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Rusting Mavic Krysium Elite 25c - NO Warranty honored by Mavic at 10 months old.

19K views 53 replies 27 participants last post by  Lombard 
#1 ·
Major concern and warning - New Mavic Elite wheels rusting.


According to Mavic – HQ France . They will not warranty. Unofficially for bike shops and friends with wheels, the problem is huge , across all the steel spoke painted range. ( Elite , Cosmic)


I purchase a new set of Mavic Krysium Elite 25c wheels July 2015 for reliability to chase the 2015 Le tour de France race From the Netherlands to the alps then on to Switzerland , ending in Italy. It’s a long way to carry a bike with a broken spoke or two from top of a Swiss alp.


ALL pokes are rusting. I'm completely gutted. The exact same problem occur a few years back with exact same model (current model Elite S 23c) set which I had a front wheel replaced under 24 month warranty due to rusty spokes. The rear was fine . I believe it’s down to poor manufacturing issues (steel left exposed before painting). I have friends riding Mavic’s and they too complaint wheels are rusting within 12 months. Sadly It’s the Black metal spokes.




To - MAVIC your wheels are the best , I won't ride anything else (owned and sold off Dura Ace - bearing need constant replacing - repacking. Fulcrum - allmost killed me - out of balance wobble @ 80kmh) but what coming out of China or Taiwan and this case Romania are shite. Rusted in last 4 years , 2x sets of Mavic Krysium Elite 23c, My carbon Cosmic SL’s (only pulled out of the bag 15 times over 3 years) and now my new Krysium Elite 25c’s purchased June 2015.. That’s $5000 invested / 3.5 years in wheels that ALL have rust on spokes (except for a rear wheel on first elite set ). My old elites used to be Aluminium back in 2003-8?

I'm completely gutted Text Font Tints and shades Publication Material property
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#2 ·
Lmao... Mavic wheels are the best? Have you not read your own post?
 
#5 ·
Actually...Mavic is not french anymore really. They were bought out Saloman then by Adidas and finally by Amer Sports (same people that now own ENVE).
 
#4 ·
Name calling- doesn’t reflect well for u. Ridden 16,000Km across Europe alone on a carbon racing bike and credit card. The wheels I trust the most for reliability and descending at 70 -100Km descents and are Mavic. A New Durance set freewheel body set packed up while crossing Span once. Breaking spokes on a front wheel can be show stopper. The quality of spokes finish are the issue here - doesn’t affect reliability. Might want to engage brain next time.. posting one liners that mean little :(
 
#9 · (Edited)
Mavic rims tend to be durable, but durability isn't everything. For slightly less money you can get better wheels, namely a set like the November Nimbus Ti with Pacenti SL23 rims. This particular set has easily available parts which are also cheaper if needed. Even with a 28/32 spoke count it's still lighter than the Ksyriums in their 18/20 spoke count. Plus, I haven't heard about a rampant problem with Sapim Lasers rusting.
 
#10 ·
I think it's weird that you'd only ride what are arguable totally crap wheels. I wouldn't ride Mavic unless they were given to me for free.

Your entire post/mindset is really strange. What is the actual point here? You have cheap wheels that rust but you won't ride anything else? Why are you complaining about it if you're going to refuse to actually do anything about it?

It's nonsensical.
 
#11 ·
The funniest part is he has cheap wheels that arguably aren't that great...with rusting spokes...and has a warranty not worth the paper it is written on...but somehow "MAVIC your wheels are the best , I won't ride anything else"

I guess their wheels are the best....aside from the crappy rusting spokes, and the total lack of warranty...and the unaerodynamic heavy hoops that are impossible to source replacements for in a timely manner or at all for a reasonable price. But their wheels are still the best.


Either the OP lives by the Dead Sea....or has neighbors who like to pee on his bikes he leaves outside....or both.
 
#13 ·
I paid $350 for the set of Cosmic Elites on my bike.

A quick google search shows them priced, on the high end, at $599 (much lower options abound).

November Nimbus Ti - $645.

I know RBR has a hard-on for November wheels, and that's cool, but in my experience I have nothing bad to say about Mavics.
 
#14 ·
OTOH...your Mavics weigh 1/2 pound more+. Also you will cringe if you ever have to replace a rim or spokes at how long it takes and how much it costs. You'll also find out what the warranty is actually worth if you ever call in on it.

Did I mention the Novembers were a 1/2 pound+ lighter (1770grams versus 1490grams), and have cheaper easily sourced parts?
 
#17 · (Edited)
Rust shouldn't impact the performance the oxidation looks minor to me. Looks like you ride in the rain and don't dry your bike to me. I have Mavic's on two bikes. They're not bad wheels. The ones on my Trek are solid, but I switched to Dura Ace because they didn't excite me on the road the way the C-24's do which incidentally cost more and have stainless steel spokes. I have another pair of Mavic wheels on my Firefly that are set up for thru-axle disc I have no complaints here at all, but no comparison with say a high end Enve wheel.

