First Ride: Mavic Carbon Pro SL Tubular and Clincher Wheels
On day two of our Mavic press camp, we had a chance to add more miles of Wyoming scenery, with a 100k road ride on paved bike paths and roads from Jackson Lake to Jackson Hole.
Mavic’s new Ksyrium Pro Carbon SL road wheels on our Trek Madone 6 test bike. © Cyclocross Magazine
We’ll be the first to admit that one day’s road ride is not sufficient for a full Cyclocross Magazine wheel test to form a verdict on a wheelset, especially when constrained to pavement and a brand-new 25c tire I haven’t ridden before. However, I did form a few early impressions.
First, both the Mavic Ksyrium Carbon Pro SL tubular and clincher versions spin up quickly compared to heavier wheelsets, especially stock OEM wheelset that come on new bikes. The 1190g for tubular set noticeably turned an already-light Trek Madone 6 into a svelte hill-climbing machine that begged to be taken to heights higher than these cyclocross-trained legs are used to.
Mavic’s new Ksyrium Pro Carbon SL road line features carbon rims and steel bladed spokes, not the Zircal alloy ones. The result is a noticeably comfortable ride compared to the company’s R-SYS wheels. © Cyclocross Magazine
Second, the ride of the Ksyrium Carbon Pro SL wheels feels remarkably different from Mavic’s wheels built with other spoke materials. The wheels feel dramatically different from the carbon-spoked R-Sys models, and both high frequency vibration and big potholes are less jarring. Even compared to the alloy Zircal-spoked Ksyrium models (based on memory), the steel spoked Carbon Pro SL wheels feel like they have a bit more give. Will they turn your local country road into perfect pavement? No. A better description for the feeling is a few less psi in your tire, or a bit more suppleness in your tire’s casing.
