richmond and they changed it straight away.

So back to the point of this post, if you have bought the new 2009 Aksiums, be aware they must have an inbuilt fault, Mavic is probably too busy with it’s other recall on their wheels.

NaB

I would have stuck with Open Pros if you were after quality. Aksiums are never going to be as good as say chorus/ultegra level hubs and decent spokes. I have a pair of Aksiums and I'm under no illusions as to their quality..I bought them becasue they were cheap and thought I might get a couple of winters out of them....having said that it is possible to upgrade the cartridge bearings. Hope mine don't suffer the same fate yours did!

Madcyclepath

It's not just the 2009 models. I got a pair on a bike from Ribble in december 2007 and the hub fractured in, what sounds like exactly the same way after about 20 miles of riding. I was using a pannier on the back but I'm under 11 stone so not exactly heavy myself!

Ribble replaced it no problem and said they'd had other people send wheels back with the same problem. dunno about their returns policy as I bought it in shop so had to post it down to my dad for him to take into the shop (I live in scotland).

Anonymous

My next wheels are going to be Open Pro's on Ultegra hubs.

Should I even bother using these Aksiums anymore? Sounds like they are a ticking timebomb, my back wheel moves when I turn the pedals the way that is not supposed to move the wheels, and it seemed to be going fine but I dunno.....

I'm abit... well VERY P155ED at this news.

NaB

willhub wrote:

My next wheels are going to be Open Pro's on Ultegra hubs.

Should I even bother using these Aksiums anymore? Sounds like they are a ticking timebomb, my back wheel moves when I turn the pedals the way that is not supposed to move the wheels, and it seemed to be going fine but I dunno.....

I'm abit... well VERY P155ED at this news.

I wouldn't worry mine are taking a lot of abuse (heavy rack and panniers + training miles) and holding up well. There are definitely worse wheels out there in the same price bracket

Anonymous

I hope they hold well.

They look cool and over my Open Pro's on Tiagra hubs they seem an upgrade, just as fast, maybe a little heavier.

dodgy

My 2007 model Aksiums also fractured at the hub, seems there's a pattern here! JE James replaced without quibble.

Dave.

Anonymous

Wonder why allot are apparently fracturing at the hub?

I bought mine off Ebay

I'm going to email Mavic about this, they should recall all wheels like they did those R-Sys!

**Edit** Anyone know the email for Mavic?

windypants

Im just glad that i bought my Tk winter bike from my LBS. I've had two Askium rear wheels in as many months. But Mavic are giving me some Equips as a free upgrade.

rjsmith

My 2008 model went at the hub after 2 rides. Ribble said they had heard of it happening and replaced without any hassle. They also said the problem had been fixed on subsequent models. No postage refund though. Didn't ride them again.

mike drake

Looks like I should have stuck to some more Paul Hewitt built Open Pros and gone to a retailer with a better returns policy, you live and learn.

Anonymous

Anyone know a contact email for Mavic? I want to email them.

edhornby

happened to my brother's krysiums too - replaced with fulcrums

Lagavulin

My 2007 model Aksiums have suffered 2,000+ abusive miles put into 'em in 16 months and they're still running fine.

They do suffer slightly (i.e. they don't do it all the time) from the syndrome Willhub alleviated to earlier but I can't blame that for slowing me down. They've remained true from day one and for £109.99 I think they've been a bargain.

I fancy trying the handbuilt route but I'd certainly consider buy them again. With hindsight I'd of taken another set of Aksiums over the Racing 7s I bought last year.

blorg

I've also found Aksiums good and reliable. I also have Open Pro/Ultegra which are a bit smoother and lighter but they were also more expensive.

balthazar

If this failure is as I imagine, it is a fatigue failure in an aluminium hub shell, wherein a portion of hub flange breaks away across 2 or more spoke holes. In that case, reports of reliability are meaningless: the hub is either terminally broken, or perfect.

This used to be seen when people built radially laced wheels on ordinary hubs which were designed for tangential spokes. I did it, to my chagrin, and the hub flange duly collapsed. That is why Shimano, Campagnolo, Suntour and so on expressly forbade radial lacing of their hubs.

Mavic should know better, but errors are made especially by product designers who are pressed to make each design sleeker each year. For what it is worth, I've not heard of Shimano or Campagnolo hubs failing this way, when laced properly (tangentially). Ordinary wheels - the fashion is to call them handbuilt - have the test of time behind them, at least.

