UKC

Should I go for some Krysium Elites or something else?

Have seen rumours that the spokes aren't stainless... but have no idea

Have seen some on clearance at well under £400 from a reputable dealership.

I'm wanting to put them on Campag 8 speed at the moment, but when/if I get a new bike its likely to be Ultegra 11 speed (1 to 2 years away), hence the desire to easily change the freehub body...

Any reason NOT to?

Fulcrum, never been impressed with Mavic quality myself

Will they go from 8 to 11 with just a freehub change ?

I think the dish would have to be corrected if the free hub body was changed. Should be able to get the wheels with 11 speed straight off and just use a spacer behind the cassette then it’d be straight swap for 11 speed when the time comes. I use some open pros on my rollers which have 11 speed hub and use them on 8 speed and 11 speed bikes without issues this way.

Mavic Ksyriums are excellent wheels, nice and light and stiff because they are built with high quality metals allowing very high tensions. This makes a noticeable difference to the feel and the ride of a bike especially if moving from cheaper wheels. The bladed spokes on the higher end wheels are made from a fancy steel alloy that Mavic call Zirconium, whatever that is. There are hundreds of different alloys of steel. 

Mavic's freehub design is simple and easy to service but needs regular servicing if you plan to keep the wheels a long time. The freehub runs on a plain boss machined on the hub body and if the lubrication fails the boss wears and the freehub oscillates and you get the Mavic howl of death on freewheeling. 

Mavic only supply spares for their wheels for five years, meaning it's very difficult to replace a worn rim on an old wheel. If you're happy to buy into this throw-away philosophy, get Mavic wheels as they are very good and will ride nicely. At only £400 I would definitely buy them; my Ksyrium SLs have given me about eight years of excellent service and I bought them second-hand. 

Holy cow, have you just regurgitated the Mavic catalogue ? 

I doubt very much they are made out of Zirconium, they have probably got 0.1% zirconium in them to make the steel alloy required.

Which reinforces my comment above.....

My fulcrums are crap (bearings are super poorly sealed despite being cartridge bearings), my mavics are so far ok but the spoke nipples are starting to corrode after only 3 months of mild abuse.

Yeah, there is no right and wrong answer on this, my Fulcrum Racing 1's are 8 years old and all i have had to do is replace the freehub once, one mans dud wheels are another mans favourite, you pay your money you take your chance...

Blimey. My current wheels are 28 years old.. Had two new rims mind, but still going strong with no corrosion. Are things that disposable now...? 

When  got them there was an awful lot about how poorly the hubs were designed. They still work OK to my mind!

So it seems that some people find the mavic great and some find them awful. Some people like fulcrum and some people hate them.

The things  that drew me to the mavics originally were the ease of swapping freehub and that they were tubeless with the tyres and sealant.

I'll end up not buying anything at this rate .. 

If it’s any help, I’ve got some Mavic wheels and some Fulcrum wheels. They are wheels designed for different jobs and in quite different price brackets, but both have been reliable, the Mavics are 6 years old and the Fulcrum 4.

Thanks nick. 

Thinking about the dt swiss pr1600 instead now. At least they can hopefully make spokes!

Have a look at Hunt wheels - they are very good especially at the price

I went through the same thought process 6 months ago and bought the Mavics. I considered all the options already listed here including the hunt, fulcrum etc. I have used them....with no complaints for 6 months. They haven't really speeded up my bike. But then again I have been doing less exercise this year so the human engine is probably to blame. The tyres are tubeless and it can be annoying having to constantly pump them up every couple of weeks to maintain pressure but it is no big deal. Would other similar wheels be better? Unlikely. 

Sorry.....not the most helpful reply but to a cycling punter like me a £400 wheel is probably going to feel like another £400 wheel. 

You have to pump your tyres up with inner tubes too. 

I'll check these out  

They looked good. 

Hunt can't do 8 speed. 

Think my bike may be getting close to retirement.

Minimum of new groupset so I could add wheels. Plus it needs some other work as well. I need to get the derailleur hanger sorted as the rear mech goes into the spokes at the moment in the lowest gear.  

The point is with these tyres is that I will pump them up pretty much every time I do a ride. I will pump them up to 100PSI - do a long 5 hour ride and by the end of the ride they are 70PSI. Within a week they are down to 40PSI.

In my experience with tubes there was never this level of tyre pressure loss. I have asked at two bike shops and they said it was normal with tubeless tyres.

