Mavic R-SYS - Review
chris217
Posts: 218
Not sure if best part of forum for this however it is connected with 'buying advice' and i welcome any feedback However i have just tested some Mavic R-Sys wheels and wanted to shre this as many differing opinions.
so quick summary they are - very light - very stiff - and offer levels of comfort not usually associated with stiffness of this magnitude.
i have just come off a set of new Mavic Ksyrium SLS wheels which are stiff and great wheels but noticably 'firmer" ride.
Back to the R-sys, so rolling along, the weight( or lack of it ) is instantly noticable as the wheels spin up very quickly when you are tapping along and get up out of the saddle the response is instant, with a surge forward when you stomp on the pedals, yet when just pedalling normally they seem to float, almost waft along.
The 'aero issue' has raised its head previously and i can see the potential here however while they may not 'slice through the air' like a bladed wheel, i could not detect any noticable reduction is speed or increase drag, what is noticable is the fact they are so light ( i did weigh them and they came in an an actual 1396g which is very close to the Mavic claimed weight ) and therefore any aero deficit is seems to be blown away by the incredible acceleration.
i climbed a steep 12 / 15% hill and there was absolutely no movement of the wheel no rubbing of brake blocks and every ounce of your energy goes into forward motion, i actually stopped for a second and did a track stand while on the steepest part of the hill just to test the stiffness and then started pedalling again, the reaction ..instant pick up and response depsite the loss of momentum. On normal wheels there will be a 'lag' if you were to do a similar thing on a steep hill...quite impressive !
As you will probabaly gather by now, i like these wheels..and after so much press, good and not so good , i wanted to experience them for myself.
Downhill, a long..ish rough sweeping decent, they were fine, holing line well and the carbon spokes smoothing out the rough surface giving great compliance while steering precision was still sharp.
so thats it really and thinking of keeping them ...
so quick summary they are - very light - very stiff - and offer levels of comfort not usually associated with stiffness of this magnitude.
i have just come off a set of new Mavic Ksyrium SLS wheels which are stiff and great wheels but noticably 'firmer" ride.
Back to the R-sys, so rolling along, the weight( or lack of it ) is instantly noticable as the wheels spin up very quickly when you are tapping along and get up out of the saddle the response is instant, with a surge forward when you stomp on the pedals, yet when just pedalling normally they seem to float, almost waft along.
The 'aero issue' has raised its head previously and i can see the potential here however while they may not 'slice through the air' like a bladed wheel, i could not detect any noticable reduction is speed or increase drag, what is noticable is the fact they are so light ( i did weigh them and they came in an an actual 1396g which is very close to the Mavic claimed weight ) and therefore any aero deficit is seems to be blown away by the incredible acceleration.
i climbed a steep 12 / 15% hill and there was absolutely no movement of the wheel no rubbing of brake blocks and every ounce of your energy goes into forward motion, i actually stopped for a second and did a track stand while on the steepest part of the hill just to test the stiffness and then started pedalling again, the reaction ..instant pick up and response depsite the loss of momentum. On normal wheels there will be a 'lag' if you were to do a similar thing on a steep hill...quite impressive !
As you will probabaly gather by now, i like these wheels..and after so much press, good and not so good , i wanted to experience them for myself.
Downhill, a long..ish rough sweeping decent, they were fine, holing line well and the carbon spokes smoothing out the rough surface giving great compliance while steering precision was still sharp.
so thats it really and thinking of keeping them ...
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Comments
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Chris217 wrote:so thats it really and thinking of keeping them ...
Keep them, when was the last time a grand bought you happiness?
left the forum March 20230 -
thanks ugo and my happiness was a mere £799 !!!0
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Chris217 wrote:thanks ugo and my happiness was a mere £799 !!!
which is less than Mavic have just quoted me for a replacement rear...
10 minutes into my first ever race on them, I was involved in a coming together which ripped out 5 of the (zicral, driveside) spokes on the rear, causing the wheel to go very out of true. LBS suggested sending the wheel away as too damaged for them to fix. Mavic say the rim has been damaged beyong repair so new rim and spokes needed - £395!
now before someone tells me I should have gone handbuilt, they came as part of a complete bike (Canyon) for a very competitive price. don't race what you can't afford to replace etc etc.0 -
Crozza wrote:Chris217 wrote:thanks ugo and my happiness was a mere £799 !!!
which is less than Mavic have just quoted me for a replacement rear...
10 minutes into my first ever race on them, I was involved in a coming together which ripped out 5 of the (zicral, driveside) spokes on the rear, causing the wheel to go very out of true. LBS suggested sending the wheel away as too damaged for them to fix. Mavic say the rim has been damaged beyong repair so new rim and spokes needed - £395!
now before someone tells me I should have gone handbuilt, they came as part of a complete bike (Canyon) for a very competitive price. don't race what you can't afford to replace etc etc.
Where/ who is your LBS though?
I have no idea, but it may be worth seeking the opinion of a specialized wheelsmith as to whether they really are beyond repair.
I know the nerest LBS to me that I specialize in wheels is Paul Hewitt up in Leyland. He stocks- or can get hold of, mavix spokes, and if he can;t fettle it, then indeed nobody can.
Incidentally, I did a similar thing to you years ago in a race and an overzealous gear shift at the botom of a steep descent onto a hairpin ascent put my rear mech into my Kysrium taking out several spokes. PH fixed it up no worries....
Also incidentally, I also have a set of SR's and also love them......although I know one day they'll probably have me making the phone call of shame to the Missus, as one snapped spoke usually spells end of ze ride0 -
Pippi Langsamer wrote:
Where/ who is your LBS though?
I have no idea, but it may be worth seeking the opinion of a specialized wheelsmith as to whether they really are beyond repair.
I seem to have gathered from the OP words the wheel was sent to the Mavic service centre... who will know better than Mavic themselves if the rim needs to be replaced?
A botch up is always possible, but it is exactly that and nobody can give you peace of mind the tyre won't burst out of a rim repaired with a bench vice and a spannerleft the forum March 20230 -
" which is less than Mavic have just quoted me for a replacement rear..."
i am conscious of the repair 'complications' and that was in my mind when deciding to purchase these.
it is obviously not a straightforward case of ( as on my previous DT Swiss wheels ) where a spoke, rim or hub part can be easily sourced and replaced by a competant bike shop.
i actually purchased the additional MP3 warranty cover in the event i damage / crash them myself which adds a small amount of peace of mind ...and i also have a fantastic local bike shop who look after me !!
finally...they do say you pay your money....you take your chance ....0 -
I live in the Channel Islands so famous wheelbuilders are a little thin on the ground
LBS thought at first they could do it - they had all the spares including the carbon spokes (£10 each!) - but on reflection and having spoken to Mavic, they thought best to send it off. having inspected the wheel Mavic thought that the rim would have been structurally weakened and should be replaced
no doubt they will patch it back together, match it with a returned front and flog it off for £799 :P0
