First impressions: Topolino vs Ksyriums

[shazer]

Got to ride my new Topolinos for the first time this weekend that Santa brought me and wanted to pass along my first thoughts for what it's worth. Rode with my wife on an easy New Years day ride. Switched wheels at halfway point with her. General concensus from both of us:

Topolinos: Quicker acceleration due to lighter wheel weight.
Smoother ride, not as harsh as Ksyriums.
Less wind noise due to ovalized spokes.
Big time cool/wow factor on my harlequin Ottrott and
my wife's Litespeed. (everyone noticed)

Ksyriums: Comfortable because I've been riding them for the last
year.
Crosswinds seem to cause a little more noise and
steering issues, but not appreciable or a reason not to
ride or buy.
Relatively bomb proof. Have ridden over some nasty
gravel and rocks without going out of true.

I like both sets of wheels, it will remain to be seen how the the Topolinos hold up with my size.

Big Mistake: Had a real hard time getting the Topolinos back from my wife and now she wants a pair of her own!

shazer

[Climb01742]

shazer, how do they compare on price? and were you running same kind of tires?

[gwk]

Tell us about the freehub. Is it really noisy like some have posted before? Thanks. George

[shazer]

I found that the rear hub on mine is quieter than the Ksyriums, but I've found in my experience that freewheel noise is different from one set to another. For example, there are three sets of Ksyrium SSC's in our group and I can tell who is behind me by the freehub sound. (Yes, everyone loves to suck my wheel because evidently there is a big vacuum there!)

My wife found these wheels at Colorado Cyclist and the price was nearly the same as Ksyriums. No LBSs carry these wheels out here in the west. Maybe that will change in time. My LBS sure wants to see mine because they haven't seen any yet. When I contacted Topolino two months ago, they knew of only one other rider in town that had a pair in the metro area of 1M here.

Some well read cyclists in our group are a little afraid of the Topolinos because of the Spinergy problems of the past. I'll certainly keep everyone informed here if I have any adverse experiences.

When I rode behind my wife, the gold kevlar of the spokes really looks sharp! Reminds me when we used to put playing cards on the rear chainstays when we were kids! We were sure the hit of the group. What fun!

shazer

[shazer]

Oh yeah, forgot to answer the tire question. Both sets of wheels have the new Conti's sold in pairs on them. (can't remember what they call them right now) The Ksyriums have over 2500 miles on them and still have quite a lot of tread on them. Pressures were the same from what my old Silca floor pump was showing anyway. Hope that helps.

shazer

[Jay Torborg]

My Topolinos are also relatively quiet. I can't compare them to Ksyriums, but they are slightly quieter than my campy eurus wheels and substantially quieter than my zipp 303 wheels.

- Jay

[Kevin]

You have to love those Topolinos. They are a great set of wheels. I too own the Topolinos and the Ksyrium ssls. In my opinion the Topolinos are better than the Ksyrium ssls. I have set forth below my observations of both sets of wheels.

I tried Ksyrium SSLs but they were too stiff and seemed to spin slowly. I then purchased the Topolinos which seemed to ride better and spin faster. The Topolinos are extremely light, about 1380 grams. The only two downsides to the Topolinos is that the rear hub is a little loud, though mine has become quieter with age, and you can not inflate the tires above 120 psi or they tend to flat.

In the last year or so I have performed comparisons of the two sets of wheels to try and quantify my subjective feelings about the wheels.

Speed Tests

With the bike on a stand I spun the wheels and timed them. The spin time on the Ksyriums was less than half the spin time on the Topolinos. I also rode the same course dozens of times, with a heart rate monitor to ensure that I was working as hard for all wheels. After 6 months of daily logs my rides with the Topolinos were nearly 3/4 of a mph faster than the Ksyriums.

Comfort

The comfort of the ride on the Topolinos is hard to explain to someone who has not ridden on them. The combination of the Topolinos kevlar/carbon spokes with the my Ottrott ST's carbon/ti frame results in a magic carpet ride with virtually no road vibration. I can ride a double century and have no fatigue or numbness whatsoever. This was not the case when I rode the Ksyriums on my Vortex.

Durability

As far as people speculating on their durability, I have 5,000 miles on mine and not a single problem. They have never even come out of tru. They have been ridden through a New York winter without incident. I have even ridden them through all 5 boroughs of NYC. If a NYC pothole is not going to break them, I don't know what will.

For anyone out there, buy the Topolinos. You will love them.

Kevin

[shazer]

At my age now, I'm looking for a more comfortable ride so I can stay in the saddle longer, which is why I also have an Ottrott ST. Maybe I'm getting soft (or more wise), but I don't ever want to ride a bike again like those old Cannondales rode twenty years ago. Leave the bone jarring, teeth rattling riding to those much younger than myself! I have too many other duties and responsibilities to nurse my aching body all afternoon after a 60-70 mile ride now. I still remember those days and as far as I'm concerned, they're over!

shazer

[Kevin]

Shazer,

I could not agree more. The Topolinos are extremely comfortable. The Ksyrium ssls made my gray hair ache.

Kevin

[kenth]

I guess I'm a little concerned about maintenance. The Mavics have a reputation for being bulletproof, and easy to tune when they're off. I had Spinergy Spox once - the technology appears similar to the Topos, at least in the spoke material, and they were a bear to keep in tune. Any reports on durability/ease of maintenance?