mavic yksion tire vs. any other tire

[ivanooze]

-so for the longest time i've been using GP400s as my go-to tire for training, racing, etc. but after many miles, lots of unintentional skidding due to cars cutting me off as well as dodging crashes in races, and many cuts along the sidewall later... i decided to retire my tires.

-a client of mines was generous enough to give me a pair of slightly used yksion tires. I guess i can't complain about these tires since they were given to me for free, but man i've been having some serious performance issues with these guys.

-now it could just be me and my non-powerful legs, but these tires seem to slow me down quite a bit, forcing me to push the pedals harder in order to keep up with the pack.

-does anyone else have any sort of issue with these tires at all? or is it just in my head?

[Mackers]

-

[rustychisel]

Mackers, do you know for sure the manufacturers of Gen 1, 2 and 3 are as you state or is this supposition? I don't mean to be critical but this reads like an iteration of the commonly perceived wisdom.

As an aside, 'why would Mavic move from manufacturer 1 to 2 then 3?'

[Mackers]

-

[ltwtsculler91]

I too was once a GP4000 user, now running Vittoria Corsa Graphenes on my road bikes which to me are a definite upgrade in both ride and handling, especially when its wet.

I ran Mavic Griplink/Powerlink current gen earlier this spring on the new set of Ksyriums I purchased (came with the wheel) and they weren't bad. Thought they rolled and cornered decently well but some of my teammates found them prone to flats and they do wear quite a bit quicker than the Vittorias or Contis. I'd call them a "normal" tire. Didn't wow me with anything but never scared me or made me think they slowed me down.

[sales guy]

-so for the longest time i've been using GP400s as my go-to tire for training, racing, etc. but after many miles, lots of unintentional skidding due to cars cutting me off as well as dodging crashes in races, and many cuts along the sidewall later... i decided to retire my tires.

-a client of mines was generous enough to give me a pair of slightly used yksion tires. I guess i can't complain about these tires since they were given to me for free, but man i've been having some serious performance issues with these guys.

-now it could just be me and my non-powerful legs, but these tires seem to slow me down quite a bit, forcing me to push the pedals harder in order to keep up with the pack.

-does anyone else have any sort of issue with these tires at all? or is it just in my head?


A buddy of mine got these with a set of Mavic wheels. He always complained of them being slow. Like noticeably slow. I switched him to some Kenda Kountach and he's so much happier. He notices the difference. Plus the Mavic tires always ended up with feathers and that's stupid annoying.

[jemoryl]

If gen III version is the current one then I doubt it is made by Hutchinson.
My friend is using 25c clincher versions and they are made in Taiwan, not France. He is pretty happy with them, but he isn't a very picky guy when it comes to equipment.

[zap]

Clincher version I rode 3 years ago were ok in the dry but in the wet traction was poor. Couldn't hammer out of the saddle on hills, took it real easy in corners.

Conti 4k2 is a superior tire on all fronts.

[sales guy]

If gen III version is the current one then I doubt it is made by Hutchinson.
My friend is using 25c clincher versions and they are made in Taiwan, not France. He is pretty happy with them, but he isn't a very picky guy when it comes to equipment.


Hutchinson makes some in France and some in Taiwan. Very few companies make everything in one country now.

[texbike]

Wow! The timing on this is perfect. I actually installed a brand new set of Yksion Pros that I picked up earlier this year on my C50 last night. They seemed nice, light, and supple. I rode them for the first time this morning. Uggghhh. The bike felt REALLY sluggish and my average speed was down by more than 1/2 mph over 30 miles. I thought that maybe it was me, but maybe it wasn't. Perhaps it WAS the tires! :)

For a point of comparison, I usually run Michelin Pros and most recently had Hutchinson Atoms on the bike (a fantastic tire running them with tubes).

I can't see the Mavics staying on the bike for long.

Texbike

[ivanooze]

A buddy of mine got these with a set of Mavic wheels. He always complained of them being slow. Like noticeably slow. I switched him to some Kenda Kountach and he's so much happier. He notices the difference. Plus the Mavic tires always ended up with feathers and that's stupid annoying.

i think im going to refrain from using kenda tires, at least in the road bike category as i heard from a friend who's sponsored by them in mtb say they arent very good, even the kenda rep said they were sub-par. but their mtb tires are where the performance really steps in for kenda

[pdmtong]

I liked how the mavic tire decals matched the decals on my R-Sys SLR but I have to say, I am much happier riding vittoria or conti. the mavic tires were unremarkable

tire speed is not in the mind...try a specialized turbo some time...those things really roll as do the new vittoria graphene.