Anonymous

Will, rather than repeatedly asking for someone to have a look on the mavic website and posting an e-mail link for you, why not try yourself?

nkelley13

I have 2007 Aksiums and I've ridden a lot of miles on them, have used them for commuting every day and racing, never had any problems. They're still true. I know couriers who've used them on their work bike and got a couple of years out of them, must just be bad luck.

blorg

The radially laced hub failure will apply only to the front wheel, it would be interesting to know whether the failures described are from that or the rear (I had presumed the rear, it is generally the one to fail.) In any case with factory radial front wheels you would hope that the hub would be specifically designed to stand up to radial lacing I have certainly had many perfectly reliable radial front wheels, Aksiums and others.

turbo_hamster

My Aksiums, bought Autumn 2007, have been fine. However, you would expect a majority to be fine, or the whole lot would have been recalled. I will be inspecting my wheels carefully and regularly, having read this thread. (Yeah, I should have been anyway.)

I am a lightweight and somewhat cowardly rider, so I tend not to hammer my kit. Might look at handbuilt training wheels when I next need a set.

Anonymous

NapoleonD wrote:

Will, rather than repeatedly asking for someone to have a look on the mavic website and posting an e-mail link for you, why not try yourself?

Have you never thought I already have? :roll:

balthazar

NapoleonD wrote:

Will, rather than repeatedly asking for someone to have a look on the mavic website and posting an e-mail link for you, why not try yourself?

I scoured the site looking for an email contact, for Willhub, without success. It is another infuriating Flash based (or similar) site, that bike manufacturers seem to delight in, or have been duped into paying for. Why are they so consistently awful, when all around, commercial websites have improved so much in recent years?

As the saying goes, "1996 called and wants it's website back".

alfablue

alex_coventry@mavic.fr

Mavic Service Centre
Amer Sports
Theta,
Lyon Way,
Frimley,
GU16 7ER
01294 316 200

Anonymous

Thanks alfablue.

I've sent them an email:

Hi.

Dont know if this is the correct email, been looking around and not found one so someone on BikeRadar forums kindly found a contact.

Anyway it's about the Mavic Aksium wheels, see this thread:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... e14884e67f

I thought it is best to contact someone in Mavic as I'd like to know if Mavic are going to do anything about it? Apparently sites like Ribble have heard of this happening quite often, and having just got my Aksiums I cant help but feel I'm riding on a ticking timebomb now!! As it's clear when the Hub fractures it is unusable.

Is Mavic aware of this issue?
What does Mavic intend to do about it?


Thanks
Will.

dodgy

Mavic will do exactly nothing, it's not a safety issue and they will deny there is a widespread problem.

alfablue

dodgy wrote:

Mavic will do exactly nothing, it's not a safety issue and they will deny there is a widespread problem.

I am sure you are right, but there is value in giving customer feedback. It gives them the opportunity to improve their products, at least.

dodgy

Yep, no problem with a bit of feedback. I just haven't found Mavic to be communicative in the past (like when I was trying to find spokes for my Aksiums!).

Mog Uk

Will,

I would have personally mentioned the problem in the email.

I seriously doubt anybody at Mavic is going to sit sifting through a forum thread to actually decide what you're referring to....

Anonymous

Yea you are right, I rushed it did I? If they don't reply I'll send a more detailed E-Mail.

alfablue

The best approach is to send a simple, brief email with just the essential facts, and a question (what do you want them to do). More chance of being read and responded to, if they are so inclined. By the way, the email address is for the Service Centre who deal only with retailers, so don't be surprised if there is no response, but don't let that dissuade you from emailing them. As they are so secretive about contact details the customer just has to try any route they can find.

I must say, it really annoys me to find manufacturers that prevent direct communication, I mean, who best to answer technical queries about their products? Good as an LBS may be, as the only "approved" form of contact with Mavic, I am not entirely sure they will always have the full tech knowledge of individual products that a manufacturer would have.

Tempestas

I am shocked at the postage issue with merlin, surely as an EU product with a 2 year warranty they should offer a postage refund within the same period. I know the bigger internet shops offer this, I guess I will avoid the smaller retailers for larger items.