Mavic R sys wheels?

on-yer-bike

I see they are on offer. Are they good wheels? What are the draw backs with carbon spokes? I can see they are very light for clinchers.

BigG67

I like mine, and others like them too. They are light and in my experience tough, I ride them all the time and do the job.

BUT there are other who reckon that a) they are unsafe - there was a recall last year - and b) the thick spokes cause too much drag and so counter the benefit of the weight.

"You pays your money and you makes your choice"

Mccaria

www.velonews.competitor.com/2009/06/bik ... lure_93054

Not sure if this link works, but if not you can get to the article by searching on google velonews and mavic r sys. In a nutshell the concern is that when the wheel failed it really failed with all the spokes stripped out.

My understanding is that for 2010 they have put a metal core to the spokes so they should be safer with less risk of catastrophic failure. You need to check which year of wheel you are buying.

on-yer-bike

Mccaria wrote:

www.velonews.competitor.com/2009/06/bikes-tech/a-shattering-experience-a-post-recall-r-sys-wheel-failure_93054

Not sure if this link works, but if not you can get to the article by searching on google velonews and mavic r sys. In a nutshell the concern is that when the wheel failed it really failed with all the spokes stripped out.

My understanding is that for 2010 they have put a metal core to the spokes so they should be safer with less risk of catastrophic failure. You need to check which year of wheel you are buying.

They are 09. Now I know why they are being sold so cheap.

giant_man

I'm not surprised they're on offer. They got such bad press with the spokes issue ....

Monty Dog

A mate has two pairs - he loves them. Not very aero tho - noticeable on fast descents.

DaSy

They ride really nicely, especially into fast corners as they are so laterally stiff, but they aren't quick on the flat or downhill. They are really nice when out of the saddle as again the stiffness is really noticeable.

The downside for me was that I just lost confidence in them, especially when faced with which wheels to take to the Alps, I chose to take my Ksyrium SL's instead as I couldn't stop thinking of a spoke failure on a 50mph descent on some of the rough roads off the big mountains.

Once I made that decision, I realised that the wheels were not for me, and sold them on. It's just a risk I didn't need to take...

Anonymous

I think if there is doubt for such a critical item, you had better get something else.

Down the Road

There were less than a handful of spoke failures in the2008 wheels. The '09 and '10 wheels have an upgraded spoke in the front wheel.

These have now proved to be a reliable wheel and if you can get a pair your should. They are the most comfortable leightweight wheel on the market.

DaSy

Down the Road wrote:

There were less than a handful of spoke failures in the2008 wheels. The '09 and '10 wheels have an upgraded spoke in the front wheel.

These have now proved to be a reliable wheel and if you can get a pair your should. They are the most comfortable leightweight wheel on the market.

There was a pretty high profile failure of an '09 post recall wheel which involved an editor of VeloNews - A Shattering Experience

I'm not sure I'd agree that they are a comfortable wheel; they're very stiff, and do tend to give a pretty hard ride, they just handle so well as to make up for almost all other shortcomings, except one. The catastrophic nature of the failures leaves very little room for manoeuvre if it should happen to fail, unlike most other wheels which will go out of true, but survive a spoke failure pretty easily.

dbb

i love mine and i don't find them slow downhill either - but then again gravity is on my side with 90kg+

but then again - i must be a high risk taker because i also drive a Toyota and I'm not panicking about that either! :shock: