[road]

Hi

I’m thinking of buying some new wheels to upgrade my ‘best’ bike – a Cannondale CAAD 10 which currently has Mavic Aksium wheels on it. The plan would be to put the Aksiums on my Genesis Equilibrium winter/commuter bike and then put the new wheels on the CAAD.

I’ve had a look at some Mavic Ksyrium Elite S wheels on Wiggle for £420.

I was wondering if it would be worth upgrading generally, and for people to perhaps suggest some alternatives.

I’m 6’0, and around 13st 9 if that helps at all (but planning to lose a bit of weight).

Budget would be around the £400 mark (or ideally a bit below).

Cheers

Topic

[jasecd]

Colin Peyresourde

Colin Peyresourde wrote:

Kyseriums are bomb proof. No truing required. Best add-on to my bike. You don’t want the bottom end ones though, you need the ones with the aluminium milling around the rim. Class.

Couldn’t agree more – I spent significantly extra on a pair of Ksyrium SLS’s with my new bike and having put almost 2000 miles on them in six months they are as true as when they started.

They’re also super duper light.

[roryd]

I am currently looking at
I am currently looking at these wheels as a option and would quite like some feed back if you’ve got time?

[Anonymous]

I’ve managed to get hold of a
I’ve managed to get hold of a pair of the Swiss Side Gotthard wheels via eBay – just waiting for them to be delivered!

[matthewn5]

No idea why that turned up
No idea why that turned up here! I was commenting on another post. :W

[notfastenough]

@shakebeforeusing – thanks,
@shakebeforeusing – thanks, I’m upgrading from Bontrager race wheels to Franc, so hopefully I’ll see a similar improvement.

[DanTe]

Colin Peyresourde

Colin Peyresourde wrote:

Kyseriums are bomb proof. No truing required. Best add-on to my bike. You don’t want the bottom end ones though, you need the ones with the aluminium milling around the rim. Class.

I used to say the same thing, especially when I first got them.
There’s one major flaw in these wheels, there’s a big problem with the rim cracking round the spoke nipples.
I’m on my third rear Ksyrium Elite in 18 months. First one might of been a big pothole hit but the second was just wear and tear from last years wet winter,
They are nowhere near as bombproof as is commonly thought.
As a bigger rider I would be mindful of this and buy them from somewhere that’s known to have a good returns policy.
I got mine from Merlin and they’ve been great every time. The guys I spoke to there said that they’ve been onto their boss about not stocking them anymore as they’re sick of dealing with cracked rim replacements..
Good wheels but..

[Anonymous]

Very helpful, thanks!!
Very helpful, thanks!!

[shakebeforeusing]

Thought I’d add my
Thought I’d add my experiences (if you haven’t already made a choice, swissside did have a Christmas sale…). I’ve been riding the Gotthard wheelset for about 3 months now (on an Equilibrium funilly enough) and have tried Ksyrium Elites (and know others that ride them). Not sure about the bikeradar review, giving them 3.5 stars with a review that basically says the only negative is that rim isn’t excessively wide… reviewer must’ve been having a bad day…

From riding them they’re excellent in every way. They handle well, are utterly bombproof and go like stonk! I upgraded from a set of Bontrager race wheels, and although those weren’t sluggish by any means I immediately felt the difference. They both accelerate and hold speed well and have a pleasant hmming noise whilst going along (like a very quiet deep section wheel). I’ve noticed no flex whatsoever in them on both testing climbs and descents and they’re completely true despite some good thrashings (included a pothole which broke a ride mates handbuilt wheel, which I then had to fix at the road side 😕 ).

Compared to the Ksyriums I’m sure this will be exactly the same, with the Gotthards a tad more durable due to the better spokes. There’s not much to tell them apart to be honest apart from the looks (and imo the gotthards are gorgeous, no bias… 😉 ). Sifting through the data gives the results that I beleive the Gotthards have slightly heavier rims with lighter hubs, and have a slight aerodynamic over the box section Ksyriums. According to Swissside’s data from their Hadron testing this will be about 25% of the gain from going for a full on deep rim wheelset (i.e. ~80mm), with better performance in side winds.

Also, in response to the negative points posted in the review I’ve had no problem with the rim width running 25mm tyres evn at low pressures, and the QR skewers provided were possibly faulty. Mine engage very solidly, although they do have the disadvantage of having external cams. I also have the titanium skewers which are pretty much bog standard titanium QRs. They’re a bit harder to close than the standard ones as expected for titanium, and can be a bit fiddlier to get to the best tension. In all, I would really bother with the extra expense again.

[Anonymous]

No – should I be?!
No – should I be?!

[Anonymous]

Ha ha! I’ve always been told
Ha ha! I’ve always been told I’m an only child!

[jamtartman]

I am similar height and
I am similar height and weight to OP, and run a CAAD10. Are you my twin, separated at birth?

I changed my wheels to Elite S and have done a few thousand miles on them now. They have been utterly bombproof if a tad unexciting.

[Man of Lard]

deero83 wrote:(Or there’s

deero83 wrote:

(Or there’s always the “It was only £40 on Wiggle” approach my club-mates take!)

Or the old “I’ve borrowed them off ” line 🙂

[Man of Lard]

deero83 wrote:(Or there’s

deero83 wrote:

(Or there’s always the “It was only £40 on Wiggle” approach my club-mates take!)

Or the old “I’ve borrowed them off ” line 🙂

[notfastenough]

deero83 wrote:Think I just

deero83 wrote:

Think I just need to let her forget about it for a bit and then go for a sneaky purchase.

It worked with my Fizik shoes!

(Or there’s always the “It was only £40 on Wiggle” approach my club-mates take!)

I sold a pile of cycling bits that I don’t use on ebay, then just sat on my paypal balance until I saw a good deal.

[notfastenough]

deero83 wrote:Think I just

deero83 wrote:

Think I just need to let her forget about it for a bit and then go for a sneaky purchase.

It worked with my Fizik shoes!

(Or there’s always the “It was only £40 on Wiggle” approach my club-mates take!)

I sold a pile of cycling bits that I don’t use on ebay, then just sat on my paypal balance until I saw a good deal.

[Author]

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