As I poured through the gear selections getting ready for Ironman Florida, wheels were a main consideration.  Clincher or tubular?  How deep is deep enough?  Disc or traditional?  Ultimately, I focused on ease of changing a flat (which just translates to piece of mind), durability and aerodynamic performance.

I would really rather have tubular wheels and tires for the ride quality and weight savings.  However, it is just a pain to carry a spare tire and deal with changing it in the event of a flat.   I’d put Tufo sealant in the tires of course, but what if I had more than one flat?  Will I carry more than one tire?  I can carry three tubes and three CO2 cartridges in the space of one tubular tire.  I can be back on the bike after a flat with clinchers in just a couple of minutes.  I’m pretty good at changing tubular tires but it takes nearly that long to wad up the spent tire and lash it back the bike.  In addition, Vittoria’s Open Corsa CX clincher tire even in a 700x20 offers a fabulous ride quality in a light and aero package.

I also wanted a durable wheel to guard against some sort of race ending pothole or being run off the road whilst in the mass of humanity that is Ironman. I also plan to use the wheels on my road racing bike and road racing is much harder on wheels than triathlon.

Obviously, I wanted aerodynamic performance as well.  Florida’s course is known for being windy so I don’t want to go too deep for fear of cross winds.  That line of thinking rules out the disk.  Moreover, I think a 50mm deep rim is just about as aero as deeper wheels and discs and is less susceptible to cross winds. More importantly, 50mm deep wheels make excellent road racing wheels.

With all that in mind, I chose the Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL Premium wheel set.  Another benefit of the 51mm rim depth is that I can use a 60mm valve length tube without the need for valve extenders - a big time saver in the event of a flat.  I chose the Premium vs. the SL mainly because of the understated silver lettering.  I think the look is very classy, forgoing the Euro-Pro, yellow sticker overload.  An extra benefit is that the Premium is a few grams lighter due to the titanium axles and skewers.

These wheels are very stiff and transfer power as good as anything I’ve ridden.  They are reminiscent of Mavic’s venerable Ksyrium SL as far as stiffness and handling are concerned.  The Carbones accelerate faster and climb better than their 1755 gram listed weight would suggest especially at speed.  I think that is due to their excellent efficiency in transferring power to the road.  So, while the total weight may be more than some other well known clincher aero wheels, I believe the weight is placed where it needs to be to enhance ride quality, durability and handling.  In short, these wheels feel strong and fast.

I also think the Carbone SL Premium wheels are reasonably priced given the market they compete in.  Throw in the fact that they are the most race proven aero wheel in the pro cycling peleton and you’ve got a great value in wheels that can last more than a few seasons.

Another feature unique to Mavic is its MP3 Program (Mavic Product Protection Plan) which will pay for crash damage that happens during the first two years of ownership.  MP3 is available on all Mavic wheels at the time of purchase for an extra charge of only 8% of the MSRP of the wheel set.  Additionally, if you are buying a new bike that has Mavic wheels you can purchase MP3 at the time you buy the bike.  In the case of the Carbone SL Premium wheels, $120 buys you two years of worry free racing and training.  In other words, they are durable enough to use every day anyway, but throw in MP3 and there is no reason not to enjoy these extremely cool wheels on every ride.

Mark