Submitted by
FireLikeIYA
a Weekend Warrior
from Gilbert, AZ, USA
Date Reviewed: June 11, 2010
Strengths: Strong and light
Weaknesses: some flaking of ceramic coating
Bottom Line:
This is my first experience with aftermarket wheels. The stock wheelset that came with my Specialized Rockhopper almost deterred me from mountain biking as I couldn’t believe how fast they would go out of true. Thoughts of the cost of constant truing and rim replacements ran through my head. Less tha 200 miles on that wheelset and I was told that the next time they need to be trued that they should be replaced. I purchased this set hoping that they would be stronger and luckily they are... and I mean MUCH stronger! They are also very light. I can really feel the difference when accelerating. The only complaint that I have is with the ceramic coating. It seems to have some very light flaking here and there. I am not too concern about it. The rear rim is a little out of true (<2mm) but it really isn’t that bad. I weigh 190+ and landed at an angle off a two foot drop which caused it. This happened within the first two months of purchase and it has been the same ever since. It is not noticeable while braking. I currently have 400 miles of 100% MTBing on them and they have never been trued. I purchased the MP3 plan so I plan on sending them back just before the two years is up for repair. I wouldn't recommend purchasing the MP3 plan if you are a weekend warrior such as myself due to the initial cost of the plan and the cost to ship them for repair. I recommend this product especially if you can get them for the occasional sale price of $349. For the money these are hard to beat.
Similar Products Used: Specialized/Alex wheelset that came stock on my Rockhopper
Bike Setup: 2009 Rockhopper, RS Sid, Crossmax ST, Panracer Fire XC Pro 2.1" (not tubeless), Avid SL rim brakes, etc.
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Submitted by
rockymtnrider
a Weekend Warrior
from Denver,co
Date Reviewed: August 31, 2009
Strengths: The wheelset does have positive aspects, but these are outweighed by the weaknesses.
Weaknesses: Per Mavic, every 20 hrs of riding (or more often, depending on which source you read) you must disassemble the rear hub to clean out and relube (pawl area, not the wheel bearings). Otherwise you could trash your hub. This is completely unacceptable. Had I known how often this wheel needs preventative maintenance I would not have purchased it at any price. MAVIC PLEASE READ: As long as you have been in business, I can't believe you haven't figured out how to design seals to keep out the dirt. Until you do you should sell only road bike wheels, not mountain bike wheels. You did know mountain bikes are used on dirt, oui?
Bottom Line:
Don't buy mavic mountain bike wheels unless you really enjoy taking things apart for frequent maintenance.
Similar Products Used: other rear hubs used: Shimano XT & XTR, Bontrager Race, Hugi 240
Bike Setup: Kona Coiler
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Submitted by
axmans
a Cross Country Rider
from chamonix, Haute Savoie, France
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2008
Strengths: Strong, Light and True
Weaknesses: People want to steal them
Bottom Line:
Great stiff tires, remain true after repeated pounding in the rough terrain around Chamonix. Great for XC, and Technical Descents.
I would no hesitate in recommending these wheels. They are 700 euros over here, so if you are lucky enough to find them cheaper, Buy them.
Bike Setup: Specialized Stumy Elite, Full XT rapid rise, Crossmax ST, Avid Juicy 7
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Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Atlanta, GA, US
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2008
Strengths: definitely light, seem pretty strong, look sweet, work great with UST, MP3 is peace of mind even if you never use it
Weaknesses: ceramic can chip off... these things are not unbreakable even if just using as XC
Bottom Line:
I bought these because some friends had great success with the XLs, and I liked the weight and strength reported on these. I only ride XC and wanted something that was light yet more than strong enough.
These things are light, look sweet, and have been holding air great on my maxxis ignitors UST 2.10s. No slime/stans/etc, just put the tires on and go. I run around 28-30 psi, and I weight 140lbs. I only have to pump up the tires by about 5 psi once a week or so... probably more a note on the tires than the rims, but they do seem to work well together. I've used these in 2 races so far.
You can see the strengths and weakness listed above. Let me expand on the weaknesses:
I ride XC only, no big jumps/drops/etc. Yet after less than about 10 hrs of riding, I noticed 2 significant chips in the ceramic on the rim of the rear wheel, exactly opposite of the stem hole which i belive is where they join the rim together. It made a slight clicking sound when applying the brakes but not too bad. NEXT I noticed a large flare out of the rim in a different spot on the wheel, obviously from bottoming out. I do ride a lot of granite but my psi is always at least 28 and I'm pretty light, so this was a bit of a surprise. To be honest I have no idea how this happened, but this dent in the rim causes a definite problem with braking... so I'll be sending this back in to get repaired/replace under the MP3 program.
All in all I'm pretty happy with these wheels, and mavic support has been great to work with. Supposedly it's a 2 day turn around on the repair. Get the MP3 protection!
A 4 value cause these things aint cheap, a 4 overall due to some of the problems I've had.
Similar Products Used: stock wheelsets, nothing special.
Bike Setup: 2008 stumpy hardtail, maxxis ignitor USTs... the rest is probably not relevant
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Submitted by
Todd
a Weekend Warrior
from Imperial Mo USA
Date Reviewed: May 3, 2008
Strengths: strong, light, and, acceleration.
Weaknesses: none so far
Bottom Line:
These wheels have turned me into a better rider. The strength of the wheels and the additional grip from the tubeless tires have me going so much faster on tight downhills.
