QUICK ANSWER PLEASE - Mavic Aksium 09 VS Shimano WH R550

GavH

Guys, a quick answer if anyone can. Ordered a new bike from an online retailer and it arrived today. It should come with 2009 Mavic Aksiums (black ones) and instead has on it a pair of Shimano WH R550 :evil: . I've contacted the seller who agrees it should have the Aksiums on it and will call me back tomorrow morning once he's looked into it.

In the meantime though, am I right in saying that these (the shimanos) are about £70 cheaper as a pair and are INFERIOR wheels to the Mavic or is it splitting hairs and not worth worrying about?

The sun is splitting the trees here and I'm off work yet can't get take the new beast out until this is resolved!

redddraggon

WH R550 are good wheels. I'd prefer them over Aksiums any day.

I've used R500 for 18months and not had one issue.

redddraggon

But if it was meant to have Aksiums and you want Aksiums you are well within your rights to demand Aksiums......

.......but as far as I'm concerned the R550s are better wheels......

fast as fupp

avoid MAVIC product like the plague- dodgy build quality and zero after sales service

antfly

I replaced my R500 wheels with Aksiums because the spokes kept popping and 18 months later they are still perfectly true and no problems at all, so I prefer the Aksiums.They were only £90 though.The R500 are probably ok for skinny people because they have a fair bit of flex.The R500s were more comfortable too.

Mettan

If you're under 90 kgs I'd have the R550's every time - over 9-12 months I found my R550's to be excellent wheels - low spoke count, good enough hubs, ok weight, roll well enough, quiet, and suprisingly reasonably aero (according to that Rousanne Ar. chart thing) for the price.

redddraggon

antfly

You must be one porker to be breaking R500s.....

GavH

Guys, thanks for the replies, very helpful indeed. FWIW, I'm 76kgs so breaking spokes isn't something I'm overly worried about. Just noticed as well that on the plus side it has Vittoria Rubino tyres as opposed to the cheaper Zaffiro ones like its supposed to! The sellers Customer Service thus far has been excellent, hence why I don't won't to name them as yet so other than the fact they should have probably checked the spec before dispatch, I reckon the error has occurred with the manufacturer (Bianchi). The Shimano wheels are what come with the alu/carbon framesets rather than the all carbon 928 like mine. Easy mistake to make I suppose but as Red said, I've paid for Aksiums so I should get them. On the other hand, if so many people reckon the Shimano wheels are the safer bet, maybe I should just keep them?

Smokin Joe

I've got an Aksium on the back and an R550 on the front. I'd go for the Shimano every time and you have the bonus of £70 to spend on something else.

antfly

redddraggon wrote:

antfly

You must be one porker to be breaking R500s.....

Not really,only 12 and a bit stone of solid muscle!
I may have been a couple of pounds heavier back then but no porker.

cyclingpunk

I have Aksiums on my winter bike. Done a fair few hundred miles on them and never had an issue with them. Not tried the Shimano's though so can not really compare.

redddraggon

antfly wrote:

redddraggon wrote:

antfly

You must be one porker to be breaking R500s.....

Not really,only 12 and a bit stone of solid muscle!
I may have been a couple of pounds heavier back then but no porker.

You shouldn't be breaking them then - I'm 13st and have used them daily for 18months and they've not even gone out of true

markos1963

I have 550's on my Onix and I weigh 85kg. No problems at all in 12 months. Good fast wheels.

GavH

Guys once again thanks for the responses, seems the R550s get the thumbs up over the Aksium in the majority of cases!

Spoke with the dealer today who confirmed that Bianchi had indeed put R550 wheels and rubino tyres on and that they are within their rights to do so. Guy at my LBS said its not unheard of for manufacturers to change the spec without warning but that it seemed unusual. I was assured that it should have been 2008 Aksiums on it, NOT '09s as I thought. The dealer then went on to tell me that it was '09 WH R550s that were on it so overall I hadn't lost out.

Just about to now download a course file to my new 705 and test the new bike out!!

Cheers again.

Gav

antfly

I hate to cast aspersions but i`m pretty sure there isn`t a 2009 version of the R550`s.

markos1963

antfly wrote:

I hate to cast aspersions but i`m pretty sure there isn`t a 2009 version of the R550`s.

Yes you're right. Discontinued last year, I beleive that the RS10's or 20's are the equivalent now.

Mettan

GavH wrote:

The dealer then went on to tell me that it was '09 WH R550s that were on it so overall I hadn't lost out.

At 76 kgs you'll be fine on a pair of R550's - they're a slightly older model (originally 05?) than the newer RS10's/RS20's/Aksium09's etc, etc.. but imho they're nippier/quicker than the RS20's (having run both) (RS20's are better built though) - the R550's have their spoke nipples on the hubs, so they feel lighter in use than they are - all adds up to a nice performing wheel, for a budget price.

