Carbon Wheels - Cosmics/Easton/FFwd

DeRosaRider

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to invest in carbon wheels to for my De Rosa R838. I ride approx 180-250klms per week and I'll be using the wheels for every day usage. My riding is mostly flat with some hills and a climb once a week.

So far my research has me considering the following (all clinchers for everyday convenience):

Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR
Carbones have a solid reputation as being solid wheels that hold up to the rigor of everyday usage with the mix of handling local pot holes whilst also providing performance. The downside is that they weight approx 1700g which is above their claimed weight and reviews mention that they chew up brake pads. Does anyone have any experience with their consumption of brake pads? Go team Garmin Baraccuda...

Easton EC90 SL or Aero
These have no weight limit and am debating between the everyday use of the 38mm SL or the pimped up 56mm Aero versions. I have heard these wheels have good rims and are solid in relation to performance. Go team BMC...

Fast Forward F4R DT240 or F6RC-DT240
I don't know much about Fast Forward as they don't have a large profile locally but early reports are mixed with raves that they are solid wheels that can withstand every day use versus information that says there are known problems with their carbon wheels at present. Again it's a toss up between the smaller 45mm rims of the F4R or the deeper 58mm of the F6RC. The deeper rims of the 58mm weigh a lot at 1.8klg so am thinking otherwise of the deeper rims. Positives with the FFWD's are they the have DT Swiss hubs.

And then there are Zipp 303's but I hear negative reviews concerning the hubs.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers
Mitch

sungod

i've got the mavics on my shiny bike, just coming up to one year riding them, c. 8000km, all weathers

weight is 1709g including rim strips

they are really stiff, but more comfortable than the sram's that i had before, when going hard out of the saddle they barely flex (i have the pads adjusted close, so it's easy to tell)

pad wear is only high for the first 2-300km, after that it's fine, i'm still on the second set of pads and there's plenty left in them

braking performance is excellent, even in the wet, much better than plain rims, there's no sign of the exalith coating being damaged

from the date i fitted them, my average speed went up, so they have less drag than the lighter wheels they replaced

climbing i don't notice the extra weight vs. the lighter wheels, 300g out of >82kg total me+bike isn't going to make much difference, it's really only a factor if you are racing on long climbs or doing a lot of braking/accelerating

they can be a bit twitchy in gusty sidewinds, not psychopathic, but it takes a while to get the feel for them


there's a nice review of aero clinchers here, all tested under the same conditions, including wind tunnel...

http://www.tour-magazin.de/services/qtr ... age96.html

...well worth a read

markyone

I had campag bora ultra 2,and sold them for the slr mavic cosmics, best wheels i have had. They squeak for a while on the rims,but they have just bedded in and they are now quiet.
Pads are wearing good to,imo these wheels are superb.