If you read the previous
Mavic 2009 Road post, you know that I placed heavier emphasis on what the French component maker is doing with shoes and clothing. That's in part because
Mavic itself is emphasizing this new line more prominently.
But as usual, there is a good story with
Mavic road wheels, and one of them has to do with cost. At a
time when it seems everything in cycling is getting more expensive, Mavic very astutely is offering the
Cosmic Carbon SL, a pre-existing aero wheel, at a 30% discount from its present, 2008 price. In addition, Mavic achieved 20g of further weight reduction (per-pair weight is now 1740g) by shaving away a little more rim material between the spokes. Mavic says even a small weight loss at the rim pays big dividends because in a wheel all of the inertia (the rotating mass you have to overcome to push a wheel down the road) is forced to the outside of the wheel. As usual, the CC SL is still comes as a clincher wheel with aluminum rim walls because Mavic's customers have said that they like the convenience and strength of standard brake pads. (Also, privately, Mavic engineers believe that carbon isn't a great material for rims because its strengths are best exhibited in a linear fashion and the loads on a wheel, especially at its edges, include pushing, pulling, and resisting impacts with road surfaces.)
COSMIC CARBON SLR
So why would Mavic drop the price of its
Cosmic Carbon SL? Because the company has achieved some streamlining of its manufacturing process-and because it's debuting the Cosmic Carbon SLR, a 1595g (per pair) set of aero wheels that utilize continuous flat carbon spokes. Mavic says the advantages of continuous spokes are multifaceted. First, fewer spokes equals fewer parts and fewer weak points because that also equals fewer interruptions between the hub and rim. And, Mavic claims, flat spokes are more aerodynamic, as are the hubs because the spokes crisscross the hub and then a plastic cover snaps over the spoke/hub interface, reducing wind resistance.
THE COSMIC CARBON SLR'S CONTINUOUS CARBON BLADED SPOKES.
There's another good story with the
Ksyrium Elite, Mavic's top-selling wheel and a tried-and-true classic. By cutting out material between the spokes (as with Cosmic Carbon series), Mavic cut 140g per set (total weight is now 1,550g per set), and again, the inertial gain is significant-Mavic claims a 30% lowering of inertia. Additional, the company says a redesigned hub and tweaked lacing increasing lateral stiffness, so the wheel is more responsive when you're out of the saddle climbing, or sprinting with all of your might.
R-SYS GETS A BLACK COAT OF PAINT.
Last, but hardly least, Mavic is introducing another
R-Sys product, the R-Sys Premium. As a refresher, this is Mavic's other carbon spoked wheelset, although in this case the spokes are round. As with
standard R-SYS, Mavic says the advantage to carbon spokes is they don't stretch or bow under load, allowing much lower spoke tension and a more consistent, more stable wheel with a lighter rim and even greater milling between spokes. The R-Sys Premium also saves weight with carbon hub caps and ti skewers-and these wheels come in black, not silver, so they're a little meaner as well as a little lighter than the standard, silver R-Sys. Combined weight for the set is a claimed 1360g.
As with the
clothing post from the other day, I'm not going to weigh in with product evaluations from a few hours of riding (the Cosmic Carbon SLR and the refined R-Sys Premium). Besides, much of the time was spent climbing, where you don't get to judge very much besides the condition of your lungs, and since we were led out by a few of Mavic's sponsored riders, Cyril Dessel and Thor Hushovd, most of what I felt was a burning sensation around my heart and a pounding in my ears. When we get to test the wheels over a greater period of time, we'll weigh in with stronger opinions beyond a sigh and a gasp for more air.
THOR HUSHOVD GETS A CLEAT ADJUSTMENT MID-RIDE.
Lastly, U.S. pricing on all of these products will be forthcoming and we'll update the blog when we have that info.