Mavic overhauls Ksyrium line with wide rims, tubeless capability

This article originally appeared on BikeRadar

Some 16 years after Mavic first introduced the Kysrium as an innovative alloy wheelset, the French company has reinvigorated the name with a refreshed identity focused around endurance-style riding. Beginning in July, Mavic will have eight wheelsets and even shoes, clothing and gloves under the Ksyrium banner.

The big news within all of this is the Ksyrium Pro Allroad Disc, a go-anywhere 1,620g tubeless road disc wheelset built for 30mm tyres with 19mm internal-width rims, along with clincher and tubular versions of the Pro Carbon SL climbing wheel that also has modern, wide rims.

As the bike industry squabbles over wheel-axle standards, Mavic has hedged its bets with triple compatibility — all new wheels will come with adaptors to work with 12mm thru-axles, 15mm thru-axles and standard quick releases.

"12mm thru-axles are coming on many 2016 road disc bikes," said Mavic road product manager Maxime Brunand. "But we want our wheels to work for everyone."

As other wheels companies have jumped on the wider-is-better bandwagon, Mavic had been holding on to narrow-is-aero rim profiles. Its first and current version of the carbon clincher, the Cosmic Carbone 40 C, has a 13mm internal rim width. By comparison, Zipp, Reynolds, ENVE and others have gone 17, 19 and even 21mm in some cases.

Mavic's approach with 19mm rims for rough-road riding and 17mm rims for standard road riding has been a measured development, the company says.

The new hub has a nine-degree engagement, an improvement over the previous 17 degrees on the current Ksyrium hubs. Also, and perhaps of more interest to current Ksyrium owners, is an improved seal to protect bearings and internals from moisture and debris.

At 405g, the rim is even with or lighter than the competition, Brunand said, but can withstand more abuse, he claims.

As for the rim width, Mavic could go wider, Brunand said. "The outer width only matters for aero. What matters more is inside width," he said. "If we go over 17, the minimum tyre size is 28. And I'm not sure climbers are ready to use 28mm tyres yet."

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