Santoki i think you should post up some photos.. so its easier for Zack to discuss with the Mavic team.

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THIS IS A FASHION STATEMENT !

I know it is not the best picture, but I rode my SLR's a fair amount in some bad weather here in Boulder, CO. Here is a photo after a very raining ride, with several dirty roads, that ended with a 5 mile decent. Had a few rides on them in the hills about town in bad rain, where dirt roads were required and the wheels/bike got pretty dirty. My break surfaces look fine after 5 months of racing and I am satisfied with how they have held up. Also they are the best braking rims I have ever ridden (with DA 7900 brakes and Mavic pads), period, end of story.

http://twitpic.com/6pki7v

Well i opened this thread coming off of getting a chance to try out a pair of Ksyrium SLR wheels at Interbike and i was super impressed. After that ride i stopped by the mavic tent and spoke to a couple of the dudes there, one of them about the wheels. I had the same suggestion - make a Reflex available in exalith. And you know what, the rep said he wanted the same thing! but he was fairly pessimistic about the chances of it happening. I came into one corner a bit hot with the pads improperly toed and the squeal was so fun, it's like the chris king 'angry bees' kind of unique wheel noise. One of the mavic guys happened to be right there in front of me and made sure i heard him say the noise works out with time, and the major squeal isn't present when properly toed. I definitely love the responsiveness of the brake track, it gave me a little boost of confidence, like riding hydraulic disc brakes for the first time.

my first hand impression when compared with CD is that they should be a bunch more durable, but really only time will tell if it's better than the higher friction ceramic.

for winter and or cross they should at least be on the shortlist in terms of braking confidence, best so far.

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it's actually possible to come to the conclusion even before realising it makes no sense at all
-
tymon_tm

close ups of braking tracks (cc slr 2011)

there's a slight 'ring' around the track, it doesn't seem to have penetrated the coating, so maybe it's just the ground up remains of whatever was stuck to the pad, the other three tracks have only the green tinge from the pads

these are just over 5 months old, mostly dry rides, but a few wet too, one trip into some volcanic ash, and a nasty moment in a tyre-width crack running along the road (ruined the tyre, didn't scratch the rims)

Zack, any news on the wear?

Sounds like accelerated wear due to weather/water, perhaps riding conditions. Have not seen a photo so can't say for sure, but certainly the wheels should be brought to a Mavic dealer for warranty consideration. No guarantees, but the shop can contact warranty center and find out some options. Might be able to get the rims replaced.

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USA Communications Guy
Mavic, Inc.
http://www.mavic.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavic

@Zack: thanks for the prompt reply!

Some nice information here -definately has helped reassure me that buying an exalith wheelset is nice choice!

Thanks for all the information. Like most of you, interested to see how the surface performs as the months/years pile up.

So I've been riding Ksyrium SLRs on My Baum, and I've got mixed feelings:

On one hand, they look great, and are really strong. Once I filed down the back
of the pads a bit, and after around 1500k, they worked great, and had that sexy
'psssss' braking sound. One particular rainy December Monday, they astounded me.
braking was great and quiet for a good 3 hour rain ride. They also look cool.

On the other hand, they haven't stayed quiet. Sometimes they are, sometimes
they scream like a hell-banshee for all the city to hear. Not cool.
Also, why the green pads? All it does is leave a weird green residue that's kindof
annoying. Seems to me, if you had black pads, you wouldn't notice it.
Also, just found these today:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/403/46090167.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/836/58663104.jpg/

yup. big uns too. the pads don't have anything in em either.

Not too stoked about this. Hey Mavic-Guy, any advice?

Did you toe-in the pads? Mine are set up with a credit card's width toe-in. I've put about 2500 miles on them so far. They don't squeal and the rim is still black with no signs of wear. I am very happy with mine!

Without more information regarding those photos, I couldn't say why the Exalith coating has worn through. We've certainly seen accelerated wear due to road grit, frequent rain rides, using them in cyclocross, that type of thing. In this case, I'd suggest that the owner of the wheels visit a Mavic dealer and have them call the MSC tech center. Who knows, it might be called "warranty" and get replacement rims. For sure, we want to know what the usage was to determine what might have caused this kind of wear.

As to the brake squeal, yes it can come and go. I get it too, sometimes. Pad wear is sometimes to blame. When new, the pads have a pattern carved into the surface. The pattern/shape helps diffuse/absorb vibration. As the pad wears down to 50%, 40%, 30%, it gets flatter and flatter. So the shape is gone and that flat pad surface can howl.

Another thing to check is pad glaze. Sometimes the pads get a shiny glaze on the braking surface. a little sandpaper to clear the surface glaze and rough it up can help.

As to the green, sorry I don't know what to say. I guess Mavic wanted some visual differentiation to call out Exalith pads. I have heard of people using black DuraAce pads but I don't know what results they had. Probably accelerated pad wear but who knows? Maybe it works OK, doesn't squeal, and isn't green. Mavic wouldn't encourage it, but you could give it a try, it won't hurt the rims.

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USA Communications Guy
Mavic, Inc.
http://www.mavic.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavic

I might have missed it, but do you spec a specific pad or pad type ? Does dry or, wet matter in pad selection?

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charles@pezcyclingnews.com

Fortunately, I am a Mavic Dealer, so will certainly talk to my rep (although will certainly stick to the mavic pads, so that they can't blame the use of non-Mavic pads!)! Also, it must be said that the Yksion f & r specific tires are amazing. Great performance and handling, no cuts or wear (even though they are baldies). Good job on that front. Will let you people know what happens with Mavic.

sounds good, thanks for keeping us posted.

Hi Pez - yes the wheels come with specific brake pads. They're made for Mavic by Swissstop. The compound is mostly the same as Swissstop Green. BUT the channels and cutouts on the pad surface are proprietary. So, you could run Swiss green in terms of compound but you'll get better results from the Mavic pads. As I said earlier, the shape of the channels and cutouts helps absorb vibration and minimize noise.

The green Mavic Exalith brake pads are good in all conditions, all weather. And, they work just fine on standard aluminum. BUT DO NOT USE THEM ON CARBON! They're harder than standard pads and will wear through carbon sidewalls in no time!

best - z

_________________
USA Communications Guy
Mavic, Inc.
http://www.mavic.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavic

Well, just got back from the 3rd or so rain ride.
The area has grown by a few inches-yikes!
If I buy a wheel set that allegedly has excellent
braking, I want to have excellent braking at 6
am in December rain! If ever!

Got the RA# from the warranty guy today- hopefully
it is a quick and painless process!