[Closed] Help with Mavic road wheels

Aren't the r-sys the carbon spoke jobbies? Not sure I see the point in them myself (other than they look good), the fat spokes can't make for an especially aero wheel and they're not fantastically light for the money either, add to that extra hassle from spoke damage and I'd just stick with Kysriums if it were my choice (they might be stiffer but Ksyriums are very stiff anyway so can't see any more would be of benefit). The do seem to have added another model or two recently but depending on your budget my choice would by the Ksyriums with the exalith coating on the breaking surface (mostly for looks mind...).

Thanks Fuzzy. I agree with your choice as well! The Exalith does look very stealth.

I have Ksyrium SLs on my Roubaix and they are outstanding wheels, very good for climbing, very stiff and very strong - even 5000 miles of potholes and worn-out top dressing haven't affected them. Since I seldom brake and don't ride the bike on wet roads the braking surfaces are like new.

The rear wheel is identical, the R-SYS have the Tracomp carbon spokes on the front as well

Exalith rims absolutely scream whenever you brake, puts me right off them!

There's a new Exalith 2 pad available now, which is supposed to dramatically reduce the noise issue. We'll see...

More generally, the thing I don't like about Ksyriums is the disposability factor. Mavic stops producing spares after five years, so once spokes and/or rims for a particular wheel are no longer made, that's it. That means my Ksyrium SLs which have perfectly good hubs and spokes are effectively landfill once the rims - already well worn - properly die. Not good.

They do ride nicely though.