[ivanooze]

Wow! The timing on this is perfect. I actually installed a brand new set of Yksion Pros that I picked up earlier this year on my C50 last night. They seemed nice, light, and supple. I rode them for the first time this morning. Uggghhh. The bike felt REALLY sluggish and my average speed was down by more than 1/2 mph over 30 miles. I thought that maybe it was me, but maybe it wasn't. Perhaps it WAS the tires! :)

For a point of comparison, I usually run Michelin Pros and most recently had Hutchinson Atoms on the bike (a fantastic tire running them with tubes).

I can't see the Mavics staying on the bike for long.

Texbike

it's always nice to blame our performance on our equipment, i know i do haha. Although today i did reach a new 5 min. wattage PR, but that can be due to the fact that i have newly installed insoles that take up allot of empty space in my shoe so that i dont have any loss of wattage anywhere.

-but then something else happened today that caught me off guard. i was finishing up my sprint intervals today, and on the final one, my rear wheel hopped up causing me to lose control for about 2 seconds, luckily i regained control and continued my sprint. I've never had my rear wheel pop up that high in my life (unless of course i get crashed out in a race), could possibly be the tires, or could possibly be bad form in that particular sprint.

-yet another case, i raced the cat 3s at CBR a few weeks back, and every time i got off the saddle to put some power down, it felt like my rear tire was going to rip off the wheel, talk about getting your BPM up

[sales guy]

i think im going to refrain from using kenda tires, at least in the road bike category as i heard from a friend who's sponsored by them in mtb say they arent very good, even the kenda rep said they were sub-par. but their mtb tires are where the performance really steps in for kenda


Not sure who your Kenda Rep is, but everyone I know that rides them loves them. I used them for 2 years straight and never had an issue. I've put them on a quite a few bikes. Their mountain tires are very good tho. I prefer WTB just cause I like the tread better.

[Mikej]

I ride them on my slr ksyeriums - mainly cuz they match! I'm more of an MTB rider so they seem freakin fast vs. 22 psi 2.25 Ralph's. I ride th 25mm at 90- what psi are you running with the slow feeling?

[ivanooze]

I ride them on my slr ksyeriums - mainly cuz they match! I'm more of an MTB rider so they seem freakin fast vs. 22 psi 2.25 Ralph's. I ride th 25mm at 90- what psi are you running with the slow feeling?

i'm at 105 psi. being at 110 psi feels good for me, but since the yksions only go to 110 i decided to keep it a bit lower

[texbike]

I ride them on my slr ksyeriums - mainly cuz they match! I'm more of an MTB rider so they seem freakin fast vs. 22 psi 2.25 Ralph's. I ride th 25mm at 90- what psi are you running with the slow feeling?

i'm at 105 psi. being at 110 psi feels good for me, but since the yksions only go to 110 i decided to keep it a bit lower

Mine were inflated to 100 psi.

Texbike

[Mikej]

These are the new ones with the "tread" vs the old ones that are more slick? Installed in the proper direction?

[ivanooze]

These are the new ones with the "tread" vs the old ones that are more slick? Installed in the proper direction?

yep. i dont like how the front tire looks like it's in reverse though. the treads are pointing backwards, but the arrow on the sidewall says it's correct.

[texbike]

These are the new ones with the "tread" vs the old ones that are more slick? Installed in the proper direction?

yep. i dont like how the front tire looks like it's in reverse though. the treads are pointing backwards, but the arrow on the sidewall says it's correct.

Hmmm. Interesting. I hadn't realized that there was a directional arrow on the tires or that the tires were even specifically for use on either the front or the rear wheel. :( Somehow (by sheer luck), I managed to put the rear tire on the rear rim and the front on the front. However, I did mount the front tire backwards. To ivanooze's point, mounting it the correct way seems to have the treads pointing the wrong direction and different from the rear. Weird. I doubt very seriously that it's going to have an impact on the sluggish feel of the tires, but I'm going to reverse the front wheel and take it for a spin in the morning to see.

Thanks to you guys for pointing this out.

Texbike

[avalonracing]

I got a set of Mavic tires that came on my Ksyrium Elite wheels (their WTS combo). I rode them for a while and just thought the new wheels rode a bit hard. Once put Contis GPs on the wheels I realized the Mavic tires just rode like bricks.

[ivanooze]

i suppose in the end, the lack of speed that these tires possess will work to my advantage as i have to push harder to keep up, so when race day comes and i slap on my vittoria open corsas (one of the fastest tires in existence apparently) i'll be flying through the field.

-as for the subject on being prone to cuts, i luckily have not had that issue with these tires. They seem to be holding up fine in terms of durability. I believe i've put a good 400 miles on them and do not have any durability issues with them.

-However, i have been having an issue with the tires being able to hold in air, not sure if that's the tire's fault or the innertube, but when i was riding my 4000s i would typically need to inflate my tires up maybe once every 1.5-2 weeks or so, whereas with the yksions i would have to inflate every other day.