[RiderInTraining]

Just wondering... I have a set of Bontrager Race Disc Tubeless Wheels and a set of Mavic Crosslands also UST. According to the companies' websites, the Bontrager are a little lighter, but it not like I can actually feel it when I pick them up.

Which one should I keep?

 

[shiggy]

The one you like better.

 

[Mike T.]

Just wondering... I have a set of Bontrager Race Disc Tubeless Wheels and a set of Mavic Crosslands also UST. According to the companies' websites, the Bontrager are a little lighter, but it not like I can actually feel it when I pick them up.

Which one should I keep?

The one with cheaper and available replacement spokes. Ever try for a replacement Crossland/max spoke?

 

[Guest]

if you live near a mavic dealer spokes and parts for the wheels are readily available. here in Murrieta the closest dealer is a 10min bike ride away. Matt at IE Bikes has like three huge parts boxes full of mavic parts. everything from cassette bodies to spokes to pawls.

 

[Mike T.]

if you live near a mavic dealer spokes and parts for the wheels are readily available. here in Murrieta the closest dealer is a 10min bike ride away. Matt at IE Bikes has like three huge parts boxes full of mavic parts. everything from cassette bodies to spokes to pawls.

I was at a Mavic dealer - and a large one too who speced Mavic wheels on all their high end house-brand bikes. A friend asked me to accompany him when he was buying one of these bikes (with Crossmax wheels).

I told my buddy to ask about spare spokes. "Err we don't stock them and they're $4 each, but we can order them" was the unacceptable (to me) reply. Hence my original post.

 

[borregokid]

The Mavic Crosslands are the entry level tubeless wheelset that replaced the Crossroc. They have pretty heavy spokes and I am guessing even if you had to pay $4 for a spoke they arent likely to break. I have had better luck running them with tubes than tubeless.

The Bontrager Race probably has a DT Swiss Hub either Onyx or 240 and is probably a little higher end. The spokes might be a little lighter and more likely to snap. I like the 240 hub better than the Mavic Crossland.

As far as getting rid of one set it doesnt make any sense to me. If you bust a spoke you need a spare wheel until you get it fixed. You can also mount a completely different set of tires on one set. I would put some race type tires on the Bontragers and some all terrain type tires on the Crosslands.

 

[Miker J]

I avoid Mavics...

I've seen their hubs die quite early for the price you are paying.

An easily serviced wheelset is very important. This will become painfully obvious when you snap your first spoke on your Mavic wheelset. And that will likely occur just as you begin your first ride while on your mtb vacation where the LBS carries only real spokes.

A little story. Last year at NORBA's Mt. Snow Super D race... a friend of mine snapped a rear spoke on his CrossMax wheelset 2 days before the race. Frantically he tried to find a replacement spoke at virtually all the booths but no luck. At the last minute he settled on replacing the entire rear wheel. He had Stan's in his original rear wheel so he did not want to deal with the mess of removing his UST tire of choice for the course that was glued to his overpriced rear CrossMax wheel. So with a borrowed rear wheel and totally inappropriate rear tire he lost control and crashed. He was less that a second behind first place at the time. He trained months for that race. I, a much less skilled rider, passed him and took second on the "old fashioned" wheelset I built myself with real spokes. He hobbled in at a respectable 4th place. There is no doubt in his mind he would have taken first had he not fallen because of an inappropriate rear tire.

Of course this is purely anecdotal advice but I've seen these things happen enough that I would not buy a mavic wheelset even at dealer cost.

 

[Mike T.]

There's a lot of value, to me anyway, of being able to go into almost any bike shop and come away with some kind of an acceptable replacement spoke and instal it oneself in ten minutes.

I mechanic for a lady racer. Recently she brought her cyclo cross bike to me for a quick onceover tuneup three days before the national CX race. I found a broken spoke in her traditionally spoked front wheel. I searched through my own stock of (normal) spokes, found one and had the wheel fixed in minutes.

If that had been her Shimano boutique wheeled roadbike she'd have been S-O-L for the big race.