Which Wheels - CERO AR30 or Mavic Ksyrium Elite

Nick Cod

Wanting to upgrade my Cayo Evo wheels so which?

These http://www.cycledivision.co.uk/product- ... id133.html

Or these http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/w ... -2013.html

Help please

rowlers

Great question!
Looking at the Cero AR30 myself, seem a bargain, Kinlin XR-300 rims, CXray spokes and what I believe are Bitex hubs.
Hubs possibly the weakest link...?
Similar builds on cycleclinic too

Jauncarlos67

Can't comment on the AR30's, but the Mavic's are superb, I bought a set earlier this year for my Tarmac and they transformed my ride.
I was thinking of getting another set to put on my Wilier.

daniel_b

Those Cero's look remarlably good vfm for the weight - any link to the review, or is it not online?
EDIT: This will be the review then I guess: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/tech/components/129514/1/cero-ar30-wheelset.html
Had a quick look last night, and saw the weight was sub 1400g, but the page isn't loading this morning.

I've just 2 days ago ordered from this place in Germany - pic is out of date and description is wrong, as they are in fact the Elite S wheels (mail them to confirm of course if you're interested, which is all I did) with tyres - according to xe.com they should weigh in at about £325 delivered.
http://www.4thebike.de/laufraeder/rennrad/20/mavic-ksyrium-elite

Might be worth dropping this drummer chap a pm as he should have had his Cero's for 6 months odd now:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12907240&p=18162997

Personally if the Mavics were £450 and the Cero's were £350 I would get the Cero's, but with the Mavics being £25 less than the Cero's (and coming with tyres of course) I'm sticking with the Mavics.

cycleclinic

Those Bitex hubs I suspect will have similar issues to the Novatec A291/F482 hubs i.e fine hubs for dryier weather and if they are not your only set of wheels but use them in the winter/wet like it is today and the bearing will not last too long. This is why I now have Miche hubs in 20H/24H.

CX-ray spokes look good but they are expensive. You get the same weight from using Laser spokes with alloy nipples. Cx-ray maybe a little more aero but is fairly marginal. CX-rays are not stiffer either as some claim.

letap73

I have the CERO AR30 and Mavic Ksyrium SLS - which is the lighter model above the elites. The CERO AR30 have done 3000 miles with no issues - mostly in dry conditions and perform very well with gp4000s (25mm). I was 92 kg thus imo there is no problem with the structural integrity of these wheels. The SLS are very good wheels but they are pretty stiff, the ride is slightly more harsh than the SLS. In terms of the weight of the wheel the SLS and AR30 are both very light - comparable.
I recieved 3 extra spokes with the CERO AR30 and superb service from cycledivision. I would recommend the CERO AR30 over the Mavic wheels.

cycleclinic

Excatly my point. Dry miles on hubs like this are fine. I have a set of light novatec that I will not ride in the wet 3000 miles later the bearing are fine. People who use these hubs in the wet and when there is salt on the road do not fair so well.

ugo.santalucia

At 350, these CERO are not the bargain of the century:
Those hubs have a retail value around 80 quid for the pair (based on the fact Bitex sell them to builders for 45 USD a pair)... the rims have a RRP of 80 quid for the pair and there are roughly 100 quid worth of spokes... that means that any builder can hypothetically give you the same product for roughly 310-320 pounds without the stickers...

Bitex hubs.. when they are not faulty from day one, they are not terrible. but replacing bearings on the rear hub is a bit of a job, given the design of the axle

Nick Cod

Given that I only tend to ride my Evo in the dry, wet conditions shouldn't really be a major issue. I appreciate I could get caught out in a downpoor but I'm sure the Cero AR30 hubs wouldn't suffer too badly as exposure should only be minimal.

The Mavics however seem to have some good reviews as well, and on my first road bike I updgrded the wheels to Askium and these are still going strong on the winter bike and have put up with all conditions so far

Still undecided but I appreciate all the feedback, thanks all

ugo.santalucia

Nick Cod wrote:

I appreciate I could get caught out in a downpoor but I'm sure the Cero AR30 hubs wouldn't suffer too badly as exposure should only be minimal.

If you say so... :roll:

warrior4life

I have the cero wheels and they are phenomenal for the money.
Recently I've had Dura Ace 7850cl's. Flexy and the freehub wouldn't engage.
American classic 420's, light, fast and stiff but the bearings needed replacing after every wet ride. Also had a spoke snap but that's no big deal. Also a rattling front hub that never tightened.
Soul 2.0. Superlight but crazy flexy and spokes kept coming loose.
Planet x 52mm clinchers, Heavy, spoke snapped but they roll well and seem to carry speed.

