# King vs Mavic Ksyrium SL's for CX - Help!



## BLUEDART (Jan 31, 2005)

How is the engagment on the Mavics? For my CX bike (with Aksiums now), I am torn in between a sturdy/lightweight set of Kings built up (Open Pros, 1.1's etc) or the Ksyriums.

I have three other set of Kings, and just wondering if you can feel the "lag time" in the Mavics when starting your pedal stroke, similar to the Aksiums. Do they share the same hub design, yet use lighter materials?

And would the Ksyrium's hold up as well as a King set expained above?

Any and all ideas would be great!


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## g-Bike (Jan 25, 2006)

The Ksyriums would spin up faster for less rim weight and are quite stiff. I have a set of tubular sl's and love them. As far as engagement all mavics suffer a hesitation sometimes on engagement. The trick is to keep pedaling. The Kings as far as engagement from what I have heard are the best and super nice. By the looks of your bike these will not be your last set of wheels either way that you chose to just pick one and try it. The nice thing about the Mavics is that you do not have to wait for them to be built, though Kings are a Nice USA Product. Good Luck with making your decision.


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## Jawn P (Nov 14, 2008)

Get the King hubs. Some nice handbuilts with reasonable rims and spokes can come in at a similar weight to the Ksyrium SL's.

Mavics have had some past issues with the freehub body being crappy, and aren't the smoothest riding wheels out there.


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## myette10 (Jul 20, 2003)

I have 4 sets of ksyriums for cross because they have stood up to abuse that my first few set of wheels didn't. I used to race open pros but two minor accidents ruined them. I inherited some clincher ksyriums and shortly there after stacked it up BIG TIME only to find the wheels perfectly true afterwards. I've been collecting ksyriums since then and have had many, many, MANY potentially wheel destroying incidents with no apparent damage done. Most recently I got a course stake jammed in my rear wheel while moving along at top speed. The wheel locked up, I skidded to a stop and pulled the stake out. Two spokes were bent badly, but the wheel is still true and round. I've raced them 6 times since and they are still straight... I'll fix the spokes at the end of the year.


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## velocb (Oct 12, 2007)

Kings are sexy, Ksyriums are fast! And that is really all cross is about going faster and making up those precious seconds that separate top 10 and top 20...get the Ksyriums

I second what Matt said they are bomber, stiff and work fantastic for cross. I am going to start stockpiling asap...


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## Corndog (Jan 18, 2006)

Get the Kings!


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## lousylegs (Jul 15, 2005)

Get the Kings, 32 3x with a nice tubular rim, and some tubies and you should be good to go...wish I had that set up.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

Ksyrium tubulars are the way to go.... 

Stiff, light and nice...

you can get a good set for under $500, and they last forever...

These Ksyriums started their lives as a clincher set on my 03 road bike.

In '08, 5 years later I retired them and changed to a set of Ksyrium ES

I bought a new set of tubular rims on ebay for $60.- from some guy who didn't like tubulars and replaced them by clinchers on his new set. New, never ridden, no bidders, only me 

I set them on the old K's myself, did a maintenance on the hubs and here they are.... ready for 5 more years of punishment on the cross bike....










BTW the old rims still have meat on them... I could sell them on ebay for $60 perhaps ?


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## vortechcoupe (Jun 6, 2006)

i say kings...nice cross posting by the way.


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## carlhulit (Nov 5, 2005)

kings with tubular rims will be lighter and ride nicer than the ksriums and are much easier to fix, or you get cheaper hubs to save money and buy 2 sets or some nice tires, cheap wheels and expensive tires is the way to go fro cross


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

Get the Kings, with a tubby rim. 
Ksyriums have a poor degree of engagement, would be heavier, and the FHB on them is very prone to lag when contaminated leading to drag and chain suck. And they contaminate very easily.
If you never race/ride in mud, you'll be fine with the mavics. But the Kings would be a better choice.


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## wunlap togo (Oct 1, 2004)

Ksyrium tubulars. The freehub is super easy to service and keep adjusted, and these suckers are bombproof. The "lag time' as the pawls engage is a non-issue, you definitely won't notice it when you're going hard. I raced a set for several years and sold them to a teammate who's still getting plenty of use from them and they're going strong. The best part about them- they're really really stiff. There is no reason to get anything but the very stiffest wheel possible for cyclocross when you have a big tire at low pressure.

I love Chris king, I love the headsets, it's a great company... but the hubs tend to require a fair amount of fiddling to keep them adjusted, in my experience. Traditional rims/spokes are fine, but I love the rim shape of the mavic's for gluing and the job is quick with no spoke holes.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

wunlap togo said:


> Ksyrium tubulars. The freehub is super easy to service and keep adjusted, and these suckers are bombproof. The "lag time' as the pawls engage is a non-issue, you definitely won't notice it when you're going hard. I raced a set for several years and sold them to a teammate who's still getting plenty of use from them and they're going strong. The best part about them- they're really really stiff. There is no reason to get anything but the very stiffest wheel possible for cyclocross when you have a big tire at low pressure.
> 
> I love Chris king, I love the headsets, it's a great company... but the hubs tend to require a fair amount of fiddling to keep them adjusted, in my experience. Traditional rims/spokes are fine,* but I love the rim shape of the mavic's for gluing and the job is quick with no spoke holes*.


+1, the bead is nice and round and the tubie set in easier.


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