Is it worth the extra $200 to go to the Kysrium?
I am guessing you are buying these new?
I have seen Krysirium Equip go for close to $200, search around for a better deal.
what is the intended use of these wheels?
The kysrium is like the least aero wheel on earth, and not light, and not cheap, so I don’t know what it is for.
Maybe it is more durable than the Aksium
Stay away from the Aksiums. They are the only crap wheels I have ever owned. The freehub didn’t last long at all and the rear in particular went out of true on an ongoing basis. I literally threw them out so no-one else would have to suffer through using them. I got some Shimano 500’s as replacements and while they aren’t killer awesome wheels, they are mile better than the Aksiums.
what is the intended use of these wheels?
The kysrium is like the least aero wheel on earth, and not light, and not cheap, so I don’t know what it is for.
Maybe it is more durable than the Aksium
Kysriums are pretty bombproof. They make great training wheels that are light enough for an occasional road race. I’ve trained on the same pair since 2002…trued the rear wheel once. The lack of inner spoke holes also means no rim strips, and easy to run tubeless.
Is it worth the extra $200 to go to the Kysrium?
Save your money and buy a wheel that’s not in the aerodynamic equivalent of the Stone Age. Both are terrible values for performance.
I have a set of Aksiums, the wife has a pair of Kysriums. We both use them strictly for training as others have noted, they arent particularly aero. However we have never had an issue with the hubs or the spokes. They seem to be a bomb proof wheelset IMO.
I’ve had similar success with the Aksiums for training. I’m in the 195-200 lb range and go flying across RR tracks, hit the occasional pothole etc. and find the Aksiums to be fairly reliable given the price point.
Seconded with the regards to Aksiums. I have them on my commuter bike and they have been ridden over crappy Valley/Hollywood roads for over 3 years with zero maintenance.
It appears I’m the only one with bad Aksium experience. Just my luck.
for a truly bomproof set of training wheels I go with Ultegra hubs, non butted triple cross 32 spoke wheels with Mavic Open Pro rims. Mine have been like grandad’s axe. Best axe he ever had. 4 handles over the years and 2 heads. Awesome axe.
My training wheels had one set of hubs (3 sets of bearings tho) 1 set of spokes and 3 rear rims and 2 front rims. I recently retired them with over 90,000km on them. Now I’m on some less than ideal FSA Energy wheels.
I raced on my Aksiums for the past 4 years including all training rides on that bike. They came with the bike and that’s all I can afford. My commuter bike needed new rims, so I decided to upgrade slightly on the racing bike and move the Aksiums over to the commuter. They are still fresh as can be.
You know what’s funny? I rode to work this morning and missed a giant gaping abyss of a pothole. Double flatted and the front Aksium wheel ended up with a massive ding next to the valve hole. I think that it is a goner unless I can somehow straighten it without ruining the brake track. Had it since early 2011… about 18K miles on it of shitty LA roads.
Bad LA roads? LOL (try kiwi roads!)
Anyway, I reasonably successfully fixed a dinged wheel (sounds similar to yours) a few years ago. I found a small tack hammer and lotsa little taps and I got it good enough to use for commuting for another year.
Get some cosmic elite’s. 30mm deep, narrow, same basic hubs that work. Reasonably aero at low yaw angles (there is a chart out there somewhere). I use them as my training wheels and weekday crit wheels, also my rainy day wheelset (aluminum brake track for the win). 4000s and latex tubes and the wheel is plenty fast, very durable. Not light but who cares about that.
krysrium equip s 1690 grams without tires.
krysrium elite s 1520 grams.
is that really heavy relative to others?
zipp 30 clincher 1655grams.
zipp 808 clinchers 1840 grams
To answer your question, yes it is worth it. The ksyrium design beats the Aksiums and I have had both.
Others comments may be accurate in terms of other wheel attributes like aerodynamics. However, between those 2 wheelsets, I’d chose the Ksyriums for a little extra dough.
j
I have the Cosmic’s too, for daily use this winter. Really like them. I put Vittoria 25mm tires on they roll and handle great. Hit a pot hole pretty hard knocked my LED Lenze off, no ill effects to the wheels.