Gear: Mavic Cosmos Road Wheelset

By Vernon Felton

Price: $150 (front), $170 (rear)
(800) 548-2945
www.mavic.com

When it comes to a pound for pound improvement, a fine set of wheels is arguably the best upgrade you can buy for your bike. Quicker acceleration, snappier climbing.blah, blah, blah.

You've probably heard all this a hundred times before, huh? Lord knows, it feels like I've written it for a magazine a hundred times over. Well, there's good reason: it's true. A new set of hoops doesn't exactly equal a new bike, but it can pump some life into your machine's tired carcass. The downside to all the cheery improvement-talk is that new wheels cost a ton of cash. You can easily blow a grand on a set of top of the line wheels. I've outfitted my car with new mags for less. There's something really wrong about that...

Why, then, review a mid-range roadie wheelset when there are fancy ulta-chic wheels like the Ksyriums to talk about? Well, I figured some of you folks could actually buy the Cosmos wheelset without sparking a divorce or failing to make next month's rent. The Cosmos are also an incredibly practical wheelset...but I'll dive into that later.

The Cosmos are a straight-forward wheelset. They're composed of a double wall, box-section rim mated to a Mavic hubset with steel, double-butted straight-pull spokes (24 up front and 28 in the rear). The rims feature Mavic's SUP design-which means that Mavic arc welds the rim together and then mills the seam with a digitally controlled machine so that the joint is virtually invisible. The benefit is smooth braking-you don't feel any shuddering when the brake pads run over the joint in the sidewall. Milling the rim's sidewalls (Mavic and other manufacturers contend) also creates a better braking surface (the grooved surface is said to provide greater friction between the rim and the brake pads). The Mavic hubs features sealed cartridge bearings which can be easily replaced when it comes time for an overhaul. Total weight is 1800 grams-a decent weight given the price.

Downsides? Well, if you already have a lightweight set of wheels and you're looking for a big improvement in performance, the Cosmos aren't likely to inspire a stiffie. On the other hand, they're a great mid-range replacement wheelset. I've mercilessly flogged this set for two seasons and have yet to brake a spoke. The bearings have also held up to their fair share of North Coast rain storms.

The Cosmos are equipped with straight-pull spokes and cartridge bearing hubs.

Straight-pull spokes? Yup, like many Mavic wheelsets, the Cosmos sports 'em. I've found that Mavic's straight pull spokes hold up well over time. Still, they are a bit of a pain to replace when they do go bad-not rocket science mind you, but a bit harder to find than the conventional J-bend spoke. Personally, I'd love to see more J-bend spokes spec'd on prebuilt wheels--just for convenience sake--but I'm guessing that'll happen right about the time integrated headsets disappear. Sadly, I don't think either will happen in my lifeime.

On the other hand, I'm a huge fan of the box rim-no more rooting about the local bike shop in search of tubes with extra long presta valve stems. A great set of wheels for the price. In fact, I'm always amazed that the Cosmos haven't caught on. I guess everyone wants a low-spoke count, deep-section rim these days. Silly bastards. I'm guessing such folks don't build and maintain their own wheelsets.

Reader Comments

Posted Wed Jul29, 2009, 3:24 PM — By Jose Espinoza

I run over this wheels over my training now and they are juts amazing hoops! stiff and smooth rolling, suit perfect for long rides (130kms plus)and the weight isn't a penalty at all! Nice to save some money on training wheels. It's a shame that Mavic replace this with the horrible askium hoops! be shame Mavic!