I've had the Cero's for 5 months and had no issues, the ride like the american classics but feel a little lighter (which they are). The bearings hold up in the rain better than the american classics. I did have problems with the front hub rattling on the american classics and I have none of that on the cero wheels.

At the moment I'm switching between them and Mavic Cosmic elites that came on a Scott foil.
The Comsics are good and strong but heavy, the cero's feel far quicker, they spin up well and there is a significant weight saving.

rowlers

warrior4life wrote:

I have the cero wheels and they are phenomenal for the money.
Recently I've had Dura Ace 7850cl's. Flexy and the freehub wouldn't engage.
American classic 420's, light, fast and stiff but the bearings needed replacing after every wet ride. Also had a spoke snap but that's no big deal. Also a rattling front hub that never tightened.
Soul 2.0. Superlight but crazy flexy and spokes kept coming loose.
Planet x 52mm clinchers, Heavy, spoke snapped but they roll well and seem to carry speed.

I've had the Cero's for 5 months and had no issues, the ride like the american classics but feel a little lighter (which they are). The bearings hold up in the rain better than the american classics. I did have problems with the front hub rattling on the american classics and I have none of that on the cero wheels.

At the moment I'm switching between them and Mavic Cosmic elites that came on a Scott foil.
The Comsics are good and strong but heavy, the cero's feel far quicker, they spin up well and there is a significant weight saving.

Sounds like they are pretty good then. The thing that is really pulling me to the is the 0% finance lol! But they'll be my main use wheels, (although they won't be going out the rain, unless I get caught in a shower), so they need to be durable. The miche/kinlin/sapim build seems more durable at and extra 200gs or so.

letap73

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Nick Cod wrote:

I appreciate I could get caught out in a downpoor but I'm sure the Cero AR30 hubs wouldn't suffer too badly as exposure should only be minimal.

If you say so... :roll:

Considering I have been caught with those wheels a number of times in a downpour and they don't seem to have suffered in anyway, but then I must be really lucky :roll:

drummer

Daniel B wrote:

Those Cero's look remarlably good vfm for the weight - any link to the review, or is it not online?
EDIT: This will be the review then I guess: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/tech/components/129514/1/cero-ar30-wheelset.html
Had a quick look last night, and saw the weight was sub 1400g, but the page isn't loading this morning.

I've just 2 days ago ordered from this place in Germany - pic is out of date and description is wrong, as they are in fact the Elite S wheels (mail them to confirm of course if you're interested, which is all I did) with tyres - according to xe.com they should weigh in at about £325 delivered.
http://www.4thebike.de/laufraeder/rennrad/20/mavic-ksyrium-elite

Might be worth dropping this drummer chap a pm as he should have had his Cero's for 6 months odd now:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12907240&p=18162997

Personally if the Mavics were £450 and the Cero's were £350 I would get the Cero's, but with the Mavics being £25 less than the Cero's (and coming with tyres of course) I'm sticking with the Mavics.

Sorry chaps, but this happened before I got to put them on my Italian bike! There still boxed up waiting to be fitted.....
viewtopic.php?f=40011&t=12920065

rowlers

Oh dear, missed that.
Hopefully your recovering well.

Crozza

letap73 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Nick Cod wrote:

I appreciate I could get caught out in a downpoor but I'm sure the Cero AR30 hubs wouldn't suffer too badly as exposure should only be minimal.

If you say so... :roll:

Considering I have been caught with those wheels a number of times in a downpour and they don't seem to have suffered in anyway, but then I must be really lucky :roll:

not that lucky if you got caught in a downpour

warrior4life

The cero's don't have a Bitex or Novatech hubs either.

letap73

warrior4life wrote:

The cero's don't have a Bitex or Novatech hubs either.

+1
5000 miles with no issues at 90+kg, imo better than the Mavics.

antfly

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=18533559#p18533559]ugo.santalucia[/url] wrote:

At 350, these CERO are not the bargain of the century:
Those hubs have a retail value around 80 quid for the pair (based on the fact Bitex sell them to builders for 45 USD a pair)... the rims have a RRP of 80 quid for the pair and there are roughly 100 quid worth of spokes... that means that any builder can hypothetically give you the same product for roughly 310-320 pounds without the stickers...