Mavic wheels aren't my favorite. If it weren't for the cost I'd probably have Enve's on my gravel bike and only have Mavic's on my Trek because I already had them otherwise the Trek would probably have RS81's. But I do think Mavic's get trashed on more than they deserve. Lots of people ride them and are happy. The Mavic's on my Firefly are 1/3 the price of the Enve's I was looking at and I highly doubt the Enve's are three times the wheel.
 
#18 ·
Bicycle frame Bicycle tire Tire Wheel Bicycle wheel rim


Same wheels as Arai has on his Willier... Somewhere close to 5K on them and no issues. They are as heavy as boat anchors but I've done terrible things to them in the stuff I've run over and they have never complained, not even a peep. No rust at all and I'll occasionally rain ride them.
 
#19 ·
I've had four sets of Mavics. This happened to the rear wheel on one of them:


Two of the rear wheels have had the infamous Mavic screech due to some issue with the hub. One of these was on my beater bike so it was subject to frequent wet conditions but the other one never saw any wetness. Once it reaches a fairly high speed, a sudden screech will come from the rear wheel.

I had the free hub replaced on one of them which helped for a while but I finally gave up when it returned again and ditched the wheel with about 8000 miles on it. The other one has had its hub lubed twice now which temporarily solves the screech problem.

Having said that, I do love the durability of Mavics as far as their staying true despite hitting some pretty rough roads. Given the three major issues I've had, I don't see myself buying them again. Two of the three bikes I own came with Mavics.
 
#21 ·
Rusting spokes?? Yikes! Regardless of the perception of the OP, his/her post, or whether his/her wheels reside in a pond or other body of water, this scenario is inexcusable.

The three most well known makers of spokes, DT Swiss, Sapim and Wheelsmith all make only stainless steel spokes. For the life of me, I cannot understand why Mavic would need to save money by using carbon steel spokes on a supposedly high-end wheelset like that. Another -1 for Mavic.
 
#23 ·
Even stainless steel can rust. Depends on the blend.

Read kitchen knife reviews, all the "dishwasher safe" stainless steel sets get dinged for rust spots....because stainless can rust, it just takes a bit more work to rust.
 
#24 ·
nevertheless, they make some great products for decent prices. Really really good wheels. love how stiff and true they stay.
There are a lot of really good wheels out there that have these same characteristics (bomb proof,durable, stay true, etc...) that don't have all of the other issues (randomly squealing rear hub, rusty spokes, poor serviceability and support).
 
#25 · (Edited)
I have a set of wheels like that. GP4, DT, with Record hubs from the mid 80s. Feel exactly like they did when they were new. Which is to say, they are woeful compared to even a set of Mavic's lowly Aksium

though they will go up a mountain, and not rust. But heck some wheels on a $500 bike will do that

however my next bike I am going to try some Fulcrum wheels (wife bought some pricey carbon wheels, so I am getting the hand me downs)
 
#34 ·
Mavic wheels may be doodie, but I have been beating on Fulcrum (Racing 3.5 and Quattro) wheels @ 100kg's for two years now. Bomb proof and stupid cheap when purchased on eBay as new bike takeoffs. My Mavic shoes are pretty comfy and have a dead flat 5.5mm sole stack height which I like.

Your neath death "out of balance" speed wobble experience may have been a weight distribution issue and not caused by the wheels themselves. High speed wobbles do happen, keep a very loose and light grip and touch top tube with body part to simmer down the oscillations.

Why you would buy more Mavic wheels after the first rusted is beyond me. If bought them all at the same time, and each wheel was manufactured in a different country, and they ALL rusted while in your possession...that would mean some sort of environmental factor on your end, no?
 
#35 ·
I think he got the latest Mavic wheels on warranty replacement for the first set of rusted ones?

nevertheless, this is an informative thread. Till now I was a fan of Mavics, with good luck using them. But I have had a little trouble with the freehub on one wheel. I am trying a set of Fulcrum next. Coincidentally they are take-offs from a new bike.
 
#50 ·
Did these really have aluminum spokes? Aluminum is brittle and I wouldn't think it would have the strength of standard stainless steel spokes. Not to mention that aluminum oxidizes, especially if exposed to salt spray.

But I wouldn't put it past Mavic to make wheels with Al spokes for the gram counters.
 
#51 ·
Did these really have aluminum spokes? Aluminum is brittle and I wouldn't think it would have the strength of standard stainless steel spokes. Not to mention that aluminum oxidizes, especially if exposed to salt spray.

But I wouldn't put it past Mavic to make wheels with Al spokes for the gram counters.
Mavic does/did it. Campagnolo/Fulcrum did/does it.
 
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