Mavic Ksyrium Elites

I'm not a fan of boutique wheelsets, though understand they can be
useful for competitive cyclists.

I've had a great experience with Alex rims on a commuter bike--tens of
thousands of miles with just a couple touch ups. They *were* destressed
and tuned by an expert wheelbuilder as a part of the bike purchase. Is
that the problem? Perhaps get the wheels tweaked by a master for under
fifty dollars and your troubles may very well go away.

If you're gonna buy new wheels and want reliability, conventional
wheels built by a talented tech is the way to go.

I also replaced my Alex wheels--came with my '05 Specialized Sequoia
Elite--with Ksyrium Elites, which were on sale at my LBS. I'd thought
the Alexes were OK, actually, but the Elites definitely feel both
livelier and more stable than the Alexes. Apparently Mavic believes the
Elites to be the strongest wheel they make.

Allan said:

Anyone have these wheels? What do you think of them?

Lots of people I ride with have them, and we agree that they're a tough,
reliable wheel. Mine haven't gone out of true at all in the couple of years
I've used them; I'm about 78kg and have abused them a fair bit. I've
never heard of anyone breaking a spoke on one, either.

The cheap Alexes I had on my previous bike were constantly going
out of true.

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

My Trek 1500 came with Bontrager Selects. I replaced them with Elites
at about 2000 miles. I did quite a bit of research on the Elites
(roadbikereviews) and purchased a set through my LBS (just in case I
had warranty problems). I am 6'2", 195 lbs. and these seemed to be
perfect for my size. I also was replacing my cassette and tires. In
hindsight, my Selects are great wheels. A little heavy but still true
after 1 year.

On my first good ride, my rear wheel went out of true (at about 20
miles). I had 4 spokes loosen up. I was able to get back home, but the
sound of my wheel rubbing against my brakes (all the way open) was
pretty scary.

My LBS said that the spokes get tensioned by machine at the factory and
they re-tensioned them for me.

On my second good ride, again at about 20 miles in, the same thing
happened. Again I went into my LBS and wanted and exchange. They sent
the rear wheel to Mavic, and I got a new one about 2 1/2 weeks later.
My LBS said that Mavic wanted to charge them for shipping......

In summary, I had these less than 75 mile and they went out of true
twice. It doesn't sound like Mavic's warranty is a good as it was. I
have them back on my bike and the jury is still out.

On another note, I have a buddy that has a set of these. He is 6'4" and
210 lbs. They came with his Cannondale and he has had no problems with
them. Mine were black, but I don't think that would be an issue.

While waiting for my wheel to come back, some suggested that an Open
Pro rim with Ultegra hubs, is a great wheel, and is bombproof.

Good Luck, Hope this helps.

What do you mean by livelier?
What do you mean by more stable?

Nothing I can document. Could even be a kind of placebo effect. I do
think that the Alexes flexed laterally, slightly, in a way the Elites
don't, over rough ground. I rode over such ground today, and the bike
felt rock-solid. The Elites are somewhat lighter than the Alexes,
also. Again, the differences are subtle. A lot of people despise the
Alex wheels; I don't.

Thanks for your input. I'm still going with the Ksyrium Elites after
talking with several people about them and reading comments in this
newsgroup. Hopefully I won't have a problem with the wheels needing to be
trued so frequently. You're right about the Mavic Open Pros being bomb
proof. My LBS built a set for me with Ultegra hubs and double butted spokes
for my previous road bike. Never had a problem with them except for a
little clicking noise coming from the rear wheel. It turned out to be a
device inside the double wall rim that holds the rim together for welding at
the factory. Apparently these can come dislodged sometimes and slide around
when the wheel is rolling, but I think this can happen on almost any wheel,
not just the Open Pros.

"CC" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My Trek 1500 came with Bontrager Selects. I replaced them with Elites
at about 2000 miles. I did quite a bit of research on the Elites
(roadbikereviews) and purchased a set through my LBS (just in case I
had warranty problems). I am 6'2", 195 lbs. and these seemed to be
perfect for my size. I also was replacing my cassette and tires. In
hindsight, my Selects are great wheels. A little heavy but still true
after 1 year.

On my first good ride, my rear wheel went out of true (at about 20
miles). I had 4 spokes loosen up. I was able to get back home, but the
sound of my wheel rubbing against my brakes (all the way open) was
pretty scary.

My LBS said that the spokes get tensioned by machine at the factory and
they re-tensioned them for me.

On my second good ride, again at about 20 miles in, the same thing
happened. Again I went into my LBS and wanted and exchange. They sent
the rear wheel to Mavic, and I got a new one about 2 1/2 weeks later.
My LBS said that Mavic wanted to charge them for shipping......

In summary, I had these less than 75 mile and they went out of true
twice. It doesn't sound like Mavic's warranty is a good as it was. I
have them back on my bike and the jury is still out.

On another note, I have a buddy that has a set of these. He is 6'4" and
210 lbs. They came with his Cannondale and he has had no problems with
them. Mine were black, but I don't think that would be an issue.

While waiting for my wheel to come back, some suggested that an Open
Pro rim with Ultegra hubs, is a great wheel, and is bombproof.

Good Luck, Hope this helps.

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Sweer. let me know how they work out for you.