Mavic Wheel Testing - Video
Have a look behind the scenes as Mavic and Julien Absalon work together to develop new wheels.
Check out the Mavic website to see their entire lineup.
Check out the Mavic website to see their entire lineup.
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I'd have to agree that this video leaves me with a bad impression of how things are done at Mavic. Get some real, quantifiable data and then get back to me. Rolling resistance and rigidity are things that can’t be tested this way, as humans fatigue and strength changes as days go on.
obviously they do do this, but why do manufacturers of anything, feel the need to redevelop stuff that works already. its like they are afraid of being stagnant.... i love progressing forward with innovations, but the wheel has been invented, it doesnt get more reliable than 3 cross steel J spokes in a well designed rim with a hub design that 99% of manufacturers use..... changing any of that design other than material choice, is in no way at all going to improve the overall performance of a wheel.
it might be lighter but i can gaurantee you it wont last a season on a DH or trail riding bike. or it will be a fricken nightmare to set up or keep true, or a bastard to get spares for , or more prone to punctures. the only place i can see benefit is on timetrial road bikes where the wheels get next to no abuse..
my deemax i reckon are one of the poorest design of wheels out there. straight pull spokes that when compress pop out of the hub....at fort william Dh track, that occurance is normally 3 spokes per run. the fact that the nipple is loose on the spoke and screwed to the rim is the most idiotic thing i h ave ever witnessesed... the rim being aluminium is of course soft as cheese, and can only cope with so many rethreadings, or so much tension. once the the thread is gone thats it, you have a missing spoke and a sweet hole in your expensive rims...and not just a wee hole either....jeez its not even double eyeletted to help with strength.... so...i can only assume the most vigourous testing the deemax went through was with those xc jeyboys in the footage.
c'mon mavic and all you other manufacturers stop re-inventing the wheel and give us tried and tested equipment that we can rely on.
I used to crack four to five Mavic 729 a year back in the day, so i bought a park tool truing stand with all the proper gauges and stuff and a DT Swiss DVD called "Mastering the Wheel", so i never had to go back to my local bike shop and pay $50 to get a crappy service.. Since then i have never cracked a wheel again! Like the DVD lessons say i check my spoke tension every so often and my wheels are strong as hell!
I'm a heavy body-builder and i don't ride my bike "graciously", so proper built wheels and tires are my priority number one.
Bottom line: Worry more about the wheel setup rather then "this or that rim".
So is it so much about rolling fast, destroying everything, and then complain about the strongest wheels in the industry, than it is about riding well, smooth, having fun, enjoying the trail and making a lot out of not much?
i would hope you have actually ridden fort Bill to make that comparison..... nobody said it was super tech, its not. its not even particularly steep, but rocky. oh yes!! its like riding in to a 5" kerb continuously for 6 minutes, but seeing as i havent ridden bromont i cant compare.
For example, I've had my share of rockyness, especially at Mont Saint-Anne! ( but then again I ride simple 3 cross J spokes and maybe I just don't ride as hard as you...) And I agree on the fact that Mavic-built wheels are shit. The wheelsmiths at my job would recommend having them build the wheel any day instead of ordering a pre-built one.
If there's a company I would recommend for building good stock wheels, that would be Easton. Their prices are fair, and their wheels hold well for a long time. I've even heard they "tune" their spokes to an F# before sending them out
:-)
I honeslty don't look at weight. I don't read any reviews of customers either, because most people share problems rather than good experiences. In the end I'd buy nothing anymore. When I choose a wheel, I don't care whether it's factory built or custom built. I had problems with both, but I mostly had very good times.
So stop saying Mavic is bad. They are one of the, if not THE, largest wheelbuilding company in the world of cycling. If you experience problems with a wheel, just get another one or try to figure where it fails.
And to Forkbrayker: If the wheel hadn't been reinvented, we'd be riding Flinstone bikes.
i admit i am a truly hashybashy rider (and at 15st its not really fair on the bike) I have a list as long as mandango's dongo of trashed parts. what annoys me is when i continually ruin a piece of equipment due to design flaws, to be then told its me... and then what happens the following year ......said company do something to rectify the problem ( i can name 4 major changes in bike componentry that i have been subject to in this annoying trend)
JK. While I agree, I'm surprised that you guys are buying up this "marketing". I hated my lightweight wheels and went to i9 enduros, then went to King+Edge XC Clinchers and like the i9s better, but I'm still running Edge since they're light as my previous lightweight wheels, but not as flexy.
You ask which is best, and there isn't really a best. It's a preference thing. It opens your eyes that the lightest option among a set of wheels isn't the best choice, which most people would be drawn to for XC racing.
The reliability of Mavic rear hubs keeps me from buying their wheels.
The set up took off a great deal of rotational weight and the Flows have been flawless. They are so light that I thought they would require a good deal of attention...they have not. After building them up, I ridden them hard for a season and a half and not trued them once. They have a wider tire profile as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.