Bitex hubs.. when they are not faulty from day one, they are not terrible. but replacing bearings on the rear hub is a bit of a job, given the design of the axle

That makes the Ceros a much better deal than the Wheelsmith Race 30s at the moment then,which don't seem such a good deal at 450 quid, particularly as Ceros are not Bitex hubs, as far as I can tell.

ugo.santalucia

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19694452#p19694452]antfly[/url] wrote:

particularly as Ceros are not Bitex hubs, as far as I can tell.

Not Bitex, they are Chosen, same as Planet X use for their wheels. They might have been Bitex in the past though

antfly

Oh, are they any good, better or worse than Bitex ?
I am in the market for a set of wheels, I was looking at Wheelsmith but they seem overpriced now.

ugo.santalucia

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19694535#p19694535]antfly[/url] wrote:

Oh, are they any good, better or worse than Bitex ?
I am in the market for a set of wheels, I was looking at Wheelsmith but they seem overpriced now.

I have a pair of the disc ones and they seem to be pretty good... although the size of the bearings is not very inspiring. Those tiny 15 x 24 bearings are also quite delicate to replace, as they get damaged easily if you "mallet" them in.
I agree 450 to end up with some budget hubs seems a lot of money, considering you can probably have Archetype on Hope for the same money or less.

antfly

So what would you recommend, it's for a supersix evo hi-mod used only in summer ? I am uisng a few years old Kysirium Elites at the moment but they are gong on my winter bike soon so I am after some wheels which will at least be slightly more aero and not a downgrade on the Mavics. The Cero A30s seem to get good reviews. Your advice would be appreciated..

ugo.santalucia

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19694562#p19694562]antfly[/url] wrote:

So what would you recommend, it's for a supersix evo hi-mod used only in summer ? I am uisng a few years old Kysirium Elites at the moment but they are gong on my winter bike soon so I am after some wheels which will at least be slightly more aero and not a downgrade on the Mavics. The Cero A30s seem to get good reviews. Your advice would be appreciated..

It's hard not to factor in price these days and given you can get a pair of Zonda for virtually nothing, it is difficult to advise anything else, if you are reasonably light and not overly hard on your equipment.

antfly

I never considered those but they are very reasonably priced!
I might well get them, thanks for the tip..

letap73

Two years since I last posted on this thread, my opinion of CERO AR30 have not changed, much better than Kysrium SLS that I had. I cannot say much about the Wheelsmith product or the Zondas. Although there are pros and cons compared with the two sets of handbuilts I have - Archetype with miche hubs and Mavic open pro with novatech hubs - I would say they are on a par with both wheelsets.

letap73

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19694562#p19694562]antfly[/url] wrote:

So what would you recommend, it's for a supersix evo hi-mod used only in summer ? I am uisng a few years old Kysirium Elites at the moment but they are gong on my winter bike soon so I am after some wheels which will at least be slightly more aero and not a downgrade on the Mavics. The Cero A30s seem to get good reviews. Your advice would be appreciated..

I have a supersix evo himod and have paired them with the CERO AR30s, they go together very well.

antfly

Good to know that ..decisions, decisions.

letap73

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19694737#p19694737]antfly[/url] wrote:

Good to know that ..decisions, decisions.

Just to prove I am not a salesman for cycledivision, I would recommend that you at least e-mail cycleclinic, because I think he can come up with a better build than wheelsmith. Just riding along also have a lightweight set which also looks good -though I haven't personally tried it.

antfly

I have already decided against wheelsmith as the Ceros possibly have better hubs, the build seems to be good (going by reviews) and the wheels are a quite a bit cheaper than wheelsmith. The rims and spokes are the same.

drummer

I' can give an honest review on these as I have both!

The Kysriums are on my winter bike (BMC SLX01) & the Cero's are on my bike that I have at my Italian gaff (Felt FA, 10 speed Durace).

Kysriums: Nipples stuck within first few months of moderate riding. Almost impossible to true. Cracked rear hub. 3 broken spokes. Stiff. Cost £500. If I want them serviced, apart from them going away for a few weeks was told it would be as cheap to buy new wheels!

Cero's: Stiff. Still true & strong. Look nice. Spin up nicely. Come with spare spokes. Rode mainly in dry but when on holiday in winter, had rides in the rain & no issues (so far).

In truth, if these wheels cost the same, I'd buy the Cero's.

I'm building up a new bike now & I would put some Cero's on without hesitation.

Hope that helps chaps!