That's a huge loss. Are they filled with slime and doesn't the slime normally ooze out and seal the tyres?

Yeah........I agree it is ridiculous. I did fill them with slime and they came already on the rims. I think it is possible they are not sealed properly but the guys in the shops said it was normal. I would appreciate it if anybody else with these tyres (or similar tubeless 25mm tyres) could let me know what pressure loss they have?

I have a pair of Ksyrium Equipe S wheels (lowest/cheapest of the Ksyrium family) as my summer wheels. The spokes are indeed non-stainless (dunno what type of steel they are!) but this has not been a problem (they are nearly 5 years old now) and the wheels are almost as good as new after about 4000km. The only issue when new was that they creaked a lot! This originated from the spoke cross overs and the nipples. A spray with silicone lube cured that.

At around the £400 mark, I'd seriously consider some of the offerings from Cero such as the AR30s.

N

I've suffered similar pressure loss on tubeless for a while and just accepted it was part of the package....

Until I tightened the valves up beyond hand tight with some small nose pliers. Since then I've lost little to no pressure, only issue is a small pair of pliers have to be carried now in case I do need to inflate out in the road! 

For what it's worth this is on my cross bike and it's worth the effort. Managed to run 20psi in yesterdays mudbath with no issues.

Had a pair for years. Done everything on them: raced road and cross. Now resigned to my commuter hack but still going strong, never maintained hubs or needed to true a wheel. Bombproof. Would buy again.

8spd is same as 9,10 spd width of freehub and will also go on a 11 spd freehub - you just need a spacer behind the cassette

you don't use slime in a tubeless tyre - you need the specific tubeless sealant. If they are going down that quick then they are not properly sealed

I  used the stuff that came with the wheels and just followed the instructions. But thanks......if I need to buy more stuff to go in then I will not get slime. But obviously it is not the slime that is an issue as they are new wheels / tyres and there is no puncture. It is likely the valve or seating of the tyre is an issue.

Thanks - will try that.

I asked hunt and they said you couldn't use their wheels with 8 speed. 

I can't keepkeep up with the technology  

I've got the Mavic Ksyrium Elite tubeless wheels, and they don't go down as quickly as you report. They probably do lose more air than tubed wheels, but pumping them up once a week is fine.

I'd be surprised if that's true. I've merrily swapped the same wheelsets between 8, 9 and 11 speeds (I don't own a 10 speed!) plenty of times. It seems unlikely Hunt have a unique system that isn't compatible. You will probably need a spacer but I can't remember which. 11 and 9 speed don't need a spacer but 8 does.

As others have said before, if there's not that much between wheelsets on paper then at £400 there probably isn't much between them. However, how easy they are to live with is definitely a factor. I've Fulcrum Racing 1s and they are great wheels but my god trying to get replacement spokes can be a total nightmare, and the spokes on front, and rear drive/non-drive sides are all different. Also, the aero spokes are not easy to true so if the wheel goes out (has only happened once in three years, they're second hand wheels and have done about 10000 km with me) it's a trip to the shop for someone with my mediocre (crap) level of skill. The hubs seem bombproof so far but I know replacement freehubs will be expensive when the time comes.

One set of wheels I wouldn't go for are the new Mavics that demand you use their tyres and tubes. That's asking for trouble and ties you into buying inferior tyres with no choice to change without screwing your warranty, or so I've heard.

Ah - I’d expect 100-80psi over a week with tubes. 

Ah - I’d expect 100-80psi over a week with tubes. 

If you can't decide between the Mavics and any of the wheels mentioned above just get some DT Swiss PR 1400 DICUT OXIC.

Put some normal tyres on with normal tubes in and bob's your uncle! No messing about with weird substances, no losing fingernails getting tyres on and no need for an industrial compressor to get the bead into the rim. They also look pretty cool, are just over 1400g for the pair and spin up really nice.

Enty

Thanks... The 400s may be of my price range currently . 

Canyon have a sale on at the moment on bikes... Resisting. 

But I did fit a new chain and block to the bike yesterday. 

Yikes, it is old if you are still fitting a block ! Unless of course you mean cassette

Doh! Cassette. I haven't had a block since I had a helicomatic one in a wheel I took of in 1998? And went fixed on the old(er) bike.

However, despite the in appropriate use  we often used to use block as a  short version of cassette. I spose cogs would be better to use.