[axlvid23]

I'm building up my race bike this year and I'm torn on what wheels I should put on it. I was thinking the mavic Ksyrium ssc sl's or the elites....or something comprable to either of these. Does anyone have any experience with these, or with something similar that would be worth looking into?

A little background: The bike will be used primarily for racing and training(duh) and I'll probably be putting anywhere from 150-300 miles a week on this sucker. I can't afford 2 sets of wheels, so I'm looking for a "do-all" wheelset. I thought the Ksyriums would fit the bill since they are easy to maintain and from what I've been told have a pretty long ride life.

Anyway, any suggestions, experiences with these wheels, or random comments not pertinent to anything I've said are welcomed.

Alex

 

[chriskaiser]

Hey Alex,

I have a pair of Ksyrium Elites '04, and they have held up great thus far. Even after getting hit by a car, they only needed VERY minor truing, and by

minor I mean that I still could have ridden the wheel and not worried about it hitting the brakes. That is if I could have ridden it. The fork died the wheel

didn't.

The the doubble walled rim without the spoke holes make the rim extremely strong. I have also been on the SLs and they are stiffer because of the Zicral

spokes rather than steel. But I perfer the feel of the Elites, they're still plenty stiff.


The roads here in Toronto can be very rough, but I don't worry about the wheel. Ultimately a Mavic Ksyriums wheelset seems like it would be an

overall good choice for you to go with, for both training and racing.


EDIT: I have had the wheels since late September and put only about 3000km on them. After the crash, which was in early December, I switched over to

my mountain bike, and have only ridden the road bike a half dozen times this season.

 

[Bikebro]

You can't go wrong with the Ksyriums. There is a good weight difference between the SL and Elites but they are both a wheel you can use for training and racing both on the road and for cross(just one set). As chriskaiser said the sl will stiffen up your ride more then the elites. For around $50-100 less then the SL's you can get a set of Bontrager Race X Lites or Race X Lite Aeros which are the only other wheels I would recommend. The regular X lites have a normal ride feel, hold up well(hugi hub and good rim), and are even slightly lighter then the Ksyrium SL. Velomax/Easton and Shimano aren't bad but stay away from FSA and American Classic. Don't have much experience with the new Rolf wheels or Stella's and the new DT wheels are just kinda boring.

Save up for some Zipp 404 tubulars. It makes a great race pairing with a set of Ksyriums.

 

[Silver]

Ritchey Protocol? Haven't ridden them, or know anyone who has them, but they looked pretty hanging in the shop...

 

[reflux]

Ritchey Protocol? Haven't ridden them, or know anyone who has them, but they looked pretty hanging in the shop...

Ahh, you might want to consider the parking lot test just to make sure they'll roll as nice as they look.

 

[-dustin]

DT 240s, DT RR1.1, DT Revolutions...maybe some CX Rays?

 

[Pau11y]

King hubs laced to DT R1.1s, DB 3x in the rear and radial in the front w/ bladed and allow nips on both. I have Ksyrium SSC SLs, the older ones w/o the milled out rims. They're plenty stiff, even for my 180#s running 23s (these have been rebuilt by yours truely as I've distroyed my first set of spokes w/ a thown chain). But for some reason I find climbing on a set of hand built like what I described above gives me back more (don't ask me what this means, I'm not even sure) than the SSCs. I have a pair of Omega Strata aeros laced to a set of DA hubs I'm using to compare the two and it's just my personal feeling.

 

[indieboy]

the krysiums are nice wheels for what they are worth, however i would not use them as training wheels. seen a lot of guys just rip them apart from trying to make those a "do it all wheel". they aren't, they are race wheels. it's worth it get those wheels and a set of 105's laced up to open pro's.

 

[axlvid23]

Hey Alex,

I have a pair of Ksyrium Elites '04, and they have held up great thus far. Even after getting hit by a car, they only needed VERY minor truing, and by

minor I mean that I still could have ridden the wheel and not worried about it hitting the brakes. That is if I could have ridden it. The fork died the wheel

didn't.

The the doubble walled rim without the spoke holes make the rim extremely strong. I have also been on the SLs and they are stiffer because of the Zicral

spokes rather than steel. But I perfer the feel of the Elites, they're still plenty stiff.


The roads here in Toronto can be very rough, but I don't worry about the wheel. Ultimately a Mavic Ksyriums wheelset seems like it would be an

overall good choice for you to go with, for both training and racing.


EDIT: I have had the wheels since late September and put only about 3000km on them. After the crash, which was in early December, I switched over to

my mountain bike, and have only ridden the road bike a half dozen times this season.

Wow, hopefully you came out of that without too many injuries...that's pretty gnarly.

Anyway, thanks to all for the advice...I'm pretty sold on these wheels...

And Indieboy: I'm surprised to hear that...Are we talking like huge sprinters ripping these wheels apart...or scrawny 155 lb guys like myself?
But yea...I'm definitely going to try to get something for training...at least a rear wheel, probably a good investment. but ya know, money's hard to come by these days.

Also, I'm fairly new at this road thing, would the added stiffness and decreased weight of the SL's be worth the extra couple hundred buckaroos over the elites for a mediocre cat 3 racer?

Anyway, thanks again for all the help.

Alex