For this summer (Sportive's etc??) a pair of 550's with some Ultremos/GP4000s/ProRace3's will see you set up quite nicely.

antfly

markos1963 wrote:

antfly wrote:

I hate to cast aspersions but i`m pretty sure there isn`t a 2009 version of the R550`s.

Yes you're right. Discontinued last year, I beleive that the RS10's or 20's are the equivalent now.

Thanks for confirming that.

Maybe I was just unlucky with my broken spokes but the Aksiums are slightly faster,also.

ascurrell

The wh-r550 are a slightly older model, there has been some comments on the r 500 's
dont forget [i believe] the 550 's are the 105 quality whilst the r 500 is Tiagra.
so the 550's are better quality all round especially bearings.
The mavics get good right ups as well but seems 550 get the general vote. the tyres are an added bonus.

whilst not wishing to highjack i'm actually selling a new / unused boxed set of wh-r550's see classified. Absolutely brand new but bought for project then had a change of mindon project, bought another bike which has ultegra wheels, hence 550's availabilty
cheers, scurry

GavH

Yep, after posting this and heading out on the bike, it did occur to me that whilst on the Shimano site last night, there were no R550s, so how could these ones be the '09 model?

Anyway, the guys in my LBS reckoned the R550s were easier to maintain and service than the Aksiums and that I still had a good set of wheels. The whole bike was certainly quicker up hills and the effort required was noticeable when considering a 30 mile route with numerous hills upto 11% was done today without dropping below 50x25. I couldn't have done that on my heavier, older Carrera Virtuoso 05 with no name wheels which weigh a ton my comparison!

I'll definately look at some better tyres for the Sportives, I'm on the reserve list for the local Hamphire Hilly Hundred and I have a place on the Polka Dot. Looking to enter a few more as well. Thanks again.

ascurrell

out of interest gavH what bike did they come with, cheers, scurry

GavH

scurry, it was a Bianchi 928 C2C bought from wheelies.co.uk.

pghmtnbike

I have a set of R550s on my touring / city / racing bike combo and overall I like them a lot.

However, I weigh in around 190 - 210 depending on the day, and I find my rear wheel goes out of true ALL THE TIME.

I have never had to do anything other than the occasional small tweak to a spoke or two on the front wheel but the rear wheel has gone out of true more than once to the point it smacks up against the brake pads and I need to open up the rear brake almost to the point of uselessness.

The worst time it happened was on a 400 mile ride with loaded panniers, but even though the wheel got knocked out badly because of a pothole or some other road defect, they still got me another 300 miles to my destination without having to turn a single spoke nipple (as I could not turn the ones on the drive side at the time). I just had to listen to my friends behind me laughing at my expensive wheels wobbling side to side.

The rim was not hopping or anything, just really out of lateral true. It was not very hard once I got the casette off and spent a minute on it to get it perfect again.

The special Shimano wrench is an absolute MUST as there is no way to turn the spoke nipples on the drive-side without taking the cassette off without this tool. Even with the tool it is a pain in the ass but doable in the field. On the non-drive side of the rear wheel, it is also impossible to turn the nipples with most regular spoke wrenches because of the way the spokes criss-cross at the hub.... And no, in the field a small crescent wrench closed tightly down on them does not work whatsoever LOL...

I find that every few rides I need to tweak the rear rim back into check, and one time I hit one spoke with my heel and it has a slight bend in it now (have straightened it out to almost straight though).

Replacement spokes are about $4 apiece for this rim.

I think I might throw it on the truing stand before my next long distance ride, replace the one spoke, and tighten them all-around and possibly use some blue locktite on the nipples and see if that helps keep the wheel in check.

If that doesn't work I am going to get a stiffer deep dish rear wheel and continue using the R550 front.

I think they are quite aerodynamic, and it is an almost creepy silence from the wheels when zooming down a mountain pass at 50+mph. No whistling whatsoever.

Overall from the abuse I have put them through I am quite surprised how well they have held up. I have always been nervous about long rides without replacement spokes handy, but I am much more confident about these wheels now that I have been on some crazy rides with them.

fast as fupp

have you tried loctite on the nipples?- i did this to a pair of mavics that were always going out-hey presto problem solved

synchronicity

I'd only use the R550s if I weighed less than 75-80kg max.
In my opinion, the aksiums (even the3 newer, ligheter 2008/2009 versions) are a heavier duty wheel suitable for riders 100kg or more. More spokes for a start...

marusches

What a load of shite only use this if your so weight....... i weigh 90kg in the flesh (not fat just big). I have 2 bikes with r500's on them and ive thrashed the hell out of them and they are still straight. Mind you fulcrum advised me not to buy racing 7's because of my weight and poor road quality might affect the rims. i got impression that they are just crap wheels

I would stick with the r550's and maybe ask for a freebie from his shop to make up for it

http://www.ferryhillwheelers.org.uk