Mr. Jerk - wheel expert

[BdaGhisallo]

Hey Jerk,

I am hoping you can give me a little advice. I am considering a new pair of deep section tubular wheels. The two I am considering are the new mavic cosmic sl and the bontrager race x lite carbon aero. There are no long hills where I live; we have some short sharp ones, but nothing that takes more than ninety seconds to get over. I likely won't be doing any racing with them and I am gentle on wheels.

Which of those two would you plump for? I know that the mavics are a fair bit heavier than the bontis but weight concerns are overrated most of the time, unless you're going up an 8% grade, yadda, yadda....

The lack of a need for special brake pads with the mavics is a nice plus. I can throw on corima pads but it's a bit of a pain to switch them when switching between carbon and alu braking tracked wheels.

Both are comparably priced and my local shop can get either pair easily. Jerk,
I know you are keen on the bonti wheels but I have seen you praise the mavics of late.

What's your pick?

Now I may have addressed this to the Jerk, but please don't hesitate to jump in all you non-jerks!!!!

Many thanks.

[bostondrunk]

So these will be your everyday riding wheels?
If yes, I'd go with the Mavics for the aluminum braking surface, since you'll be using them so much.

[jerk]

the bontragers are really nice but the jerk would give his nod to the cosmics....they're a little more versatile as you have implied. they are also a little stiffer torsionally. as you said, weight is not really your concern and the added durability of the cosmic carbones would make them a better choice as a day in day out wheel.. they will brake better than an all carbon wheel no matter what pads you use with the carbon wheel particularly in the wet..that being said the bontragers are a great wheel and will "feel" really fast....reading your post the jerk thinks you've already made your choice and yes, the jerk thinks it's the right one.

[BdaGhisallo]

Thanks for the quick response. I had pretty much decided to go for the mavics but was curious about whether I was missing anything. Now I just have to decide whether to leave those loud new decals on them or take them off and go stealthy!

I appreciate the advice.

[William]

Now I just have to decide whether to leave those loud new decals on them or take them off and go stealthy!

ssssssstealthyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!


IMHO,
William :)