MAVIC - why their new rims are rubbish, wheel building skills non-existent and why you shouldn't buy from them

[ergott]

Veloflex tires are notoriously tight when new. They break in and loosen up over time.

Still no excuse for this rim. There is no aspect of the new Mavic Open Pro that's appealing. It's too light (for its dimensions) and has too low max tension. We are currenlty in a market where there's a sea of better rims out there in every way. You couldn't pay me to work with this rim based on the experiences of other wheel builders I know and hold in high regard.

Pass.

[kzy090]

I had a ksyrium rim making a cluncking sound on bumps.
Took it to my LBS, and it seemed like the welding was coming apart.
I had it exchanged with warranty with no problem!

[bm0p700f]

The things every op rim I have built with has been fine. Tyre fitting is a bit tight with some clincher tyres but 5th is is always the case with some rim tyre combos. They seem to hold tension well without cracking.

There is not a see of better rims though. Apart from Kinlin, there is hed belgium+, Pacenti Forza, Velocity quill which is a bit too wide internally, and the Easton rim. Dt Swiss rims have become something avoid for me for the same reason ergot think the Mavic rim is trash. We all have different experiences but from this guy in Suffolk the Open Pro is a good egg.

[c60rider]

damn......have a stock of Veloflex 25 mm open tubulars (my favourite ever) ready to be mounted on Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST 2018 19c internal width wheels (rear wheel only to be honest, I will stay tubeless with the front wheel) when found this c60rider thread (and have to say plenty of other people bad experience to fit any other tyre than MAVIC Yksion Pro UST...)
@c60rider how the story ended? Can you say your have been just exceptional? For sure I will try to fit the tyre without lever (usually I never need, I would need to remove)
Regards

Sorry for the slow reply on this one. The slight issue with this thread I raised is that many people never read it correctly. I never used a tyre lever (and never have in my life) to get a tyre onto a rim. Many responses early on seemed to think this is what I did and how the failure occurred. The rear (which was the faulty one) and the front could not have been more different with the difficulty and ease respectively of installing. The issue came when removing the tyre it just folded over like butter melting. It was clearly a fault with the rim, which can happen. I totally accept that. And that seemed to upset some on here who didn't seem to accept that manufacturing faults can happen. Of course Mavic would never admit to a manufacturing fault directly and the simple response that too much force was used is always correct. In this case the rim required a tiny amount of load from the tyre lever to fail. A non-faulty rim (as has been the case with the front and the replacement rear) has not failed. My big issue with Mavic was the awful state they returned the wheel as if to think it was even safe. I think one of their chimps had built it. The new rim tyre fitment was very similar and as easy as the front so I think it was just a faulty rim but it would certainly make me concerned of their quality control. The wheels have been ridden only a few times as it was for an old/modern steel refurb that I did and they've performed really well. Would I buy the same rims again? Definitely not as I don't feel I can trust Mavic's quality control. It seems a lot of others feel the same with Mavic, for whatever reason, reading the recent news that their sales figures are going down and the parent company is looking to get rid of them and Enve.

[mpulsiv]

btw: just put veloflex master on my rsys clincher (btw i am very happy with those since 5 years!) no chance without levers!

Yes, it’s because open tubular tires don’t have overly stiff reinforced sidewall. From my experience, it’s always a pleasure to mount Veloflex, no matter which rims they go on.