Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL

rando
rando Posts: 285
edited October 2012 in Road buying advice
Currently playing with the configurator on Rose Bikes to see what I can get for approx £1600 (complete bike).
The couple of bikes I have looked at come with Mavic Ksyrium Elites as standard but for an extra £266 I can upgrade the wheels to Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL which I believe are approx £700 plus on there own.
Would these wheels be a decent upgrade ? It still keeps the bike in my price range. Or are there better wheels ? Others on the configurator are DT Swiss RR1850 (£235 upgrade) and then a few like Dura Ace WH 7900 (£353 upgrade) or DT Swiss Tricon (£350 upgrade).
I don't race at all so maybe all the wheel upgrades might be OTT. Just want some wheels that give a good smooth ride and are fairly hard wearing on our British pot holed roads. Drawn to the Mavic Cosmic Carbones as they just look fab and really set the bike off particularly the colour coded ones !
Just incase it makes a difference I will be using 25mm tyres and could be either a carbon or alu frame as I have one of each in the mix.
So is it worth spending the extra over the standard Ksyrium Elites ?

Comments

  • ShutUpLegs
    ShutUpLegs Posts: 3,522
    Probably not
  • foggymike
    foggymike Posts: 862
    I don't think they'll make any difference to your riding and are no more likely to be damaged by our fantastic roads than the elites but they will be more likely to get damaged by stone chips, storage/travel damage or crash damage due to the bigger surface area of the relatively fragile fairings. You will notice the extra weight over the elites if you live somewhere hilly too, but if you simply love the way they look on the bike then why not - nothing wrong with that!
  • rando
    rando Posts: 285
    The Rose configuration is far too easy to spend money !
    Could just stick with the standard wheels on the bike and get DI2 group set instead. Or save my money and just take a bog standard mechanical ultegra bike. Rose have a few bikes in the sale at the moment as well incase anyone else is considering one.
  • NUFCrichard
    NUFCrichard Posts: 103
    I had a similar question also using the rose configurator!

    I already have Shimano RS-80 C24s, on a new bike I can pick Mavic Equipes, DT Swiss RS1550s or Mavic Cosmic Elites. I like my current wheels and I reckon the DT swiss and equipes are direct replacements for my current wheels, whereas the cosmic elites are more aero.

    Is the aero advantage worth anything at this price point? If so I could get them and use them if I fancy doing a flat ride or a TT, if not I'll just get the DT swiss.
  • rando
    rando Posts: 285
    NUFCrichard wrote:
    I had a similar question also using the rose configurator!

    I already have Shimano RS-80 C24s, on a new bike I can pick Mavic Equipes, DT Swiss RS1550s or Mavic Cosmic Elites. I like my current wheels and I reckon the DT swiss and equipes are direct replacements for my current wheels, whereas the cosmic elites are more aero.

    Is the aero advantage worth anything at this price point? If so I could get them and use them if I fancy doing a flat ride or a TT, if not I'll just get the DT swiss.
    Which bike are you buying from Rose if you don't mind me asking. I have the Xeon crs in the configuration and a pro rs both in carbon and alu.
  • NUFCrichard
    NUFCrichard Posts: 103
    The Pro-RS3000 or the Carbon Pro-RS3000. I will probably go for the Alu one, 600€ for 150 grams is a bit steep imo
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,671
    Hmmm, I think I'd go for Di2 with elites for British riding. Although I might stick with the Carbones if I was still in Holland.

    That said, it sounds like you WANT the Carbones anway! ;)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • rando
    rando Posts: 285
    ddraver wrote:
    Hmmm, I think I'd go for Di2 with elites for British riding. Although I might stick with the Carbones if I was still in Holland.

    That said, it sounds like you WANT the Carbones anway! ;)

    Don't necessarily want the carbones as I am sure for my level of cycling the standard mavic elites that come with it will be a massive step up from my current Trek wheels. Just that it is a one time chance to get an upgrade on wheels for a good price.
    I am more drawn to the Di2 though but that could just be because it is fairly new in cycling terms and will the novelty of electronic shifting soon wear off. Part of the Di2 attraction is also I am crap mechanically and all the reviews praise it for self trimming and adjusting etc so that would be a plus point for me.
  • Insideinfo
    Insideinfo Posts: 107
    Wheels like Carbones make a difference at faster speeds but not at normal speeds, so 18+ mph. Over 20mph they can add an extra 1-2mph to your average speed.

    And they obviously look the nuts as well :D
  • vectra0
    vectra0 Posts: 128
    Carbones look great and sound amazing (you will get alot of comment from people you ride with) but the elites are just bomb proof.... i have been riding carbones for the last 4 week and cant wait to get them off the bike and save them for the summer. I dont have another option at the moment... As and all rounder they are just not up to it... especially going through any kind of puddle! i dread the water going throught the spoke holes!
  • mroli
    mroli Posts: 3,622
    The most important thing about MCC are the sound. They sound awesome.....
    http://www.georgesfoundation.org
    http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com/
    http://www.12on12in12.blogspot.co.uk/
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    rando wrote:
    . Just want some wheels that give a good smooth ride and are fairly hard wearing on our British pot holed roads. Drawn to the Mavic Cosmic Carbones as they just look fab and really set the bike off particularly the colour coded ones !

    I think you have to make up your mind here, do you want something sensible or something that looks good (to you)?
    left the forum March 2023
  • rando
    rando Posts: 285
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    rando wrote:
    . Just want some wheels that give a good smooth ride and are fairly hard wearing on our British pot holed roads. Drawn to the Mavic Cosmic Carbones as they just look fab and really set the bike off particularly the colour coded ones !

    I think you have to make up your mind here, do you want something sensible or something that looks good (to you)?
    Both!! No I suppose it will have to be sensible as the money dictates I can't have both sets.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    You can compare the Cosmic Carbone to a Vauxhall Corsa SRi with a big spoiler on the roof... some can argue that if you go fast enough, you might actually get some benefit out of it... reality is, it is just a tacky appendix that has no use whatsoever.
    If you remove the appendix, you get a set of Ksyrium, which are cheaper and do exactly the same job...
    Can you live without the Big stickers and the fake carbon wheel look? If not, then get the Cosmic, at the end of the day they are Ksyrium with a tacky spoiler
    left the forum March 2023

Categories